[nagdu] follow Command

Wed Jun 10 18:23:32 UTC 2015

Well, one thing I have learned working this dog is that we take baby
steps...  Danielle will understand because she knows I have a beast of
a stubbern Labrador.  :)

I actually had to limit all interaction between my dog and my friends
last winter.  I took it away completely for a few months because of
the following issue as well as him not listening to me, getting too
excited when they were around, etc.  (I only got him a year ago after
all.)

The school suggested this, but they said that I should wait months
before lifting the restrictions.  No, I didn't do that.  We are just
lifting them slowly.  He cannot play with my friends.  For some
reason, he especially gets crazy around my guy friends...  Lol Explain
that one if you can...  After convention, I will try playing with him
and a friend at the same time.  (Not kidding about the baby steps...)

I may eventually integrate following but not until he can get used to
my friends being around while he's working and doesn't turn into spazz
dog every time he sees "any" of them.

I can see him slowly, slowly getting better.  He ignores most of my
female friends while he's working and will come when called if one of
them is petting him while we're hanging out at home.  But the guys...
It's still a work in progress...

I think Danielle, you're doing the right thing with Willa.  Be patient
with the following, and it will come.  Willa is a good girl, and you
are so right that some dogs prefer to follow rather than give up their
guiding control.

Sometimes I feel like I could write the book on second dog syndrome,
since this dog has been such an abrupt change for me.

On 6/10/15, Dan Weiner via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Too bad, following can be a great way to keep your independent travel while
> being with someone. It is a good idea to have your dog have that skill in
> his toolkit, though of course you didn't ask me my opinion--lol.  I thought
> I had this problem with my first dog and I was very stressed about it, then
> an old-time dog user told me some ways to make it easier...you can set up
> situations for your dog to follow with a friend whom you've arranged to do
> this with, if your dog doesn't stop for curbs or steps, you can tell your
> friend  in advance that you'll be stopping and reworking it, have the
> person
> wait while you do this. After a while your dog will realize that he should
> do it that way. Of course what you end up doing is up to you but there are
> advantages to being able to follow someone, let's say in a place you don't
> know or if you were with someone but yet want to maintain your travel
> independence and safety.
>
> When I had my first dog, like you I felt I had to correct following even
> though I was in a situation where for example following would be to my
> advantage, that is because my school at that time told me to... Then I
> learned to think for myself a bit and I resolved the problem in the way I
> mentioned...some dogs just are tenacious at following and I think enjoy it,
> others won't follow no matter what.  Just to clarify since the written word
> actually carries a punch when there wasn't any intended, I'm not saying you
> don't know how to think for yourself, I'm say "I, myself" learned to think
> for myself because when I first started out I was afraid to do anything the
> school didn't agree with.
>
> I imply nothing about you, I don't know you after all.
> Whatever you end up doing have a great day.
>
> Dan W.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Danielle Antoine
> via nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 12:51 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Danielle Antoine
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] follow Command
>
> I have never heard of this Julie.
>
> Danielle
>
> On 6/10/15, Julie McGinnity via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi Danielle,
>>  teach my current dog to follow.  He follows without me wanting him
>> to.  It's either a way of testing me, him being lazy, or simply that
>> he likes my friends.  But I am actually correcting him for following
>> because when he follows, he doesn't work anymore.  I can feel it in
>> the harness, and it's hard to explain to others.  I have run into
>> things this way though as well as off curbs and down stairs.  So yeah,
>> we may never follow... ever...  But that's ok in most situations.
>>
>> Bill is so chill that if I need to, I can lightly touch a friend to
>> keep track of them while he's guiding.  I did this yesterday when we
>> were at a loud establishment.  When I did that, he actually lost the
>> motivation to follow, which he had tried to do a few minutes before.
>> It's very interesting what you can say to your dog with the simplest
>> of body language.
>> I'll respond to your message as well but thought I could chime in here.
>>
>> I taught my first dog to follow, and she got pretty good at it for the
>> most part.  She was picky about who she followed.  I did a hand
>> gesture towards the person we needed to follow before saying forward
>> as the person was walking.  I just practiced following by getting her
>> bacvk on track with the other person when she decided not to follow.
>> But what Rox does may serve you better because I relied on my hearing
>> for this.
>>
>> I may not ever be able to
>>
>> On 6/10/15, Danielle Sykora via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> My dog was decent at following when I first got him, but he tended to
>>> focus more on the person leading than on his surroundings so I didn't
>>> use the follow command much for the first couple months. Now, he is
>>> very good at following, although I still like to have a general idea
>>> of where I am going. If he gets distracted, I want to tell him
>>> something a little more concrete than follow to refocus him. I find
>>> my dog follows more consistently when I talk to him, which also holds
>>> true for when he is working but not following. This could be a
>>> general command such as "straight, follow" or a meangingless phrase
>>> such as "come on" or "let's go" to get his attention.
>>>
>>> My problem isn't necessarily with my dog being distracted by people
>>> using his name, but by the people themselves not understanding that
>>> giving them permission to say his name while following doesn't mean
>>> they can talk to him all of the time. I almost always tell people my
>>> dogs name if they ask; however, I don't want people thinking they can
>>> talk to my dog when ever they please. I also find that individuals
>>> will then talk only to my dog and not feel the need to give me any
>>> directions. Of course, there are some people that talk to him and use
>>> his name but he isn't expecting to receive any information from them.
>>>
>>> Hope some of this makes sense,
>>> Danielle and Thai
>>>
>>> On 6/10/15, Danielle Burton via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> Debby, I would but my Mom will not speak up. My own Mom despite
>>>> constantly remindst her does not gve enough information. And
>>>> honestly that's most situations for me. Any background noise
>>>> whatsoever and I can't hear. I would be heeling her a lot otherwise.
>>>> When I'm in school and living on my campus it's a different story. I
>>>> know the area well. i also have friends who absolutely cannot give
>>>> directions. When we go to convention I cannot hear someone if they
>>>> are even 2 feet away. This means I can't always give hg additional
>>>> direcnames but when I can hear that's what I do but even then she
>>>> really doesn't always get the concept I don't think. She follows
>>>> when I can hear not when I can't. Even if it's someone familiar.
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>>> On Jun 10, 2015, at 12:10 AM, Debby Phillips
>>>>> <semisweetdebby at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> One thing that I learned while in class, which was new is to
>>>>> actually say Nova, follow forward, or follow right, or follow left.
>>>>> That seems to help.  It isn't something that I do tons of,
>>>>> following.  They don't really guide when following, because they
>>>>> tend to just start looking at the person they're following, which
>>>>> is why giving them commands is important.
>>>>> Then they still focus on you, and not just the person they're
>>>>> following.
>>>>>  Peace,    Debby and Nova
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Julie McGinnity
>> National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
>> National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
>> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President graduate, Guiding
>> Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014 "For we walk by faith, not by sight"
>> 2 Cor. 7
>>
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-- 
Julie McGinnity
National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President
graduate, Guiding Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014
"For we walk by faith, not by sight"
2 Cor. 7