[nagdu] I gotta go out

[S L Johnson]

Hello:

I realize they will lose some of their house behaviors during their time in 
the kennel.  I think if they have a solid behavior of relieving and letting 
you know, then it will come back to them quicker once they are out of the 
kennel.  I had one dog who would only look at the door to let me know when 
she wanted to go out.  Her puppy raiser said that whenever she looked toward 
the door, she would let her out.  My point is to teach the dogs a non-visual 
cue instead of a visual one.  If we knew how our dogs were taught in their 
puppy homes, then we could immediately implement the same training and 
behavior expectations once we get them home.  Of course, there is no 
guaranty it will make any difference but, it might help.  It is always very 
obvious to me when my new dogs had a learned behavior of indicating when 
they needed to go out.  Most of my dogs were completely off leash from the 
day we got home and have never had any accidents in the house.  One 
suggestion for Tracy is to shut your bedroom door so Krokus cannot wander 
all over the house.  You will hear him better if he is right there in your 
bedroom.  I've done this with some of my previous dogs until they learned to 
let me know when they needed out.  I've never had to stick with a very 
strict schedule once my dogs learned to inform me of their needs.  This is 
good because our lives do not always run according to a set schedule.  Due 
to health issues I have many days when I may sleep in or when I am not able 
to get the dog out as quickly so, having consistent training gives me the 
assurance they will give me notice if they need to go out.  I find in the 
hot weather that my dogs will need to go out more often because they are 
drinking more water, especially after we've spent time playing or working 
outside in the heat.  I know how frustrating house breaking problems can be. 
A few of my previous dogs almost got sent back to the school because they 
kept using my living room carpet as their relief spot.  Fortunately with 
consistent training, they soon learned to ring the bells or small wind 
chimes hanging on the door knob.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Raven Tolliver via nagdu
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2015 3:26 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Raven Tolliver
Subject: Re: [nagdu] I gotta go out

Debby,
Agreed.
Also remember that these dogs lose 60% of their house training while
they live in the kennels. In the kennels, the dogs don't have to
notify anyone that they need to relieve. They are on an extremely
strict schedule. They are relieved and fed at the same times everyday
for 4 to 6 months. So even if puppy-raisers taught the dogs a way to
signify that they need to go out, there's high probability they won't
retain the behavior.

Puppy-raisers do a lot of great work, but it is impossible for these
dogs to come out of the kennels the same dogs they were when they
entered. Sometimes, these changes are easily reversible, and other
times, they're permanent, but might be better on some days than
others.
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

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 8/8/15, Debby Phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> But here's the thing.  When we get them, they are not fully grown
> yet.  They are still a bit puppyish.  They have spent time in the
> kennels before we get them, so they do have to relearn some of
> their house manners again.  I don't really know what the answer
> is, because if we got them when they were a bit older, say 2-1/2
> or 3, then that would cut down on the working life time for many
> of the dogs.  I know that you have done a great job with Krokus,
> Tracy.  But even Nova, who is much more mellow than Neena was,
> still does puppy things on occasion.  My dog Maxy (that is, my
> first dog) was almost 3 when I got her.  The first night home
> with her she tried to roll in some cat poop.  Now that was a real
> thrill, since she was my first dog, and I had no experience
> really of dogs doing stuff like that.  (Except for Bozo the
> Beagle, and I don't have time to tell that story now).  And it
> probably isn't relevant to this list anyway.
>
> Anyway, my point is this: we can have high expectations of our
> dogs, and should.  But they are dogs, and they will have
> accidents, chew stuff, get into things.  In all the lectures at
> Seeing Eye about going home, the vet lecture, etc.  this was
> stressed, that they may be highly trained Seeing Eye dogs, but
> they are still dogs, and the nature of dogs is to do certain
> things.    Debby and Nova
>
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