[nagdu] Blind man's bluff, or is it buff?--lol

Wed Aug 12 15:10:04 UTC 2015

Now talking about balls and games and such.
Picture the scene, yes guys, I love that phrase--lol.
Middlebury college, 1998, Japanese language summer course attended by Dan W.
and dog numero dos, Evan.
They had this activity where you played traditional sports or games in
Japanese.
There was one game that I suppose was sort of like blind man's buff.
You had a watermelon and you were supposed to use a wooden stick to smash
the ripe watermelon or at least hit it and cut it. Problem is you were left
in the middle of this field and you didn't know where the watermelon was so
you had to find it before anyone else did.

Since we were all blind supposedly,they were all wearing sleep shades and
guess who wasn't, me nothing blinder than a totally blind guy--lol,  your
team was supposed to  make   a code word that meant hotter as in you're
getting hotter you're getting closer.
The code word they thought of for me was Dan, very creative--lol.
I had a member of the audience hold Evan while I started out but as  Evan
heard people saying "dan dan dan" no" no no "oh dan dan Dan" Evan apparently
kept looking at me as if to say "what are these guys, nuts?--lol.

I won by the way, but I think the only thing I won was a high five--smile.
Not really that much related but I like the story so I'm telling it.

Dan W. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaye Kipp via
nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 10:23 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Kaye Kipp; 'Julie J.'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Arbitrary restrictions on playing with future guide
dogs

Speaking of tennis balls, I was at a function where one of the activities
was bouncing tennis balls in time to music.  The balls were all different
colors.  My dog, Donna got really stupid.  Oh my.  She must have thought she
was in doggy tennis ball heaven.  I had to leave the room.  About 20 balls
bouncing right in front of her nose was just too much.

Kaye

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Coleman
via nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 5:44 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Ashley Coleman; 'Julie J.'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Arbitrary restrictions on playing with future guide
dogs

Hi all
I thought I would throw my thoughts in as well. 

Landon loves to fetch and tug. He especially loves tennis balls. 
When he is not working, one of the first toys he will bring to me is a
tennis ball. I usually have several of them where ever I am, at school and
at my parents. 
At school, we walk by tennis courts daily and Landon may glance at them, but
he will keep walking. We see people walking around bouncing all kinds of
balls and he'll look, but that is about it. 

Raven, do these same restrictions get passed on to the school's students as
well? 
Thanks for bringing up a great topic. :) -----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J. via
nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 7:10 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Julie J.
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Arbitrary restrictions on playing with future guide
dogs

I let my dogs play with whatever they can handle.  Monty has aged out of his
hard chewing, so he can have stuffed toys, balls, rope toys...just about
anything.  Jetta still likes to destroy toys, so she is limited to hard
rubber things for now.  I'm not opposed to her having other toys at some
point if she is able.

I also play with my dogs with tennis balls, although they require
supervision because they like to eat the fuzz.  If we pass by tennis courts
and people are playing, Monty will glance at them, but it doesn't interfere
with his work.  I don't think Jetta even glances or not that I've noticed.

I play tug games with them.  I think it's important to have rules.  With tug
the rule is that the toy is mine and if I say give, I mean give.  If the dog
gets too rowdy I have them give me the toy and we take a break.  I have a
hard time with tug because of my hands so we don't play it as much anymore.

Monty plays Frisbee.  It is one of his most favorite things.  Once the
neighbor dog wandered over to play too.  I took turns, throwing it for one
dog then the other.  They both had a good time.  Yes, this was in the front
yard, no leash and no fence and the neighbor dog was never confined that I
know of.  I have not played Frisbee with Jetta since she is not ready for
unfenced areas with no leash.

I play fetch with both of them nearly daily.  I have played fetch with every
dog I've ever had.  Some of them were more into it than others, but they all
played fetch to some degree.  I haven't noticed any connection between
playing fetch and chasing after small furry things.  The dogs used at guide
dog schools should not have a high prey drive anyway.  Fetching and prey
drive are two separate things.  Retrievers were bred to retrieve, not chase
after small furry things via their prey drive.  Hunters do not want maimed
or half eaten birds.  They want to shoot something and have the dog calmly
and accurately retrieve it, returning it in the same condition they found
it.  A dog with a super intense prey drive can't do that.  There is a vast
difference between a hunting dog and a dog who hunts.  One is trained to
work with humans calmly and efficiently.  The other is eating.

I think what it really comes down to is knowing what your particular dog can
handle.  If you don't have a lot of experience with dogs, you simply may not
know.  In the case of puppy raisers, I suspect the rules are in place so the
puppy raisers don't have to be left wondering if their puppy is okay with a
particular type of toy.  It is easier to make a rule of no tug toys than it
is to provide training on dog behavior.

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
-----Original Message-----
From: Raven Tolliver via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 11:03 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Raven Tolliver
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Arbitrary restrictions on playing with future guide
dogs

But I could use the same argument for my guide dog who has a dog
distraction. Would it make sense to say that his dog distraction comes from
being around other dogs? When they're born, they're around other dogs for 7
to 12 weeks, depending on when the puppy is returned to the school and given
to a raiser. After that, they are around other dogs for training classes,
playdates, etc.

I'm not sure if dogs' different obsessions and distractions stem from games
and toys they've been exposed to. Every dog has different levels and types
of instinct in them, and different dogs prefer some games and toys over
others. I guess I haven't found any factors yet that bring me to the
conclusion that this is in fact a result of games played during puppyhood,
as opposed to something that simply varies from dog to dog and is a part of
individual personalities.

Also, if a person doesn't play fetch or tug with their dog, how else do they
play together? Dogs typically like to play chase as well, but I don't think
people are playing that game with their dogs every time they play together.
I'm asking sincerely. I admit I am far more familiar with pet dog training
than service dog training.
--
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 8/11/15, Vivianna via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
i am just getting her to play ball.  she is 6 years old and, it is very
obvious that she was not taught how to play ball, which is just fine with
me.  we can walk past any park with no problems.
> i think it does depend on the dog but, why create a potential problem 
> for a dog that would do fine without becoming obsessed.
>
> Vivianna
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