[nagdu] What's up with all the scavenging anyhow?

[Vivianna]

Yes, GDF does treat train.

Vivianna

> On Jul 1, 2015, at 9:26 AM, Applebutter Hill via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Vivianna,
> I didn't realize that the schools were doing this. This is a major step down
> IMO. I can understand the use of treats by a handler if the dog develops
> some sort of aversion based on a bad experience; we recently talked about
> dogs slipping when they jumped into SUV's and not wanting to go to a certain
> location like work. Those incidents are far different  than training a dog
> from scratch using treats. It goes against everything I was ever taught in
> the past with my four guides. I'd like to know if GDF is doing this. And, I
> can't imagine that this practice wouldn't lead to scavenging.
> Donna & Hunter
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vivianna via
> nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2015 1:51 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Vivianna
> Subject: [nagdu] What's up with all the scavenging anyhow?
> 
> ok, here goes a contraversial post.
> i am reading a load of posts about folks having problems with their dogs
> grabbing things off the ground.  it seems that, this is the most common
> problem that folks seem to be having with the second being dog distractions.
> do you think that, since many schools are using food to train the dogs that
> this problem has come up?  i have had several guides and have never had a
> dog try and carry things around.  i also never use food as a reward for my
> dog.
> i am just so totally against feeding my dog treats in order to get her to
> guide me properly.
> from what i read, dogs are grabbing things off the ground while actually
> guiding, while lying on a bus or train, in restaurants, in stores, while
> relieving, etc.
> for me, and, this is just my own preference, i could not work with a dog
> that did this.  i can put up with some behaviors but, this is definitely not
> one of them.
> folks seem to think that it's ok to treat the dog for good behavior and then
> they wonder why he's so focused on food.  i have even had 3 labs and, they
> didn't want to carry things around.
> for a pet, yeah, maybe it's cute to see the dog carrying around toys in
> public, but, a guide dog?  this should be a professionally trained dog doing
> a professional job, looking out for the handler.
> i think that, if the dogs were trained without the use of treats this would
> be way less common.
> this is all only my opinion and things that i, personally could not handle.
> i have probably offended some but, maybe, i may just caused some to think
> about the food-based training a bit.
> 
> Vivianna
> 
> 
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