[nagdu] age of guide dog maturity

Thu Apr 2 02:23:59 UTC 2015

Hi John well there are different ways to help when others come to your door.
My last guide dog was always there and trying to meet anyone and so when I
received Kiara last November I have done things differently.

I first if anyone else is here let them answer and have Kiara come to me and
I reward her and then get her to sit and watch who is at the door or if I am
somewhere else in house she stays with me.

If I am the only one she comes to front door and I make her sit and stay
reward and then open door and if after a short time reward again and this is
how I have got her to settle down. Now one day she just wouldn't listen and
into the kennel she went and stayed there for a while and she has never done
anything at the door since and we have been home about 4 and 1/2 months and
she isn't two years old yet. 

John you have to come up with a way that you feel that works for you and it
isn't always easy with a young partner but just remember you start the way
you want to go on. Now if the first idea you try doesn't work try another
and you will get there.

I did set her up with using the leash on her for the first month and then
when I had the way I wanted her to be at the door or in the house I then did
take away the leash and then she knew what I wanted and we can do it like I
want. I don't know if you food reward but I found this worked but there is
other ways you can reward and that is your choice.

I hope you two will just get through it and I believe you will as I have
seen you ask questions and others have given good ideas and. I find each dog
will take one year to settle in with us and some sooner and I had one who
took the 15 months to just feel like they're part of me and my family and
health problems retired him and it just seemed like we were a team.

Louise and her Princess Kiara 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf of John Sanders via
nagdu
Sent: April 1, 2015 12:05 PM
To: Daryl Marie; NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] age of guide dog maturity

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 > >> _______________________________________________ > nagdu
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