[nagdu] Finding the Way was Re: GDF training

Thu Mar 22 19:49:39 UTC 2012

Nicole, same happens with me. Sometimes the crowds at my college
campus are so large that Anise and I end up somewhere else. I just
tell her to find the stairs, and she knows what stairs to find. Their
inteligence impresses me!

On 3/20/12, Nicole B. Torcolini at Home <ntorcolini at wavecable.com> wrote:
> Two summers ago, when I interned at the University of Washington, I would
> eat my meals in a large cafeteria. It took Lexia a little while, but, once
> she got the hang of it, she could get me out of there regardless of where I
> was sitting. There is a similar situation this year in the new dining hall
> at Stanford. The dining area is upstairs, and I use the elevator. When I get
> up to leave my table, Lexia will take me to the elevator. Sometimes,
> something, I am not sure what, happens, and she takes me somewhere else,
> but, if I tell her again to find the elevator, she usually can do it.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "GARY STEEVES" <rainshadowmusic at shaw.ca>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 10:43 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] GDF training
>
>
>> Hi Jeanine:
>>
>> That was a great email. Dog guides Canada teaches the find command and
>> they are empowering in teaching us to taylor it to our needs when we get
>> home. I'm still learning how I need to give the command to Bogart and see
>> if he will do it. He has a tendency to go to the the esculator going in
>> the wrong direction. I've recently started to tell him find the esculator
>> right and it has worked. I have also tried things when buried deep within
>> a store to say find the way out and let him go. I was amazed the first
>> time when he did it with no issue. Maybe I should try saying find the
>> esculator up (or down) and see what he does.
>>
>> Just out of the blue one day at a place where I encounter a T intersection
>> and I'm on the bottom of the T I asked him to left, find the curb. He
>> actually turned onto the grass and lined us up with the curb across from
>> us. I was blown away. So now I will give more complicated commands as long
>>
>> as they are using words that I think he already knows. It has great
>> results. There is probably so much more he can do without me even knowing.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Jenine Stanley <jeninems at wowway.com>
>> Date: Friday, March 16, 2012 8:49 am
>> Subject: [nagdu] GDF training
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>
>>> Thank you all for your interest in how GDF's training is
>>> slightly different
>>> from that at other schools. As always the disclaimer applies
>>> that everyone's
>>> mileage may vary on this but these have been my experiences as a
>>> graduatesince 1990 and staff member since 2008.
>>>
>>> Back in 1990 when I first went to GDF, I knew a bit about having
>>> a guide
>>> dog. I'd had 2 already from another school. I also knew that
>>> dogs could do
>>> more than what that school told me they could but I had no idea
>>> how to get a
>>> dog to the point of being able to do all those extra things.
>>>
>>> Needless to say, I was amazed when taught at GDF that I was
>>> indeed a dog
>>> handler and had the knowledge and power to teach my dog
>>> additional things.
>>> This was back before clickers and food rewards.
>>>
>>> Nothing wrong at all with using those training techniques but I
>>> was taught,
>>> and GDf still does teach people, how to teach my dog to find
>>> things for me
>>> without using a clicker or food. It was my job to retain the training
>>> techniques.
>>>
>>> My first instructor told me that my dog would do as much or as
>>> little as I
>>> expected of her as long as she understood those expectations.
>>>
>>> At that time during our training, we learned how to show the
>>> dogs the
>>> difference between a flight of stairs going up or down. I could
>>> then say to
>>> my GDF dog, "Find steps up." In a staircase and he or she would
>>> choose the
>>> correct flight of stairs. Same with escalators.
>>>
>>> This has been dropped from most classes now as people just
>>> weren't using it,
>>> but it's something I work with each of my dogs during class to
>>> master.
>>>
>>> The greatest difference I saw back in the '90's with my GDF dogs that
>>> continues to this day is the use of the "find command". More
>>> schools are
>>> indeed using this command in many ways but it's been at GDF for
>>> much longer
>>> than I've been associated with them.
>>>
>>> During class at the Smithtown facility, you are expected to have
>>> your dog
>>> find your seat in the dining room each day, an empty seat in the
>>> lecturerooms, your own room, doors, the training vans, the trash
>>> cans at the relief
>>> area and anything else you want him or her to find for you. I
>>> teach my dogs
>>> to find the Coke machine right away. <grin>
>>>
>>> All of this is done without clickers or food or other external
>>> devices. The
>>> dogs work for praise.
>>>
>>> Yes, we do use clickers in some phases of training but not
>>> during formal
>>> class and wean the dogs off them quickly. We do use food and
>>> suggest its use
>>> in problem solving but we don't expect you to carry around a
>>> treat pouch to
>>> get your dog to work.
>>>
>>> Some of the things people from other schools find challenging
>>> about class,
>>> and I'm speaking here of class in our facility, include the
>>> footwork. We
>>> have you step off with your right foot, using your left leg as a
>>> fulcrum to
>>> steady yourself.
>>>
>>> I had to work to overcome my original training of investigating
>>> the curb
>>> with my right foot then stepping off with the left. This often
>>> found me
>>> losing my balance and stumbling off the curb onto my dog. I've
>>> never done
>>> that starting with the right foot.
>>>
>>> Some people will note that their dogs don't care which foot they
>>> start off
>>> on and the dog adjusts. Some dogs do. Others struggle with it.
>>> I'm told
>>> often by grads and observers that our dogs watch the handler's
>>> feet for
>>> position and any uncertainty and correct their guiding
>>> accordingly.
>>>
>>> We also do some of the turns a bit differently. I'm struggling
>>> here to
>>> recall what was done in my last class regarding left turns as I
>>> do them the
>>> original way I was taught at GDF. This involves coming to a
>>> corner and
>>> before giving the "left" command, turning my body 90 degrees to
>>> face left,
>>> trying not to twist the handle of course. My knees are against
>>> my dog's
>>> side. Then I give the "left" turn command and my dog has space
>>> to back up
>>> around any obstacles like shrubbery or poles at the corner.
>>>
>>> The right turn command also is a tad different from what I was
>>> used to
>>> before. It involves taking a step back with the right foot then
>>> putting your
>>> weight on that foot and moving the left one back as well to give
>>> the dog
>>> space to make the turn.
>>>
>>> In my early days at GDF we used a lot of hand signals. Those
>>> were dropped by
>>> Mike Sergeant but are being reinstituted. Some people choose to
>>> use them and
>>> some do not. I can't live without them. The thought is that
>>> using hand
>>> signals does alert your dog to focus more on your body movements for
>>> direction.
>>>
>>> The final thing that is different about GDF that is probably the
>>> toughestthing to learn is leash guiding. Yes we teach it and yes
>>> we teach it in a
>>> very specific way to stay safe.
>>>
>>> Do many dogs guide on leash? Sure they do but can they do so in
>>> Manhattan?Our dogs have.
>>>
>>> That said, we have drastically revised our leash guiding
>>> instructions due to
>>> the increasing traffic threat out there. Distracted drivers
>>> don't give dogs
>>> enough time to react when leash guiding so we no longer
>>> recommend using
>>> leash guiding for street work. It can be used indoors, in
>>> familiar areas
>>> outside without traffic but isn't recommended for street
>>> crossing any
>>> longer.
>>>
>>> The distance between the dog's head and shoulders and your body is
>>> significantly shorter when leash guiding, giving less reaction
>>> time. Your
>>> hand should be in a specific position on the leash with a
>>> specific length of
>>> leash between you and the dog. It's not as easy as it sounds.
>>>
>>> I can imagine some of you saying "that's not really very
>>> different from my
>>> school."
>>>
>>> It may not be now as many schools have picked up on some of our
>>> methods.Some instructors still get into friendly but heated
>>> discussions with me
>>> about why the "Find" command is impossible and often misused. My
>>> response is
>>> to ask if those misusing the command are from schools who teach
>>> it during
>>> class thoroughly such as Southeastern and GDF. The answer, a
>>> sheepish no.
>>>
>>> When teaching your dog to find something, you're also paying
>>> attention to
>>> the dog's signals when it's not there. You also are a partner in
>>> helping to
>>> find it, not just giving a command and hanging on.
>>>
>>> I'll end this message with a situation that always gets me. I've
>>> even caught
>>> our grads doing it. Them I can chide, in a friendly way of
>>> course.
>>>
>>> We're in a room, say at a convention, and someone comes up and
>>> asks how to
>>> get out of the room.
>>>
>>> My thought, "Tell your dog to 'find outside'. Or whatever the
>>> command is you
>>> use to find a doorway. Your dog can do these things. It's up to
>>> you to
>>> practice and keep him sharp. It's also up to you to use your
>>> knowledge of
>>> orientation to give him clues. That's what GDF taught me. Hope
>>> this helps.
>>>
>>> Jenine Stanley
>>> jeninems at wowway.com
>>> http://www.twitter.com/jeninems
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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