[NAGDU] Softer Dogs?

[The Pawpower Pack]

Cinndy, 
I think that using language like "a slave to the clicker"does a disservice to those and is pretty disrespectful of, people who use this method. 
I have clicker trained my last 4 working dogs, and am no more a "slave"  to my clicker than I imagine you are to your correction collars.  
You have stated you use corrections sometimes, I use treats sometimes.  
There are people who can and do use any method poorly, but that is not the fault of the method.  
I can't remember the last time I carried around a clicker and food for Soleil, who is 6 and who works great daily without them. 


 Rox and the kitchen Bitches: 
Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
Pawpower4me at gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 21, 2017, at 1:30 PM, Cindy Ray via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I have certainly noted a change to click and treat. When I ot my first dog,
> there were not treats given at all. That gradually changed. I think at some
> level soft dogs are created by soft discipline, and I think the "old school"
> is often better. I, like you, Joe, am not mean or really rough, though I've
> been accused of it. The animal rights folks create headaches for us for sure
> because many of them don't even think the dogs should be doing this work.
> However, now there is a lot more leaning toward click and treat or treat; I
> still do not do it. I do what I must at the school; then I go home and do
> what I always did and it works. If something is working well that I was
> taught during the training, I would retain it, of course. But I think that I
> would prefer not to be a slave to clickers and treats.
> Cindy Lou Ray
> cindyray at gmail.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joe Orozco via
> NAGDU
> Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2017 11:35 AM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Joe Orozco <jsoro620 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAGDU] Softer Dogs?
> 
> Hello,
> 
> The recent thread on obedience got me thinking about the way it feels as
> though guide dog schools have grown softer in their approach to correction.
> 
> I received Gator from The Seeing Eye in 2004. I trained under Pete Jackson,
> a no nonsense instructor who worked very hard at understanding where the
> canine was coming from but not cutting any slack where a hard correction was
> warranted. High collars, while not eagerly encouraged, were a standard
> recommendation.
> 
> I went back to TSE in 2015 and received Matthew. The training atmosphere was
> noticeably more relaxed where corrections were concerned. If high collars
> were mentioned at all, it was probably because I asked about it. It felt as
> though there was a greater lean toward clickers and treats.
> 
> So, my question: For those of you who have handled dogs for a while, have
> you noticed a similar trend, and if so, how have you adjusted your own
> handling practices? I sometimes feel mean for running a tight ship with
> Matthew, but I feel in some ways as though my first guide dog instruction
> set the mood for my discipline philosophy moving forward. I was never one to
> be unnecessarily aggressive. It looks publically awkward, and I think such
> tactics have diminishing returns.
> Yet, I am quick to leash correct for what may otherwise be considered small
> infractions. How much of your own philosophy do you retain after bringing
> your guide dog home?
> 
> Thanks for any ponderings on the subject.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Joe
> 
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