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

[Deanna Lewis]

Hi,
Just wanted to weigh in on this... Both of my guide dogs were trained at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and they are very big on the use of food as a primary motivator. The dogs are trained with the clicker and the use of food rewards. The food rewards we use are usually just pieces of kibble, and sometimes something a bit more high value. Pascal was a bit of a scavenger, but was manageable. I better knock on wood, but Mambo is not a scavenger at all, food can fall on the floor right next to his nose and he will ignore it. Since we are a newer team and working on new things, I still use food rewards almost every day. I have cut back some since I've been home. Both dogs love getting their kibble rewards when they are offered, but they are also not food obsessed dogs. Mambo loves working with or without food. 
I really think it depends on the dog, whether he or she is a scavenger. I think food rewards are a good thing, but I also think that some dogs are just too obsessed with food and it's not very practical. 
Deanna and Mambo

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Applebutter Hill via nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2015 10:27 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Applebutter Hill
Subject: Re: [nagdu] What's up with all the scavenging anyhow?

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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