[nagdu] Behaviour in public places

Mon Nov 3 00:10:06 UTC 2014

I'm catching up with mail and this approach works well with my sweet 
golden boy known as mushface at hellen Keller national center.
On 10/19/2014 11:53 PM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu wrote:
> Lisa,
> I went through something similar during guide dog training. Whenever I
> would be sitting in lecture, at the dining table, or in the lobby, the
> Golden Guy repeatedly stood up to try to interact with other dogs or
> his trainer. The instructors' advice was to correct him or just make
> him lay back down. I would do that, but then he'd just jump back up,
> so it obviously was not an effective problem-solving technique. It was
> definitely a fight with this stubborn boy for the first few weeks, the
> worst of it being during the first full week we were together. But it
> got better, and the behavior was nonexistent by the time I returned
> home.
> What I would have done differently is reward him for staying down
> every once in a while. The purpose of this is to tackle the problem or
> undesired behavior before it happens. I always suggest a proactive
> approach to undesirable behaviors, rather than a retroactive approach.
> The proactive approach deals with the behavior before it even happens,
> whereas the retroactive only handles it after the behavior has
> occurred and could already be on the path of becoming a possible
> habit.
> The proactive approach is to reward the dog for doing good. Positive
> reinforcement trainers commonly preach that you should catch your dog
> doing something good. People hold the misconception that a dog doing
> good doesn't need a reward and that it already knows what's expected
> of it, so they don't bother to praise for the continued good behavior.
> We are always quick to notice when things are wrong and correct for
> that, but outside of giving cues and commands, we don't provide
> sufficient praise and reward for the ongoing, expected good behaviors.
> Tailor will need this from you, especially since you both are getting
> to know each other. He does not only need to know what you don't want
> him to do, but also what you want him to do. Reinforce the good
> behaviors. Reward him for staying down every so often. Rewarding can
> be as simple as attention from you, i.e. petting, verbal praise, or
> scratching. This communicates to him that he is doing a good thing,
> and motivates him to continue doing it. Don't just praise him for
> doing something when you tell him to, but also praise him for
> maintaining that good behavior. Praise him every ten, fifteen, or
> twenty minutes--whatever it takes to set him up for success.
>
> On 10/19/14, Nicole Torcolini via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Lisa,
>>
>> 	I think that a few different things may be happening. First, your
>> trainer is no longer there. Taylor  may be playing the game that most dogs
>> play where, as soon as the trainer leaves or you go home, the dog is
>> testing
>> you to see if you have the same expectations as the trainer. You could work
>> on this at home by doing obedience with him. Try to work on the behaviors
>> that are most problematic, such as stay. Try to add motivations for him not
>> staying, such as food on the floor or other people coming in the room. Make
>> sure that you praise and/or reward him for doing the right thing. Once he
>> has that down, try going out in public, but make a trip specifically for
>> working with him. You could go to the café or something, but not actually
>> order anything, or, if you did, still focus more on working with Taylor. As
>> soon as he gets up, tell him down, and then praise and/or reward for the
>> desired behavior. Some people also use clicker training for this type of
>> problem. Let me know if you would like information on that. As others have
>> suggested, you can also put the leash under your foot and/or try to slide
>> Taylor under your chair. You probably would want to practice the under the
>> chair thing at home if it was not something that the trainer did with
>> Taylor
>> as some dogs don't care for it at first and can kind of freak out. Finally,
>> if you can get a table beside the wall and/or in a corner, you can
>> sometimes
>> keep the dog somewhat under control and out of the way by putting him by
>> the
>> wall. If you are not using all of the chairs at a table, you can move one
>> and put Taylor where the extra chair would be.
>>
>> Nicole
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa via nagdu
>> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2014 9:50 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: [nagdu] Behaviour in public places
>>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I have a question regarding Taylor's behaviour in public places.
>> We haven't had much opportunities to practice it yet, but I already noticed
>> the following: Each time we were in a café or another place where alot of
>> other people are, Taylor won't stay quiet for a long time.
>>
>> The other day we met with some people in a café. Taylor laid down next to
>> my
>> chair but everytime the waitress walked by or the door was opened by new
>> customers, he stood up and wanted to greet them. But also when noone walked
>> by, he would get up and try to sniff around. He tried to go under nearby
>> tables and chairs and everytime I took him back, it made alot of noise
>> because the chairs were scratching on the floor and so on. It was really
>> not
>> nice at all.
>> And it's like this everytime we sit somewhere in a similar surrounding.
>> What
>> I do is telling him to lie down. Right now, I don't really know what else
>> to
>> do. Of course, I know that when I get frustrated about that, he immediately
>> notices that and then nothing gets better.... But it's not easy to stay all
>> kind and calm in such a situation.
>>
>> During training, we only practiced in a bakery that was small and quiet.
>> when we sat there and had coffee, he was perfectly still. But there were no
>> people walking by or entering the room. It was just small and quiet so I
>> think there were not many distractions for him.
>>
>> What are your suggestions? What could I do in such situations to make this
>> better? Any idea is very appreciated.
>>
>> greetings from Germany
>> Lisa
>>
>>
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