[nagdu] working up to obstacles

[Tracy Carcione]

Ben will go within a few feet of the obstacle, then turn to go around it. 
He only stops if the alternate path is also narrow, like when a car is
across the sidewalk and a tree is close to the path to go around the car,
or at the curb, if we have to step into the street.

In class, we worked what the trainer called a trap.  She laid out
construction tape along the side, then blocked it with more tape at the
end.  The dog is supposed to see that the end is blocked and not go in the
trap at all.  I kinda messed Ben up though, because, when he went to turn
away from the trap, I thought he was messing around and made him go in. 
He seems confused about such things to this day.

All my other dogs worked obstacles the same as Ben, go within a few feet,
then choose a path around.  At GDB, they wanted us to go up to the
obstacle and then turn, but I dropped that at the first opportunity.
Tracy

> Julie,
>
> Mitzi, too, will figure things out from a distance and find another way.
> Very confusing, but I've gotten used to it for the most part. Every now
> and then I will argue her into taking me up to the obstacle, and she is
> very smug when we finally turn around and backtrack and take the way she
> told me to in the first place. /lol/
>
> I don't know where she got it, either, since I didn't specifically train
> her for it. I suspect she just noticed that obstacles and having to turn
> around irritate me, or else she just doesn't like having to turn around
> because it's boring. Who knows? /lol/
>
> Tami
>
> On 04/30/2013 06:59 AM, Julie J. wrote:
>> I’m wondering how everyone else’s guides work impassable obstacles?
>> For example, let’s say there’s been a severe thunderstorm and a
>> largish tree branch has fallen across the sidewalk, entirely blocking it
>> off.
>>
>> How would your guide work that situation?  If you’ve had more than one
>> guide did they work something like this differently?
>>
>> Do they go all the way up to the branch and then stop to wait for
>> further instruction?
>> Would they alter course from a distance, so you never get close?
>> Would they stop a few feet away, at the most obvious turning point to go
>> around the thing?
>> Something else?
>>
>> Monty has always worked obstacles from a distance, meaning he will
>> choose a clear path from as much as half a block away.  Of course, I
>> never taught him this.  I have no idea what obstacles are that far away
>> so I could offer instruction from that kind of distance.  This is just
>> how Monty has interpreted his job duties.  Mostly I appreciate not
>> walking up to the obstacle only then having to double back and go a
>> different direction.  Sometimes though, it is rather annoying, not
>> having the slightest idea why he is insistent that we go a different
>> way. He is zealous about safety to the point of insanity.   If he views
>> something as unsafe, no amount of coaxing, prompting or encouraging will
>> get him to budge.
>>
>> I do appreciate his stubborn insistence on safety, I just wish I
>> understood better what we were going around.   I also wish I knew how I
>> managed to give him the impression that he should stop so far away.
>> *sigh*
>> It’s not really a problem so much as a curiosity to me.  He’s a very
>> smart dog.  I wonder what goes on in his fat head.
>>
>> Julie
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>
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