[nagdu] FYI: akitas

Sun Sep 14 12:17:30 UTC 2014

Here are my thoughts.  I'm writing them as they come to me as I read the 
article.

On biting...I think biting should be so far down the list of possible 
reactions of a guide dog to a situation that it it barely registers.   I 
just had this discussion with my Mom last week.  she thinks my dogs would 
bite someone if they assaulted me.  Interestingly she has never met Jetta, 
so I'm not sure how she came to that conclusion.  Monty would not bite.  I 
am as sure as I can be about that.  I haven't had Jetta long enough to know 
how she might react and we are still in the bonding stage, so her views 
toward me are still changing.  I don't think she'd bite either.  Her 
reaction to danger is to move away from it.   She will bark though, and oh 
my lord, her bark is enough to scare the pee right out of you.  I think the 
bark is where Dobermans get their reputation.

Jetta and Monty wrestle and play pretty rowdy on a regular basis.  they chew 
on each others faces and neither of them is ever injured.   they both know 
how much biting is acceptable in play and do not overstep it.   With toys 
they are both careful of my hands when taking a toy, playing tug, etc.  I 
have been grazed by the accidental tooth from time to time, but they 
immediately realize their mistake and correct their behavior without me 
saying anything.

On submissiveness...I think all guide dogs should be willing to take 
direction and submit to the person's authority.  However I don't think guide 
dogs have to be submissive.  It really depends on the owner.  If you have a 
super soft handler, they are going to need a more submissive dog.  If you 
have a handler who takes charge and can handle a fair bit of testing by the 
dog, then a more dominant dog will be just fine.

On children,  I think all guide dogs should be tolerant of children.  I 
don't think they necessarily have to like them though.  Monty doesn't like 
little kids.  Probably because there have been little kids that weren't all 
that nice to him.  He doesn't do anything bad around them though.  He just 
keeps an eye on them and moves out of their reach.  I extremely rarely let 
little kids interact with him and only if he shows that he's okay with them. 
Older kids he does great with.  I teach at an after school program for 11-13 
year olds and Monty goes with me to that. Jetta seems to like little kids, 
but I have to watch her closely because she has a tendency to lick.

strangers...I think guide dogs absolutely, no hesitation, have to be 
accepting of all strangers no matter what their appearance, color, use of 
mobility devices, wearing hats, with beards etc.  I work in criminal justice 
and there are a lot of people with odd behaviors, strange hair do's,   who 
are nervous or overly animated...it doesn't matter, I have to have a dog who 
will not react to any of it.

Confidence...a guide dog absolutely, positively has to be at ease in 
unfamiliar situations.  this is perhaps the hallmark of good socialization. 
Guide dogs have to be calm and collected to do their job properly and that 
comes directly from the ability to be okay in new places.

Trainability...all dogs are trainable...yes, even Beagles!   You just have 
to find the method that works best for that particular dog and give them 
enough repetitions for it to stick.  that varies a lot from dog to dog, but 
I have never met a dog who couldn't be trained.   How trainable a guide dog 
needs to be  depends on the time and patience of the trainer.

Strange noises...ditto to strange people and strange situations.  I do think 
a brief startle response is totally acceptable to a loud and unexpected 
noise.  However how quickly the dog bounces back from that startle is 
crucially important.  Ideally I want the startle and recovery to happen 
extremely quickly, like 1 to 2 seconds.

On an independent  nature...I I guess I'm not sure about this one.  think it 
might be difficult for this dog to be successful as a guide.  It is the 
close bond with the person that is at the core of a good working team. I 
suppose a dog who is mostly independent, but is still somehow bonded to his 
person could work effectively as a guide.  I think this is the key reason 
why certain breeds are used for guides and others are avoided.  There are 
dogs within independent breeds that could work out, but the breed as a whole 
is unlikely to do well as a guide dog. I think the breeds where the dog is 
highly bonded to the person and looks to the person for direction are going 
to be the best guides.

On protection...I do not think guide dogs should be protective in a physical 
way.  I do think barking is acceptable in some circumstances.  I do think it 
is acceptable for a guide dog to look at people intensely.   Monty gives 
people what I call the death ray eyeballs.  they move, so he has learned 
what works and uses it.   The herding breeds are known for their ability to 
manage sheep through eye contact alone.  Why not use that skill in guiding? 
anyway, I spoke about protection a bit above so I'll leave it at what I have 
already said.

Acceptance of other dogs...I think a guide dog needs to be tolerant of other 
dogs.  I expect my dogs to ignore other dogs while in harness.  Out of 
harness I expect that they will either play, ignore or otherwise 
appropriately interact with other dogs.  I do not allow interactions with 
totally obnoxious dogs.   I don't expect my dogs to be best of friends with 
every other dog on the planet, but I do expect that they will conduct 
themselves in a respectable manner.

So there's my $2.02!
Julie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Valerie Gibson via nagdu
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 12:40 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] FYI: akitas

Hi,

Some of you might not are about this...okay, most of you may not care about 
this, but I found an article a couple of months ago that I found really 
fascinating.  It pertains to the akita because it's written by an akita 
breeder, but one could apply some of the points in this article to any dog.
For anyone who likes reading up on dogs behavior, pack structure, etc, or 
for those who have nothing better to do, you might enjoy this read.  It's 
kind of a long article, but it will give you an idea on the relationship 
between dogs and your home and the akita breed.
I'd be curious to hear your feedback on it. I've never had a golden 
retriever, but i have family who has one.  I've never had a lab as a guide 
dog, but had one as a pet. I'm curious how such a dog compares to your dog 
in regards to working, temprament, what do you think of the author's point 
of view, etc.

As I said, I love talking about dogs, and i think this article is a good 
one.

http://www.tamarlane.com/akitatemp.htm
_______________________________________________
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/julielj%40neb.rr.com

-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.2247 / Virus Database: 4015/7707 - Release Date: 09/13/14 