[nagdu] age of guide dog maturity

[Daryl Marie]

I absolutely second this!  The more you work with Molly, the calmer she will be.  I have found with an energetic dog like Jenny, she needs to either work every day or a really vigorous play session on days where she's not working.  Even IF she is working every day, a really good play helps settle her down.

IMHO, it is not uncommon for a group of guide dogs to feed off of each others' energy; if one of them  (Molly?) gets excited and wants to meet and greet, it is much more likely that some of the others may want to as well.  A friend of mine went to a seminar last weekend where there were seven guide dogs, and they were ALL distracted by each other.  She said it was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen.

So working on obedience with her, working her daily if possible, are great suggestions.

Also, if you remain calm and don't get frustrated with her, even if she's being a bit of a Distracto-Dog, it will go a long way to making these episoes more about learning whta is expected, rather than correcting a problem.

Daryl

----- Original Message ----- From: Tracy Carcione via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> To: 'John Sanders' <starmy22 at gmail.com>, 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org> Sent: Wed, 01 Apr 2015 09:48:26 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity  I agree with Sandy. Molly may just have been excited by seeing other guide dogs. And some other user making snarky comments is not helpful, unless you asked him for his opinion. It's good you're working on obedience. Also, a tired dog is a good dog. I find that young dogs benefit from working every day, if your health and the weather permit. Even working a few blocks is better than nothing; it doesn't have to be a 2 or 3 mile walk. In my experience, working every day helps a dog settle in every way. Good luck. Tracy  -----Original Message----- From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John Sanders via nagdu Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 7:13 PM To: Raven Tolliver; NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity Hi, I was at a blindness employment seminar this weekend. Mollie kept on wanting to get up and walk around. I gave her all kinds of leash corrections and voice commands. I told her "Mollie down!". She didn't listen to me. Today on the way home; one of the people who was there, who does have some sight said that they were observing my dog. And they had said to me that your dog is to young and she was released to soon and your dog isn't ready. I don't want to give up Mollie. I love her to death. She is a quiet dog and that's what I like. Mollie keeps on wanting to stand up and walk around. She won't sit still for very long. I was only at pilot for three weeks of training. Do I need to go back down to pilot for some additional training? I hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, John Sanders  -----Original Message----- From: Raven Tolliver via nagdu Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 4:44 PM To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity John, Large breed dogs, which includes retriever breeds, mature between 2 and 3 years of age. So while your dog is definitely not done growing, whether she is too young to be a guide is determined by you, the person who lives with her strengths, weaknesses, habits, and level of understanding 24-7. If you are having trouble with some behavior, let us know what it is, and we will offer whatever help we can. Many young dogs just require an extra mile of patience and persistence. -- Raven You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you have or what you do. Naturally-reared guide dogs https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs On 3/29/15, Applebutter Hill via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote: > John, > Hunter was 15 months when I got him, and his trainer said he learned > everything the first time he was shown and he didn't think he needed > to stay in training. I had other dogs who were older, and one was 22 > months old, and his was the hardest adjustment, so you never know. I > think it depends on the dog. Are you having problems? > Donna > > -----Original Message----- > From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John > Sanders via nagdu > Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 2:55 PM > To: nagdu at nfbnet.org > Subject: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity > > Hi, > I have a question: my guide dog is only 15 months. > I thought that she was a year; but she isn't. > Is 15 months to young for a dog to be released as a guide dog? > I got my dog from Pilot. > I hope to hear from you soon. > Sincerely, > John Sanders > _______________________________________________ > 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/applebutterhill%40g > mail.c > om > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ravend729%40gmail.c > om > _______________________________________________ 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/starmy22%40gmail.com  _______________________________________________ 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/carcione%40access.net  _______________________________________________ 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/crazymusician%40shaw.ca