[NAGDU] Mambo, the poky little puppy.

[S L Johnson]

Deanna:

The first thing I would suggest is to take him to the vet.  Have them check 
for any medical issues that might be contributing to his lack of energy. 
Unfortunately sometimes there are things that were not noticed or taken 
seriously before the dog left the guide dog school.  I had this experience 
with my last dog a female golden Tara.  About nine months after returning 
home with her she began to walk half her normal speed and was not putting 
any pull into the harness making it more difficult for me to follow her. 
When a trainer observed her he thought I would have to retire her.  He felt 
that she had lost confidence or just did not want to work anymore.  I took 
her to a few different vets in my attempt to find out what had happened to 
my once happy eager to work dog.  At first after a few vet visits they did 
not find anything.  Finally a very observant vet discovered that Tara had 
some pain in her right hip.  X-rays revealed hip dysplasia.  Unfortunately 
her guide dog school had noticed it but put her out anyway.  Once the 
correct anti-inflammatory/pain meds and  and a daily joint supplement were 
begun things began to improve.  I also thought some of her slowness could be 
a lack of confidence.  I began to really add on even more than my usual 
abundance of praise and treats when she would speed up and guide with more 
confidence.  When a trainer observed her six months later he could not 
believe it was the same dog.  Tara was back to her happy excellent guide 
work.  The only thing he noticed was that if we walked too long, she would 
begin to limp a bit.  Once I knew this, I modified our walks and worked very 
closely with my vet to keep Tara pain free.  I have known many guide dogs 
that were able to continue working after medical conditions were diagnosed 
and treated so do not give up hope.  Tara's school felt that with proper 
treatment she could continue working since she was only four years old. 
Tara went on to work four more years until the hip dysplasia and cataracts 
caused her retirement.  Good luck.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Deanna Lewis via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2017 9:22 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users(nagdu at nfbnet.org)
Cc: Deanna Lewis
Subject: [NAGDU] Mambo, the poky little puppy.

Hi all,
I have always had a bit of an issue with Mambo's pace... He walks pretty 
slow, and I'm not even a very fast walker. I've tried numerous things to try 
to get him to increase his speed, but nothing really helps long-term. I've 
tried: "hopp up", leash cues/gestures, praise and cheerleading, high value 
rewards, clicking when he reaches a desired pace, and much more. It seems 
like the clicker works best, but it's difficult because he hardly ever walks 
at a fast enough pace for me to click, and then he'll slow back down a few 
seconds later. I do notice that if we are walking with someone and they are 
in front of us, Mambo will usually speed up a bit to match that person's 
pace. But, lately, he won't even do that... he just continues to poke along. 
It's so frustrating, and really drives me crazy!
Overall, he's been a wonderful guide dog and I am very pleased with him. 
It's just that he constantly  slows me down, and I could walk faster with my 
cane! Even my retired guide didn't walk this slow when he retired, LOL.
I have been in contact with the school and they have given me advice, but 
not much has helped. They will have a trainer in my area in May, so 
hopefully they will be able to observe this. Of course, at my follow-up last 
year,  his pace was a bit slow, but manageable.
Can you all offer any suggestions on things I should try to get him to pick 
up his pace? Thanks in advance!
Deanna and Mambo


-- 
This email was Malware checked by UTM 9. http://www.sophos.com

Sent from the Clovernook email system
_______________________________________________
NAGDU mailing list
NAGDU at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sljohnson25%40comcast.net