[nagdu] Dog problems

Sun Dec 8 14:22:07 UTC 2013

I agree with Steph.
And if the only way you can get the dog to come to you is with treats,
this method might not last long either. Frankly, you have scared this
dog.
Before I got a guide dog, the first thing a seasoned guide dog handler
advised me to do was never, ever, ever, ever yell at my dog. The
school even told us not to. Dogs perceive yelling as you barking at
them, and depending on the situation, they will perceive your barking
as aggressive. This is how O'Malley has perceived this behavior,
especially paired with the stern talking and corrections.
Also, when is it exactly that you give him corrections? Do you correct
him when he finally comes to you? Or, do you go up to him and correct
him? Would you yourself want to obey and play/spend time with someone
you felt was aggressive toward you?
How do you do a correction on this dog with no leash? Do you go up to
him and just hold his collar tight for a few seconds? Do you drag him
toward you? Or, do you yank on the live ring of O'Malley's collar?
No matter what the answers to these questions are, the primary
solution is to stop. Stop it because it's not working, and it's not
making the situation better. Give this dog time, and if he decides to
approach you without any commanding or coaxing, make sure your
boyfriend praises him. Your boyfriend is his leader, and he must give
O'Malley the assurance that you are okay. Or, start approaching
O'Malley with gentleness. Verbal corrections do not have to be yelled,
or even spoken sternly most of the time. When you approach O'Malley
and he is not reactive, your boyfriend should praise or treat him.
Again, your boyfriend must be the one giving the rewards because he is
the leader who must provide assurance.
I myself have a good friend who my dog did not like. My golden
displayed very anxious behaviors around her, but she loves, loves,
loves my dog. However, I chose to not take my dog into her apartment.
If he did not want to be there, I wouldn't force him since it was
something that upset him. I improved this by rewarding him for
following me inside, or even approaching her alongside me. If he
followed me inside, I praised him up and tried to make this one act
seem as though it was the best thing in the world. And you know what,
it worked. My dog is gaining the appreciation I have for my friend.
Essentially, this is what your boyfriend needs to do.
Next, some dogs will not listen to other people reliably, or at all.
My golden is very loyal to me and will obey me from across the room.
However, he does not reliably listen to other people. I don't know if
it's that he doesn't take them seriously, or he just feels that only
cues given by me should be obeyed.
Take it slow with this dog. No matter what he is doing, you need to be
easy and gentle with him or things will not get better.

On 12/8/13, Stephanie <naturelovingmom at gmail.com> wrote:
> Why not just leave the dog to your boyfriend. It's his dog, not yours.
> Steph
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com>
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Date: Sunday, December 8, 2013 7:03 pm
> Subject: [nagdu] Dog problems
>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am at my wits end about an issue and I'm hoping to get some advice,
>> especially from those of you that have a partner who also has a guide
>> dog.  My boyfriend and I both have guides and our dogs are very
>> attached to us, meaning that they will listen to either of us when we
>> give them commands (out of harness, obviously.) However, O'Malley, my
>> boyfriend's guide has started exhibiting some very strange behaviors
>> towards me lately. It's almost like he is afraid of me. When I tell
>> him to come, he won't do it; he will just sit there and thump his
>> tail, acknowledging the fact that he hears me, but he refuses to come.
>> When I go to grab him to give him a correction, he will run to his bed
>> and hide in the back and will not come out, no matter what I do. I've
>> tried everything--corrections, talking in a stern voice, yelling,
>> treats—and none of it seems to do anything. Doing obedience with
>> treats doesn't work either because he knows treats are imminent so
>> he'll come flawlessly. The situation is made extra frustrating when he
>> plays keep away with me; I will call him and he'll get really close,
>> but not close enough where I can actually touch him or grab his
>> collar. And when I do try to grab him, he will run back to his bed
>> again. The other thing that is really distressing both my boyfriend
>> and I is that O'Malley seems to prefer his bed over any spot. If his
>> crate is open, he will go lay in there and not come out unless you
>> call him or it's food time. Viva will try to engage him in playing and
>> he plays sometimes, but most of the time, he will just lay in bed and
>> does nothing else. One last thing, when we do manage to get him to
>> come out and play, he has been yelping a lot whenever I play with him.
>> We do play a little rough, but not any more than when my boyfriend
>> plays with him and he never yelps then. I'm just so frustrated at the
>> situation and I honestly don't know what else to do. I love this dog
>> and I spoil him to death, but for some reason, he is just acting so
>> weird with me that it has brought me to tears more than once. If any
>> of you has insight into what is going on, I would really appreciate
>> it. I will try anything at this point.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Minh
>>
>>
>> --
>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>
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>

-- 
Raven