[nagdu] Two weeks with Taylor - Update

[Lisa]

Hey Nicole,

yes, when Taylor finds this particular gate, I praise him and he is so happy 
about that everytime.
Hm, I'm not exactly sure what correction and redirection practically mean... 
When I notice that he is getting distracted but is still kind of 
concentrated, I tell him "Forward" and then he's back to his task most of 
the time. But when he's really distracted and pulling and going elsewhere, I 
often stop for a moment to get myself orientated and him focused again and 
then I show him our direction and start walking again. Leash corrections 
have been shown to me but I try to avoid them so far because I figured that 
my other corrections are working fine as well.

take care
Lisa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nicole Torcolini" <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
To: "'Lisa'" <dreamymarmot93 at yahoo.de>; "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National 
Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2014 9:32 PM
Subject: RE: [nagdu] Two weeks with Taylor - Update


> Lisa,
>
> Glad that things are going well. Luckily, Lexia does not destroy
> things that are not toys, but she definitely  does a number on those 
> ropes,
> which, for some silly reason, she likes more than the other toys. I am 
> glad
> to hear that he likes to work. When he gets distraction, do you use
> corrections, redirection, or some combination of both? When he finds the
> gate, do you praise him?
>
> Nicole and Lexia who will destroy certain toys
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa via nagdu
> Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2014 10:42 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] Two weeks with Taylor - Update
>
> Hello everyone!
>
> Now it's been two weeks since Taylor and I graduated from guide dog
> training.
> Those two weeks have been both exhausting and incredibly fun.
> By now, we have destroyed one toy (a rope with two knots that now consists
> of a thousand single strings), figured that this dog tries to chew on
> EVERYTHING that he can find, including our wardrobe, soap, plastic bags,
> shoes, paper, bottles just to name a few items. But I got him some 
> obviously
> delicious chew bones of cowhide and his behaviour inside the apartment is
> getting better literally day by day.
> His guiding is flawless as it has been during training and it is so great 
> to
> work him. When I take the harness, he is so excited and happy. And other
> dogs, children and most of the other things you face outside don't 
> distract
> him. Only when people start looking at him too fascinated or dare to say
> something, he starts pulling like crazy. But I was able to correct him and
> get him focused again anytime so far.
>
> The last few days, we've been working on finding a certain entrance. 
> There's
> a building I have to go to quite often and when I was still using my cane, 
> I
> could find it easily. But now that the dog is on my left side, I cannot 
> look
> at the different stones there anymore. So I wanted to show Taylor the 
> right
> gate and then make him remember it. I now have a command for this gate and 
> I
> was so astonished how incredibly fast he learned it. We went there several
> times now just to practice it and by now, he guides me to the gate
> everytime. I'm so proud of him.
>
> Furthermore, the school made him sleep in his crate in a seperate room 
> with
> the door closed during the night. I thought it was quite reasonable during
> training, so we all would get some proper sleep. But now since training is
> over, I had the wish to have him around me during the night as I have 
> during
> daytime. So one evening, I didn't tell him to go in his room. At first, he
> was totally confused and started running around and playing in the bed 
> room.
> When he was still up at 1 AM and started eating the carpet, I decided to
> give him one more night on his own. ;-) But since the evening after this, 
> he
> has been sleeping on his blanket in our bed room so quietly and 
> peacefully.
> This is just awesome. So we are much closer and he is much more involved 
> in
> our everyday life.
>
> Okay, I think this is enough for now. Let me say once again that I'm 
> really
> happy to be here on the list because I already learnt a lot from your
> e-mails!
>
> take care and greetings from Germany
> Lisa
>
>
>
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