[NAGDU] Finding Dropped Items

Sat May 27 19:29:06 UTC 2017

		When I say this, it is not meant as a criticism of what
people do. I had a black lab, my second dog, who was just a masterful
fetcher, and she would pick things up and drop them in my hand. Once she
even took a cookie off a tray and I put my hand under her chin and said
"out", and the cookie dropped into my hand. She was the only dog I had who
would do this. I was disappointed that more of my dogs didn't fetch or find
things. And oh yes, if she was playing with a toy and it went where she
couldn't quite find it, she would go as close as she could and put her nose
in the vicinity and whine. I think that was her anyway, though it could have
been Spencer. Anyway, thing is, the dog is a guide. That is its primary
purpose. I personally decided that having it do the fetching and finding
things was nice but full unnecessary. Please remember that I appreciate why
people want it, and I would be proud if I had a dog that did it, but it
isn't important to me. The one thing that would be just too cool about it
would be that I could say I trained the dog to do it.

Cindy Lou Ray, Moderator
cindyray at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rachel Grider via
NAGDU
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2017 1:53 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Rachel Grider <rachel.grider at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Finding Dropped Items

Thank you for this information! I started this a couple days ago using sort
of a mixture between the two methods described. Demi picked it up very
quickly. She has mastered putting her paw on a dropped item both in and out
of harness. when working in harness, I would drop an object like my phone or
credit card, then would drop the harness and say "find it," and Demi would
put her paw on the item. We have only done this for practice at home so far.

I am wondering, though, for those of you who actually have your dogs pick up
items, how one would train a dog to pick something up on command? Demi will
fetch, but that is only with her toys, and it seems like using clicker to
teach a dog to pick up an object would be counterproductive because the dog
expects a treat at the sound of the clicker. Does anyone have insight on
this? I don't know if I even want to train Demi to pick up items; I
definitely wouldn't want her doing it in harness, but it could be a useful
skill to have for certain situations when off leash at home or in a hotel
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On 5/23/17, Julie Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I taught this a bit different, basically just shaping natural
> tendencies.   I noticed that my dog would immediately go to something
> out of place or new that he hadn't noticed before.  I paired this 
> natural behavior with a phrase.  I use, "find it".  Then give praise 
> when he went to it. My dog does a nose target, which I found to work 
> just fine and so I continue to use that.  He does not pick up random 
> objects, so that was not a worry for me.
>
> Later I set up situations with objects that I had placed in a known 
> location and then called him to find it.  I used a lot of verbal 
> encouragement and praise.  When he found the thing he got more praise, 
> pats and acknowledgement.  I don't remember using clicker and treats 
> to teach this, but I may have at some point. I did try to teach a 
> retrieve at some point, but gave up because he absolutely refused to 
> pick up anything that he didn't recognize as his.  We had a lot of 
> problems when he was a puppy with chewing up stuff, so I spent a lot 
> of time teaching him to only chew on his things.  I guess he took that 
> to heart.  Of course every dog is different and it is quite possible 
> that with more time I could have taught him a retrieve.  Finding 
> things on the floor was really what I needed so I stopped with just
locating objects.
>
> I think  Danielle's method would work also.           is a lot more
> methodical  and systematic.  I do try to have training plans and teach 
> things step by step, but then life happens and we end up using the fly 
> by the seat of your pants method.
>
> Oh, I should add the find it is something that I only use at home or 
> in a hotel room, out of harness and off leash.  Monty will not find 
> objects on the floor when working in harness.
>
> Good luck!
> Julie
> http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
>
>
>
>
> On 5/22/2017 7:38 PM, Danielle Sykora via NAGDU wrote:
>> I taught my dog how to find dropped items, by putting his paw on or 
>> near the object. Here's the outline of how I taught this, using the 
>> clicker.
>>
>> 1: Start with one object (I think I used an index card or some kind 
>> of paper/cardboard). Hold it in your hand, show it to the dog, and 
>> click and treat when the dog paws it. My dog tried nosing the object, 
>> mouthing it, and barking in frustration before he finally got it.
>> 2: Once your dog paws the object reliably, put the command to it, (I 
>> used "get it"). Make sure the dog reliably paws the object when you 
>> give the command.
>> 3: Drop the object right in front of the dog from just a few inches 
>> off the ground. Tell the dog "get it", and click and treat for pawing 
>> the object.
>> 4: Drop the object from higher off the ground, but still in front of 
>> the dog.
>> 5: start dropping the object progressively further away from the dog.
>> 6: Temporarily pair the "get it" and "stay" commands. This way, the 
>> dog will paw the object and then stay there until you come over to 
>> pick it up. Release the dog from the stay only after you pick up the 
>> object. Eventually, you can drop "stay" and just say "get it".
>> 7: Start practicing  with a variety of different items.
>>
>> **In the initial stages, make sure to use something that is easy to 
>> hear when your dog's paw makes contact with it.
>>
>> Danielle and Thai
>>
>>
>> On 5/22/17, Rachel Grider via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hello, All:
>>>
>>> Awhile ago, there was a discussion about teaching dogs to fetch, and 
>>> someone  on this list (I don't remember who) talked about teaching a 
>>> guide dog how to find dropped items--not necessarily how to pick 
>>> them up, but just to find them by touching the item. I would like to 
>>> learn more about training my guide dog to do that. Does anyone have 
>>> information about this?
>>>
>>> Thank you!
>>>
>>> Rachel
>>>
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