[nagdu] which side are you on?

[Tina Thomas]

Hey Deanna- My dog is also able to keep on the right in stores, hallways and
other places where people are traveling. Yes, you can teach the dogs to do
this with clicker training. 
Tina and the girls 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Deanna Lewis
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:08 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] which side are you on?

Daniel,
I have a suggestion of something you could try if the left tendency does
bother you and you would like Cass to work on the right side of a path or
aisle at times. When I am shopping I prefer to be on the right side of the
aisle, so that I can easily pick up things and look at them. So, I taught
Pascal the phrase, "keep right". He picked this up very quickly. When we
started down an aisle, I would tell him to, keep right and he usually would
veer right and when he would stay right for a few feet, I would praise and
give him a food reward. I am sure that this could be done with a clicker as
well. 
This command really comes in handy at many situations.
I also try to stick to the right in hallways at work, since there are a ton
of other blind people here. When I heel my dog around I almost always stick
to the right side, that way he gets used to walking on the right side of any
given path. He is still very stubborn and mostly prefers the left side
/smiles/.
Hope that helps.
Deanna and Pascal

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daniel
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 6:51 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: [nagdu] which side are you on?

Hi all,

 

I have just spent a troubling afternoon with a couple of great friends. We
were on a walk in Golden, Colorado, through town and along the river trail.
My friend kept telling me to stay to the right on the path because of all of
the foot and bike traffic on the trail. The trail is a wide, cement trail,
approximately 10' wide. Cass always walks to the left  on any path. My
friend became increasingly upset with me because everyone had to move around
me to avoid missing me and Cass. I tried to have Cass move to the right, but
she insisted to continue to travel on the left side of the walk, as she
always does. It is true the path was very busy, but I told my friend that
Cass would avoid anyone that was in her way. He became very irate, telling
me I should walk with Cass on my right side instead of my left side. I told
him that this was not an option, and that I knew what I was doing, and just
chill out and let me and Cass do what we do. He said it was absurd that any
dog would not be trained to walk on the right side of a path, and I told him
that she was following the side of the walk.

Does anyone come across any of the same remarks from people. Do your dogs
travel on the right or left on a path with no curbs, or buildings to line
either side.

I must admit I do not remember having ever discussed this during training
with Cass. I naturally assumed that Cass would follow along the left side.
My friend said that everyone else had to move out of the way for me, and
that it was not right that I took up the left side. Just because I was blind
did not give me the right to make everyone else move out of the way for me,
and that I had to be more considerate of them. Needless to say I was just a
bit pissed off at this point.

What do you think about this?

I told him to forget about ever trying to get me to move my dog to my right
hand, it was not going to happen. Other than that, I fell short of giving
him a good reason for travelling on the left side of the walk.

 

Thanks,

Daniel and Cass

 

 

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/dlewis%40clovernook.org

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/judotina48kg%40gmail.com