[nagdu] Theft prevention WAS Re: restaurants and cafes

Sun Jul 19 05:02:14 UTC 2015

Hi Jennifer,
I only requested a golden, nothing more specific than that.
I personally taught my dog to ignore other people. I was extremely
selfish with him when I first came home with him. I kept him on leash
for 2 weeks in the house, and did not allow anyone to play with or
interact with my dog without giving him a go-ahead, and giving the
person the go-ahead. So my dog had to listen for 2 words before anyone
could interact with him. If he tried to interact with a person before
I gave the go-ahead, I had  my family member ignore him, or I removed
him from that situation by leading him away. I removed the reward for
interacting with others without my permission while on-leash.
After a few weeks, I had my family members call to my dog, making
kissy noises, whistling, shaking food, and throwing food at him while
I did obedience routines. I taught him to ignore all this by using
high value rewards and redirecting his behavior. If he tried to go for
them or catch any food, I made everyone stop and leave the room or
ignore him. This way, going toward all that nonsense was not rewarding
for him.

Then, I started doing all this off leash. I wanted to trust that if I
left my dog somewhere in a down-stay, he would be in that position
when I got back. So I repeated the same things as before with him
off-leash but close by. The better he was able to stay in place, the
more I increased the distance between him and I. As I increased the
distance, I had my family tone down the nonsense each time, then kick
it up when he showed he could handle the basic stuff.
For instance, if I was ten feet away and my family started throwing
food at him and he would try to catch it, I had them go back to just
calling to him, "Hey, doggie, dogie. Hey buddy!" If he couldn't handle
that, I'd reduce it to just kissy noises and whistling. When he
stopped responding to them, I had them increase their distractions.
Hopefully, that makes sense.

Then I started doing this with me out of the room and out of sight.
That was really hard because once all the bs started, he would
immediately come running to find me. That was cool because at least he
didn't go toward the nutty, attention-getting people. But at the same
time, I really wanted him to stay no matter what.
I incorporated periods of time into the mix. How long could this crap
go on for before he decided to run to find me? He could tolerate it
for a good 30 seconds. So I scaled it down to 20 seconds. After 20
seconds, I ducked in the room, and went to him for petting, praise,
and some treats for staying and being a good boy. After several
repetitions, I increased the time increments by 20 seconds, 60
seconds, and so on.

This took about 2 weeks of several times daily training sessions. It
was probably some nutty version of doggie avoidance training boot
camp, but he made it without quitting on me so he's a trooper. I did
all of that without knowing much about the ins and outs of dog
training. But I did a lot of thinking hard and thinking of how I could
work with my dog's limits on what he could and couldn't handle. I
thought a lot about how to expand what he could handle, and how to do
it in a rewarding way.

I also had my friends do some of this when I went to college. I wanted
him to know that no matter where we were, he needed to focus on what I
said more than anyone else. It worked.
I also don't disclose my dog's name to most people in public. He
responds very well to his name, and I don't want people calling to
him, or telling other people who might call to him. I can tell people
at work because employees at a guide dog school won't interact with my
dog physically or verbally without my permission because there's
working dogs that we all know all over the place.
-- 
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 7/19/15, Jennifer Woods via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Is having the dog ignore other people a specific thing that you requested
> from the school? Do you have people give you verbal directions and then you
> give them to your dog?
>
> Thanks
> Jennifer
>
>
>
> On May 16, 2015, at 1:40 PM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
> Yes, the Golden Guy is much like Mitzi in that way -- very velcro. If
> someone other than me picks up his leash, he is not tagging along
> willingly. Even if I hand the leash to someone else, he will not walk
> off with them. A former roommate of mine could not take him out for
> relieving until about 2 weeks after we had lived with her. And even
> then, he would not go outside with her all of the time.
> If one of my family members or friends engages him in play, he will
> not play with them until I give him the cue "go play." Only then will
> he run after them, play tug, or whatever.
> I worked very hard from the beginning of our relationship to ensure my
> dog would look to me for direction. I never thought about theft, but I
> wanted a dog that would not listen to just anyone. I wanted him to
> pretty much ignore other people, and to understand that I am the sole
> leader and provider. He'll listen to others now, but it is extremely
> inconsistent tending toward not listening most of the time. I don't
> have a problem with that. But the Golden Guy is not a dog that needs
> much ordering around.
> --
> 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 5/16/15, Tami Jarvis via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Debby,
>>
>> You are not the only paranoid about theft. I used to worry a lot, then
>> realized that anyone trying to walk off with Mitzi would be in for a big
>> surprise. She's overboard with the velcro, and I had to work with her to
>> get her to agree to let even her best human friends to hold her leash. I
>> made sure to let groomers and vet techs know that they needed to wait
>> for me to hand them her leash before she would go with them. Most
>> actually understand when I explain why. Even if I'm spaced off sitting
>> at the bus stop in the noisy city, no one can just sneak off with the
>> nice poodle without my noticing.
>>
>> Then there's Mr. Friendly... I'm teaching him not to go off with the
>> groomer or the folks at the vet's office until I hand them the leash in
>> the hopes he will get the idea not to go off with whichever long lost
>> best friend wants to take him for a walk while I'm not looking. He's
>> pretty velcro, too, so that should help. I hope he's not such a pain as
>> Mitzi if I want to go for a swim or something and leave him with a
>> friend at the side of the pool, but I do want to teach him not to go off
>> with strangers just because they smile pretty and have their hands on
>> his leash.
>>
>> For restaurants, I do what most people do, it seems, and clip the leash
>> around my leg so I will feel if there's any disturbance. Poodles are
>> notoriously fidgety, especially if there's a lot going on that they
>> can't watch, so being able to feel movement helps with training them to
>> stay settled or to settle them back down. I'm using what I learned from
>> Mitzi to get a head start with Loki, so by the time he's working in
>> restaurants, I'll be able to eat and enjoy from the beginning.
>>
>> Tami
>>
>>
>>> On 05/16/2015 06:58 AM, Debby Phillips via nagdu wrote:
>>> Okay call me paranoid but even though my dog lies quietly at my feet, I
>>> always try to have hold of the Leash so that nobody can steal my dog.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On May 15, 2015, at 11:23 PM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu
>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> When I first got my golden, I looped the short leash over my knee.
>>>> He just crashes when I'm sitting though, so I usually just drop the
>>>> leash, lay it across his back, or weave it through the harness.
>>>> Sometimes, I will sit with the leash looped around my ankle. He just
>>>> sleeps, so I make sure I know where the leash is in case I need to
>>>> grab it at a moment's notice.
>>>> I position him under the chair, beside the chair if they have the
>>>> horizontal bars between the legs, or in front of my feet if I am
>>>> sitting on a couch or booth. I do as much as I can to keep him out of
>>>> the way and out of the sight of others.
>>>> I always love it when my friends say they forgot my dog was even with
>>>> us, or if other customers or the waitress comment that they didn't
>>>> even know a dog was in here.
>>>> --
>>>> 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 5/15/15, Sonja O via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>> For hands free, over the shoulder styles, I would check out bold lead
>>>>> design.
>>>>> They can make you custom ones.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://boldleaddesigns.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Or you can contact karen with lds leather.
>>>>> Either way, they got nice leads.
>>>>> Best, sonja and chief :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>
>>>>>> On May 15, 2015, at 6:06 AM, Darla J. Rogers via nagdu
>>>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear rox,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Where do you obtain a hands-free leash?  This sounds like the ticket
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> me
>>>>>> since holding mu foot on the leash isn't always easy because of some
>>>>>> nerve
>>>>>> damage.
>>>>>> Darla & the Mighty Nose of Missouri
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Darla J. Rogers M.S.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Djrogers0628 at gmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself."
>>>>>> ¯ Wayne W. Dyer
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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