[nagdu] The Follow Command

Thu Sep 12 12:19:23 UTC 2013

Yes, it does. You can disagree and that's fine. The person starting this
thread asked a question and I gave my opinion. 
You don't have to agree. You also don't have to be ugly about it. 
We all have different things we like or don't like and following was one of
the things I just didn't like for a bunch of reasons.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nicole Torcolini
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 11:52 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Follow Command

Sheesh, does it really bother you that much? I use both methods of people
giving me directions and following, with which one I use at the time
depending on the situation. For me, there are some situations in which it
just is not practical for someone to tell me every turn, especially if it is
really noisy or in a big space, such as an airport, where there are a lot of
people and not really defined paths. If it is just me and the person whom
Lexia is following, that person usually talks to me periodically. Also, I
have enough vision  to kind of tell if I think that Lexia is starting to get
too far behind. I ask the person to slow down or wait if I think we are
falling behind. In cases where ther is at least one more person, there will
be someone behind me that can watch.
Yes, I do sometimes have trouble with Lexia not guiding well, such as not
stopping for stairs, when following, but I usually handle it the same way
that I would handle it otherwise, and I also ask the person leading to pause
at stairs, which usually makes Lexia less likely to mess up.
The best method that I have found for keeping Lexia from passing the person
she is following is to have the person walk on the left. Yes, I know that it
goes against traffic, but, in some situations, there is so much chaos that
no one really notices. Otherwise, Lexia tends to vere off to the left and
pull up beside the person. I also find that holding the leash in my right
hand if I can helps her not vere left.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star Gazer
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 6:09 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Follow Command

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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/shannonldillon%40gm
> ail.co
> m
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/djrogers0628%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/shannonldillon%40gm
> ail.co
> m
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/tami%40poodlemutt.c
> om
>

_______________________________________________
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/pickrellrebecca%40gmail.c
om

_______________________________________________
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/ntorcolini%40wavecable.co
m

_______________________________________________
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/pickrellrebecca%40gmail.c
om