[nagdu] age of guide dog maturity

Wed Apr 1 22:19:04 UTC 2015

John,

If you can coach your company to ignore her while she is excited, that's 
the best cure. You may also want to set a boundary and have her sit 
there before you open the door, practicing this before going out for 
awhile until she can sit and wait until you release her to come to the 
door with you. Having a friend come to the door while you work with 
Molly in staying calm can help, too. Another option is to put her in 
another room until she calms down, then let her out and give her 
attention and let the company give her attention. If she gets excited 
then, everyone can just look away from her until she settles, then you 
can all look at her and smile. The goal of the behaviors you are 
describing is nearly always attention, so simply withholding or giving 
attention is the easiest way to modify the behavior. WHen other people 
are involved, it really helps if they can follow your game plan until 
Molly learns good greeting manners. That's what has worked best for us.

hth,

Tami

On 04/01/2015 12:04 PM, John Sanders via nagdu wrote:
> Hi,
> she has shown me that she can be trusted off leash.
> That's correct.
> She will also get excited when company is at the door.
> She will start doing circles.
> I'm trying to work with her on not doing that.
> how should I go about fixing this?
> I hope to hear from you soon.
> Sincerely,
> John an the always beautiful, always gorgeous but when company is at the
> door exciting Mollie!
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Daryl Marie via nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 2:45 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity
>
> John,
>
> The rule we set with Jenny was she was not allowed to jump, period.  If
> we were playing and she jumped, should say "No jumping", even as she was
> still in the air, so she knew that behavior was NOT ok.  I would turn my
> back and/or drop whatever toy we played with, and playtime was over for
> a while. I would always pick up the toy again later and try playing
> again, and she learned quickly that playtime continued if she didn't
> jump.  I think I only had to do it twice.
>
> Has Molly shown that she is not trustworthy off-leash in your home?  If
> I remember correctly, you've had her for three months or so, right?  At
> this point, she should be familiar enough with you and your rules that
> she should be OK off-leash.  My concern is that she might be acting out
> because you sound like you don't trust her to behave...
>
> Daryl
> ----- Original Message ----- From: Pam 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
> 12:11:42 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity  hi
> john. do u always keep a leash on her when she's in the house with u
> too? i've always heard if u r playing with a dog and they start to jump
> on u just to turn away and stop playing with them straight away so she
> should learn if she starts to jump then no more play time. but maybe
> someone else will have better advice. Sent from my iPhone > On 1 Apr
> 2015, at 18:59, John Sanders via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote: > > Hi,
>  > every time I try to play with her; she thinks that it's a good idea
> to jump on me. > I tell her"Mollie no!". > If I keep on letting her jump
> on me while she still a puppy, it will most likely carry on to older
> stage. > How should I go about making her stop the jumping? > I always
> keep the leash on her. > is that a good thing to do? > I hope to hear
> from you soon. > Sincerely, > John Sanders > > > > > -----Original
> Message----- From: Danielle Sykora via nagdu > Sent: Wednesday, April
> 01, 2015 1:16 PM > To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of
> Guide Dog Users > Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity > > I
> completely agree with this. A tired dog is most definitely a happy, >
> well-behaved dog. My dog is extremely energetic so he needs to work >
> and/or play a lot in order to be tired. If you know you are going >
> somewhere where Molly will likely be distracted or have to lay down >
> for longer periods of time, it might be helpful to give her some >
> playtime before you leave to take the edge off her energy. > > Danielle
> and Thai > >> On 4/1/15, Daryl Marie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>  >> 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 > >>
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