[NAGDU] Corrections

[Rachel Grider]

Nimer, thank you for sharing. I am sorry that this has happened to you
but glad that you worked out an alternative. If you don't mind my
asking, in what city do you live where leash corrections are actually
illegal? When I travel with my dog, should I expect to find myself in
places where it is illegal to correct her, or is it not a very common
practice to outlaw leash corrections?

By the way, Demi did an amazing job on our route home tonight. I took
her on a more circuitous route than usual so that we would be able to
get in more practice, and I upped the praise as well as the
corrections. I honestly didn't have to correct her much, and I feel
like we started to achieve a deeper level of connection. I don't know
how to explain this, but I think that we are on the right track, and
as long as I remain consistent and don't allow myself to worry about
what others think, we will soon be a solid team.

On 9/23/16, Nimer Jaber <nimerjaber1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have been accused of abusing my dog a few times, and where I live, I was
> informed that giving a dog a leash correction is illegal. My dogs all came
> from the Seeing Eye. As soon as I know that there was a report filed, or
> that there might be one filed, I contact the school and have a positive
> conversation with them about it, and I have never had any additional
> problems. I don't try to handle the situation with the individuals
> reporting me, because people have different ideas about what constitutes
> abuse, they don't understand the working partnership, and many times, they
> are bent on the fact that it was abuse. The best thing I can do at that
> time is to calmly advise them to contact my school for more information or
> to file a report.
>
> As for the city... Unfortunately, there is not much the Seeing Eye can do
> about that, or that is what i was told. A video was taken of my correction,
> and a Seeing Eye instructor explained to the animal officer that that was
> in fact what I was taught to do to regain control of my dog in situations
> that warrant it, but the city did not budge. They gave me notice that leash
> corrections are not permitted here. As a result of that, and because of
> this larger issue as a whole that seems to come up once a year or so, i
> have gone to not giving any physical correction, and very limited verbal
> corrections. I make it clear to my dog through praise when she is doing
> good. When she is doing something undesirable, I redirect the behavior to
> something simple that I know she can do, and then I praise the hell out of
> her. So far, so good... better than when I gave the occasional correction
> actually.
>
> Thanks.
>
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 7:33 PM Rachel Grider via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello, Everyone:
>>
>> As many of you know, I am still a fairly new guide dog user and have had
>> my dog for almost four months, including our time at The Seeing Eye. I
>> feel
>> like our partnership has solidified in so many ways since bringing her
>> home. Having said this, I have noticed that Demi has become more easily
>> distracted while in harness just within the last two weeks. Up until
>> about
>> two weeks ago, Demi was extremely solid while in harness, but I feel like
>> she has slowly become more and more distractable in a short amount of
>> time.
>>
>> I have had a couple of conversations with instructors at TSE about this
>> and have done what they told me, but after a particularly frustrating
>> experience last night, I realized a pattern in my handling that may be
>> contributing to this problem.
>>
>> I think that my greatest weakness as a guide dog handler is giving
>> corrections. I have no problem doing verbal corrections, but it took me
>> awhile while at TSE to feel comfortable giving Demi a leash correction. I
>> have gotten  over this reticence for the most part; if we are walking
>> down
>> the street and Demi gets distracted, I have no problem stopping and
>> giving
>> her a leash correction. Without thinking about it, though, I have
>> realized
>> that I shy away from giving anything beyond a verbal correction when I
>> know
>> that there are people watching. I know that this is ridiculous and that
>> people could be watching at any time without my knowledge, but if I know
>> that there are people around me and I feel Demi's head dip down to sniff,
>> I
>> give her a verbal and a sort of wimpy jerk on her leash to get her head
>> up,
>> and just drive her on with a hup-up. I think that the reason I do this is
>> a
>> fear of people thinking that I am abusing my dog, which is also silly
>> because no one has yet accused me of such a thing.
>>
>> Now that I have become aware of this pattern in my handling, I am
>> thinking
>> that it may be at least partially responsible for Demi's increasing lack
>> of
>> focus. and am determined to change it before it is too late. I made sure
>> I
>> did obedience with her right befor we walked out the door this morning,
>> and
>> I left home early so that we would have plenty of time to stop, correct,
>> and rework if necessary. Overall, things have been going quite well
>> today...
>>
>> So here is my question: Have any of you actually had someone accuse you
>> of
>> abusing your dog? If so, what have you said to convince the accuser
>> otherwise?
>>
>> Thank you for your support.
>>
>> Rachel
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