[nagdu] Revolving Paw

Julie J. julielj at neb.rr.com
Wed Apr 1 12:25:44 UTC 2015 

Being a guide dog is a job and like a job for people, you can retire, quit, 
get fired or work.  with guide dogs we tend to call it retirement, maybe 
because it sounds nice.  Call it whatever you like, guiding is not for every 
dog.  some dogs change their mind and sometimes stuff happens to make 
continuing a bad idea.  Age isn't a factor in every decision.

Ideas on your leash and paw situation...these are just off the top of my 
head, in no particular order and may or may not be helpful.

What if you switched the leash to the other side?  Generally guides work on 
the left and we hang the leash on their right side, nearest to us, but you 
could easily put the leash on the other side so he can't reach it with the 
same paw.  He could just use the other one, but it's an extremely easy thing 
to try.

Have you tried using treats for motivation?  Maybe he needs a little more 
encouragement to get him going?

What if you double back the way you just came from?  Would he pick up the 
pace and stop with the paw thing?  If so this is an indication that there is 
an issue with where you are going.  Maybe it's boring or he has associated 
it with some traumatic event.  Sometimes what dogs view as traumatic is not 
anything we might see as an issue.

What happens if you just wait?  Maybe it takes 5 minutes, but eventually 
he'll probably get bored of standing there messing with the leash and decide 
that getting going would be better.  It takes patience and you'd have to 
plan this intervention when you had the time, but again it's an easy thing 
to do.

Could you shorten the leash so he can't get a paw on it?  Turn his collar so 
the leash attaches at the center at the back of his neck, keep the leash 
straight down his back and held in your fingers with no slack.  Unless he 
has some extra joints this should prevent messing with the leash.

You could try mixing up where you go.  Some dogs get bored with the same 
routes all the time.  Even if you cross the street, walking in the same 
direction on the other side, it can seem like a different route to the dog.

My new dog, Jetta, sometimes does the paw thing when I'm using the Gentle 
Leader.  I just stand and wait for her to realize it isn't going to work. 
For her this only takes ten seconds or so, but her issue isn't not wanting 
to work.

the bigger and underlying issue is the refusal to work.  The pawing at the 
leash is just a symptom of the bigger problem.  If you can figure out what 
keeps him from wanting to work and eliminating it or if you can figure out 
what motivates him to work through it, you'll be fine.

HTH
Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now 
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
Visit my new website on developing courage and living authentically:
http://www.falling-up.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kristen Steele via nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 6:57 AM
To: Vivianna ; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Revolving Paw

Corvette has just turned 5 and is not near old enough to retire. His
work is excellent once you get him going, and the paw issue is not all
the time. Corvette is a very safe guide; he would never place me in
harm. He has always put his paw on my lap or even held my hand with it
as a form of affection or when he is unsure. I have been a bit lax on
obedience lately; since the weather around here is warming up, I will
work more with him on practicing commands and listening. I'm hoping
obedience will help to correct the issue but was just checking to see
if anyone else had ever experienced a similar problem.
--
Kristen

On 4/1/15, Vivianna via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Kristen,
> I agree, call the school.
> a dog that refuses to guide does not a guide dog make.
> what if you are alone?  you say you are having to take a sighted person’s
> arm?  what kind of independence is that?
> i had a dog that quit working once.  one day, he just refused to go 
> forward.
>  unfortunately, i was out on the street alone.  i had to find my way home
> dragging him along.  he never worked again.  just refused.
> since dog’s can not talk to us, they have other ways of telling us things.
> you may have to respect his wishes and retire him.  he does not sound like 
> a
> safe guide and, your safety is important.
> it’s hard to hear, and, hard to take but, what else can you do?
> sorry.
>
> Vivianna
>
>> On Mar 31, 2015, at 9:17 PM, S L Johnson via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Kristen,
>>
>> It sounds like he is really stressed about something.  It is time you
>> called
>> your school for help.  Don't wait, things might get a lot worse.
>>
>> Sandra
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kristen via nagdu
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 7:55 PM
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nagdu] Revolving Paw
>>
>> Hi, everyone--
>>
>> Lately, Corvette is being stubborn at times and using his paw to
>> his advantage when he doesn't want to go forward. Often, he will
>> put his front, right paw up on his leash--which I am holding
>> horizontally (usually on top of his harness)--not allowing him to
>> move. He will sit in place in that position at a standstill. When
>> I grab his paw in an attempt to put it back on the ground, it
>> will only "revolve" and immediately goes back to the exact, same
>> spot again. This happens both on and off the lead. The revolving
>> paw used to only occur when he was nervous at an unfamiliar
>> place, but it now happens more and more frequently, even at
>> familiar places or when I am taking him outside our front door to
>> relieve or be groomed. I've tried to refocus him with a
>> "Corvette, forward" command; however, I usually have to resort to
>> grabbing a sighted guide and walking with them while holding onto
>> him until he goes forward on his own. Any suggestions/tips?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> --
>> Kristen
>>
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>
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