[nagdu] The Follow Command

Star Gazer pickrellrebecca at gmail.com
Wed Sep 11 13:09:21 UTC 2013


Tami, 
Your approach is what I did. I never liked the follow command. I didn't like
being behind whichever person my dog was following. It reminded me too much
of subservient women, like I was somehow less of an equal. 
I also didn't like the autopilot feeling I got when my dog followed. It was
disconcerting. 


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2013 1:06 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Follow Command

Interesting. Mitzi likes to get out and go and lead the way, so she will do
follow but reluctantly. I prefer to let her pick the way to where the person
is going -- say in the grocery store -- instead of following exactly, since
folks don't always choose routes we can clear. She is funny. She does a
better follow if I get the person's name and can tell her to follow them by
name. But she definitely wants to do it her way! I also try to remember to
ask the person to keep talking so I can know where they are. I keep trying
to get my husband to jingle his keys or something, since he had throat
surgery and can't raise his voice much, but, well... The dog is more
trainable. /lol/

I guess it never occurred to me that some dogs might follow by default when
you don't really want them to. I can see where that would be odd.

Tami



On 09/07/2013 08:06 PM, Shannon L. Dillon wrote:
> Hi Darla,
> I'm not really sure. I think maybe she's gotten distracted in the 
> airport and either started following the wrong person, or maybe she 
> just wandered the other way toward the distraction. Usually the person 
> I'm following notices or I feel like something is off and call out the 
> person's name to make sure I know where they are. I think the airport 
> is somewhere I know this can happen, but I wouldn't say it happens all 
> the time. I just know that it has happened so I make an effort to be 
> aware of the location of the person I'm following. And it happens quickly,
and is discovered quickly.
> It's not like I've ended up clear off in another wing or something. 
> But other than the airport, I don't think I've run into it being an 
> issue. I certainly haven't found Yalie randomly following people.
> She doesn't do it if she isn't given the command.
> -Shannon
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Darla 
> Rogers
> Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2013 7:31 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Follow Command
>
> Dear Shannon,
> 	makes a lot of sense; you have never had problems of your dog 
> following when it wasn't wanted?
> Darla & hardworking Huck
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shannon L. 
> Dillon
> Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2013 8:01 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Follow Command
>
> I find it helpful in a lot of places. For example, when walking with a 
> group of friends from work to lunch, Yalie like to be at the front of the
pack.
> I'd rather walk in the group with my friends and talk. And I don't 
> always know where we are going. I use it then.  I have also used it 
> following people through airport. Certainly they can give me 
> directions, or if we're talking, I can keep issuing commands as we follow
the person who is talking.
> But I love that I can put Yalie on the automatic follow command and 
> she will just follow whoever I've pointed to. I still try to keep 
> conversation up because, like any dog, she can get distracted and 
> there are a lot of people in an airport. Another place I used follow a 
> lot was when I worked for Department of Corrections and we went 
> through lots of prisons for various work related reasons.  Prisons are 
> large places and we are escorted through by guards. It's just easier 
> to tell Yalie to follow the guard, and if for some reason no one is 
> talking or we take a break from talking, she knows she is supposed to 
> be following. If you spend 4 or 6 or 8 hours walking through lots of 
> unfamiliar places, it is really a blessing to have the dog just 
> follow. Especially when I'm lugging files and I'm tired from talking 
> to people all day, and all the BS conversation with the guard is done, 
> because we're all tired, yep, that follow command is great. I've also 
> used it following a clerk through the grocery store when my hands were
full and I couldn't hold onto him or her. I would really miss the follow
command.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Darla 
> Rogers
> Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2013 5:52 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] The Follow Command
>
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
>                  GDA ran out of time, so they didn't talk much about a 
> "follow" command, and I'd really rather not do that, as Roxy seemed to 
> become too dependent because of it; wouldn't I just ask the leader to 
> give me directions, so I can direct Huck?
>
>
>
> Darla & hardworking Huck
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Darla J. Rogers
>
>
>
> djrogers0628 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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