[nagdu] Good days and bad days...

Thu Feb 20 03:50:34 UTC 2014

Right on, Raven; I need to get Mister Huck a haltie, as he sounds very like
Darrel's dog; except for that, he is a jewel.  The other nice thing about a
haltie, is you don't need to manhandle the dog, so the public isn't likely
to be in your business as much, but I don't have to tell you: scavenging can
be downright dangerous for the dog and/or you.
Darla & Huck who says who, me/ Scavenge; you must have me confused with
someone else.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:24 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Good days and bad days...

Hi Daryl,
I'm Raven, a college chick from West Michigan working my first guide dog, a
big teddy bear of a golden.
So with dogs that scavenge, I find that you have to stop the dog with intent
rather than scolding for the crime. What I mean is you must stop the
scavenging from happening. Every time your dog finds something delightfully
stinky and gets a hold of it, the naughty behavior is being rewarded. That's
not what you want, but that's what happens.
For scavengers, I always recommend the Halti or a head halter. And yes, it
is a Halti, not a gentle leader! What's the difference? Haltis have more
straps, a ring under the dog's nose for the leash, and a strap that hangs
down with a clip on the end to clip onto the companion collar. Gentle
leaders only have 2 straps, and a ring on the actual collar that goes around
the dog's neck. Hopefully, that wasn't too confusing.
Now, the benefit of a Halti is that you have complete awareness of where
your dog's head is at all times. Because of this, you can stop your dog's
head from even touching the ground. Trust me, you feel every dip and turn of
your dog's head with the head halter. And it's called a halter for good
reason, because if you hold the leash stationary, you halt that head. This
is a good way to stop the crime before it's committed and to keep a dog from
scavenging while you're teaching her not to.
Some people are very against these collars, which is fine. This collar is
not for the heavy-handed, and is not meant for dulling out leash
corrections. I am very anti-leash correction, especially hard leash
corrections or high collar corrections. Frankly, such physical force is not
necessary.
In the meantime, I find the best way to curve a behavior is with training
sessions. Your dog has been handsomely rewarded for scavenging, so now, she
considers scavenging a wonderful thing.
However, you don't share in her delight, and you must teach Jenny to refrain
from scavenging, and that it is is not desirable.
How do you do this? Go back to basics. Seriously. Does your dog know the
"leave it" cue? And when I say know, I mean does she understand and obey the
cue consistently. If she doesn't, it's time to teach her to leave it, and
that ignoring food on the ground yields rewards.
If you want me to go into great detail on how to do this, I would be more
than happy to. Just say the word. I am not a longtime dog trainer, only a
dog trainer's assistant. But I've learned a great deal, and helped many
people teach their pet dogs or their guide dogs basic obedience, leash
manners, and house manners.
Many people feel like their dogs should just know or somehow pick up on
what's desirable and what's not. Sometimes, that works out, and with highly
distracted dogs of one kind or another, that doesn't work.
It's important to put in the extra leg work to ensure that your dog can
control herself. This is not something that will just go away.
This is something that needs personal attention, and quickly.
--
Raven

On 2/19/14, Larry D. Keeler <lkeeler at comcast.net> wrote:
> Oh, you'll have more days like that! I've had a few. I expect that 
> soon, I'll have some more. We are having a minor thaw here. I consider 
> it a prelude to mud season. Mud season is the one in which our noses, 
> "dogs" have
>
> the most fun and are distracted the most. Oh boy! The squirrels, birds 
> other
>
> dogs who will also be nosing and mud and water! And, all that garbage 
> that was hidden in the snow! But continuing to be firm and somewhat 
> understanding
>
> goes a long way! Scrounging is really hard to get out of the dog. The 
> only thing that would concern me are those cigarette butts! To many of 
> those and
>
> they could cause serious issues!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Daryl Marie" <crazymusician at shaw.ca>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 4:15 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Good days and bad days...
>
>
>> Hi, all!
>>
>> Just wanted to share a little bit about this past week.  Jenny and I 
>> have
>>
>> both been REALLY stressed the past month or so.  At home, we've had 
>> water
>>
>> damage, so contractors have been coming in and out of the house with 
>> fans,
>>
>> dehumidifiers, taking them away, cutting holes in the ceiling, 
>> re-insulating the attic... needless to say it's been stressful.
>> Add to that the stress of my starting a new job and the strain of two 
>> recent trips away from home, and I have been frazzled and Jenny has 
>> not at
>>
>> ALL been focused.
>>
>> On Saturday, things went really really well!  We had our first ever 
>> traffic check, and Jenny behaved herself really well when in the 
>> presence
>>
>> of another guide dog (she has a moderate dog distraction problem), 
>> even when that guide dog stuck his head under her harness handle to 
>> give her a
>>
>> sniff.
>> Sunday... it all went to hell!  Jenny seems to think that scrounging 
>> is a
>>
>> badge of honour, so it seemed like every ten feet I was correcting 
>> her for
>>
>> that.  Then she went absolutely ballistic when my husband came to get 
>> me from the bus... getting her to lay down and stay there was 
>> moderately successful, but then when we walked to the car she picked 
>> up and ate a cigarette but, while excitedly running and wagging her 
>> tail.  I gave her the hardest leash correction I have given in my 
>> life, we went into the car, came home...
>> And then I took her for a pee, where she refused to go pee and 
>> scrounged something else off the ground.  I took her inside, where 
>> she excitedly wanted to say hi to my husband.  I very firmly told her 
>> no, to go to her bed and to stay there.  Perhaps I should insert here 
>> that my trainer told
>>
>> me that being firm and consistent with Jenny is something I need to 
>> work on (particularly making my voice sound like "I mean 
>> business")... so each
>>
>> time Jenny got up off her bed, I firmly told her to stay there.
>> She wasn't there long - maybe ten minutes in total - and I don't know 
>> what
>>
>> I did, really...
>> But for the most part over the past three days she has been the most 
>> angelic guide dog ever!  The scrounging has decreased exponentially, 
>> she is walking steadily with me, something we have always needed to 
>> work on in
>>
>> the slush, and I hope to God I never have another day like Sunday again.
>> I have Mommy guilt, quite likely unwarranted... but I feel a HUGE shift!
>>
>> Just thought I would share.
>>
>> Daryl and Jenny (the stinky sleepy dog)
>>
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--
Raven

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