[nagdu] Changing the rules when you get home

Doug Parisian eggmann at mymts.net
Fri Aug 23 23:45:00 UTC 2013


Guess I've never thought of myself as changing the rules, but rather doing 
what I have found to be best for my dog, myself, and working both of us into 
the particular environment.  In Winnipeg, this can mean "gunning it" across 
intersections so as not to be standing with my dog's bare feet on cold 
cement when the temperature is minus 30 and my bus, which runs once every 
half hour, is at the stop where I want to board.  So, according to some 
ego-centric trainers (and there are at least one or two) I've broken all 
their hard work in terms of traffic checks.  Truth is, my reason for working 
with a dog guide is not primarily to keep me safe in traffic, but rather to 
find the best path, to avoid living or dead obstacles, etc.  When I am 
exposed to the panicked traffic lectures at my school,, it's time for a 
brief nap.

And indeed, I have found the pinch collar works out for several reasons, one 
of which is to keep the busy-body segment of the public out of my hair.  It 
takes very little action from a properly used pinch collar to get the dog 
back on focus.  Be warned though that if miss-used, the pinch collar can 
also cause serious pain and harm.  The dogs where I've used the pinch collar 
have no fear of it, but they do behave a little better when it's on and that 
carries over to the regular choker.

Doug: why is my dog's neck so thin?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Howard J. Levine" <WB2HWW at earthlink.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Changing the rules when you get home


: Right on I agree with you 100 percent, I live in New York can't stop, must
: get out of street as fast as you can. You just do what works for you.
:
: -----Original Message-----
: From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
: Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 12:19 PM
: To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
: Subject: Re: [nagdu] Changing the rules when you get home
:
: I changed a lot more than just the rules.
: One of the first things I did was put the choke chain to rest, and switch 
to
: a prong collar. I did not like the chain because frequently, it got caught
: in my golden's fur, and it would turn around and slide down his neck. I
: could never keep it in a proper position for a leash correction. I also 
did
: not like the idea of briefly choking my dog for a leash correction. So for 
a
: couple months, I used the prong collar, and it worked much better for me.
: Then, I just switched to the martingale check collar, which is what I use
: now.
: I don't remember if my school said to heel the dog off of a bus or not.
: Regardless, I work him off the bus. I gauge how much of a step down there 
is
: by his behavior. If he steps right off after being cued to go forward,
: there's obviously not much of a step. But if he stops in the doorway, and
: does not obey the cue "forward," I know that there is a larger step down.
: The school did say not to have the dog lay down on the bus. I don't think
: this is practical, especially for longer bus rides. It doesn't come
: naturally for my dog to just sit up while the bus is moving, so he just 
lays
: down, and I slide him back under the seat. If someone comes on with a
: wheelchair, stroller, or cart, I briefly grab up his front paws.
: The school taught us to switch the dog over to the right side when working
: through doors that opened out to the left. The only time I'll maneuver
: through a doorway by doing a complete 360 is when I am carrying things in 
my
: right hand.
: I stopped treating so frequently concerning curbs and stairs. The school 
had
: us treating at every curb, which is just ridiculous, especially the way 
they
: had us stopping at the curb when we reached the other side of the street.
: They trained the dog to stop with its front paws on the curb, but you and
: the rest of your dog would still be hanging out in the road. I'm sorry, 
but
: I did not like that at all.
: Not all roads have bike lanes to just hang out in, and you only have about
: 20-30 seconds to get your butts across the road and out of the road. So I
: allowed my dog to continue over the curb, and just verbally praised him 
for
: it. It's just not necessary to stop in the street after crossing the road.
: At stairs, I allowed him to go up stairs without stopping at them.
: Usually, he stops at stairs whether they are going up or down, but if he
: does not stop, I don't rework it because I personally can feel through my
: harness whether my dog is stepping up or down.
: Too, when crossing streets, the school discouraged any kind of automatic
: turning after crossing. If we needed to make a turn, we were instructed to
: take two or three steps after the curb, cue "wait," then cue our dogs left
: or right. Again, not practical, at least, not in my environment. On 
campus,
: there isn't a lawn on the street side of the sidewalk, so turns after
: crossing have to be immediate. I have to cue my dog "to the curb, right. 
To
: the curb, right," or else, we will pass up the turn.
: I also changed my dog's diet. He is now on a fish-based, grain, gluten, 
and
: soy-free dog food. And I started feeding my dog fruit -- cantaloupe,
: honey-do, and pear. He has never been interested in vegetables.
: When I lived with my parents, I did not let him off leash until his
: off-leash recall was reliable. And I did not force him to sleep on his bed
: or in his crate. He was restricted to sleeping in my bedroom with me, but
: the spot was up to him. He never got up on the bed, since he considered
: jumping up on the furniture a sin. Here in my apartment, he sleeps 
wherever
: - in the bathroom, living room, somewhere in the bedroom. The spot is up 
to
: him and he moves around throughout the night.
: He has never had an accident indoors. My puppy-raisers even said that he
: never had an accident with them, even when he was sick. But sometimes, I
: will take him out if I wake up around two or three in the morning though.
: Oh, and lastly, I got him several squeaky toys. I don't know why schools 
say
: not to get them. Maybe because dogs will try to chew the squeakers out and
: eat them? My golden guy loves his squeaky toys, and I always monitor him 
if
: he's playing independently with anything but a Nylobone.
:
:
: --
: Raven
:
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