[nagdu] Two weeks with Taylor - Update

Sun Oct 19 15:33:07 UTC 2014

Hey everyone!

Buddy, I have to say, I still have my training harness. The trainer will
send me a new harness, leashes and collar sometime soon. He has to order
them and therefore can't really say when this will be. Until then, I still
have my training harness. As far as I know, the harnesses should be white. 
However, i've seen black ones in online shops so I don't really know if it 
is only recommended or required.

Nicole, I'm very pleased to hear that my way of reacting on Taylor's 
different behaviour seems to be okay. :-) You can send me a list of pros and 
cons of corrections and redirections via pm if you'd like to. My address is:
dreamymarmot93 at yahoo.de

And thanks to all of you who are reading my messages and are interested in 
how we are developing as a team. :-)

Lisa

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Valerie Gibson via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2014 8:33 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Two weeks with Taylor - Update

> Lisa,
>
> congrats!  You seem to be managing your dog well.
>
> In regards to correction and redirection, what was before said is true.
> Though, I try nto to think of one as better than the other.  What works
> for one dog, may not work for another.  For example, depending on the
> destraction or my dog's mood for that day, I might use correction or
> sometimes redirection.
>
> Starting off with redirection, as you're doing, is good.  It's for the
> more stubborn hard heads that you might want to use correction, but I'd
> not fear that with your furry friend.
>
> Sometimes a dog's drive just gets so high that it won't focus on you to
> even give the redirection. That's where a "Hey, I'm talking to you"
> correction comes into play.
>
> Keep up the good work. :)
> On Oct 13, 2014, at 11:17 PM, Danielle Antoine via nagdu
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Congrats Lisa AND TAYLOR. It SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALL ARE BOTH DOING
>> WONDERFUL. KeepUP THE GOOD WORK.
>>
>> Danielle
>>
>> On 10/13/14, Nicole Torcolini via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Lisa,
>>>
>>> Yes, and it is so funny when they do their little happy dance or
>>> whatever
>>> it is to indicate that they are happpy. Lexia sticks her nose in the
>>> aiir
>>> and wags her tail. As far as redirection versus correction, it sounds as
>>> though you are primarily using what many handlers refer to as
>>> redirection.
>>> Redirection involves refocusing the dog in a way that is usually neutral
>>> or
>>> positive whereas corrections are generally thought of as negative..
>>> Corrections can be thought of as communicating to your dog the idea of
>>> stop
>>> or no. Redirecction is more like teling your to do something else
>>> instead.
>>> Let me know if that did not make sense. Also, let me know if youu would
>>> like
>>> me to give you a summary of the pros and cons of both techniques and
>>> examples of where each one would/would not work well.
>>>
>>> Nicole
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Oct 13, 2014, at 9:32 AM, Lisa <dreamymarmot93 at yahoo.de> wrote:
>>>
>>> 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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>>>
>>>
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>>
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