[nagdu] Theft prevention WAS Re: restaurants and cafes

[Tami Jarvis]

Jennifer,

Mitzi was so naturally reserved around strangers that I was able to just 
reinforce that tendency, then teach her to interact with specific 
strangers with permission or a request that she do so. Later in her 
career she lightened up and turned into kind of a floozy, especially 
after I got the puppy. I guess she figured if I was going to be a 
two-timer like that, then she could flirt, too! /lol/ Loki is a born 
lover. The entire human race is his friend, even if he hasn't seen them 
for a bit. So he needs to say hi every time he meets a friend he hasn't 
seen for awhile. If they are going the other way, he thinks we should 
turn around and walk with them for awhile. /lol/ He's mostly past it and 
is learning the "controlled greet" where if people ask and he is waiting 
nicely, he can say hi. The fact that people can't resist reaching for 
the topknot is increasing his reserve, since reaching with the palm down 
over a dog's head is not comfortable for the dog. People will be doing 
that to him, so he has to learn to deal, but it's also nice that he 
isn't actively seeking the interaction so much these days.

We haven't yet been around folks giving him commands while we're on the 
go. With Mitzi, what I would do when someone would forget and tell her 
which way to go was to wait a beat to repeat the command, then reward 
her for obeying me. Or I would give a counter command. So if someone 
said, "Mitzi, left," I would say, "Mitzi, halt," wait a beat, then give 
the left command. And so forth. I'll be doing the same with Loki at some 
point.

I'm not sure what the schools do, since their dogs are raised and 
trained by several people before they're matched with the handler 
they're supposed to obey exclusively.

hth,

Tami

On 07/18/2015 09:17 PM, Jennifer Woods via nagdu 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.
>