[NAGDU] Guide dogs aroundthe world, current developments

Sat Apr 21 20:32:54 UTC 2018

This is an interesting topic.  How do you deal with the issue of other loose dogs who may not be so friendly?  Also there's the concern that one's dog may not come back even with a really yummy treat at the ready.
Deb and Tally
---- Cindy Ray via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote: 
> I don't get the leisure time thing. Here's why. My dog would be in harness when I take him out to work. When he is here, he is not in harness. So isn't his time now leisure time? There is no way on this earth that I would free run a dog unless I had a run in my yard that is fenced in. This doesn't mean I oppose others doing it. Clearly you are successful. If you go in the forest and free run your dog, are you taking a cane? If I were to go for nice long walks with my dog, he would get good exercise and so would I. Therefore, would free running be as important. I can understand the thinking that he isn't working so much then, but what then if I just took him on leash and took a cane? 
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Lisa via NAGDU
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2018 11:54 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Lisa <dreamymarmot93 at yahoo.de>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Guide dogs aroundthe world, current developments

Hi everyone,

that's a very interesting topic!

I'm from Germany, too, so with my guide, everything's very similar to what Bianka wrote.

Where I live, I know some nice places to free run my dog. My boyfriend lives in Berlin and when we're there, we go to a big, fenced-in area, I think you could call it an off-leash park, to free run the dogs there. 
We've both been taught that free running the dog is very important because working in harness is exhausting and requires a lot of concentration, so the dog needs leisure time as well. For us, it's very relaxing and a nice way to spend our free time to go for long walks in the forest or country with our dogs. We also use food rewards and I'm totally okay with that. In the beginning, it was an efficient way to recall the dog when off leash. Nowadays, I take them with me but don't use them all the time. Just every now and then.

Obviously, no one in their right mind would let the dog off leash near a busy street or in another dangerous area.

A lot of guide dog programs over here make sure the new handler has a good place to free run the dog in their neighborhood, too. Sometimes, they practice a route to a good free run area in training.

Well, I hope it's obvious that European guide dogs don't work in familiar areas only. The find commands aren't taught for that purpose, but for being independent in unfamiliar areas, too. You can tell your dog to find stairs, a lift, a counter, door and so on in an unfamiliar area. Of course no dog can always be 100% accurate and find everything. 
But these commands are very, very helpful, especially when you _don't_ know the area.

Lisa
Am 21.04.2018 um 16:19 schrieb Gabriel Moloney via NAGDU:
> hi thats great that your current dog has great recall, and that it has your husband’s dog to play with, and for food rewards and clipper training I know, that it was and maybe is getting bigger in Europe now  I know it was in Ireland.  And again I suppose that it is up to us as individuals on if free runs is something that we want to do for our dogs and again it is great that your dog has very good recall, I know that my last dog was just ok with recall and the one before her was not  so his free running days ended, as i was not willing to give him food treats to bring him back to me while free running.
> cheers and kind regards
> gabriel
>
>> On 21 Apr 2018, at 14:56, Bianka Brankovic via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi gabriel and all,
>>
>> as for the free runs, my current dog has a very good recall when she is off leash and of course you wouldn’t want to let your dog run free near a street. My view on food rewards has drastically changed throughout the years. At first, I did not like them at all, now I use them on a regular basis. As for socializing, of course this is only encouraged during free runs. On leash contact may be allowed if your dog feels comfortable with it. When working, it is strongly discouraged, there might be some allowance if the other dog is sniffing your dog annyways. My current guide could care less for other dogs, she has my husband’s dog to play with and that’s mainly enough for her. My husband’s dog likes other dogs in general.
>>
>> As for the dog distraction issue, I personally believe dogs who have well socialized dogs to play with on a regular basis are better around other dogs. I have had two dogs with severe dog distractions, with one of them I could continue working for a while, the other had to be retired.
>>
>> Hope that clarifies it a bit.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Bianka
>>
>>
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