[NAGDU] My dog's weird stubborn behavior, suggestions?

[Sandra Johnson]

Julie:

Oh my gosh, I can really relate to what you are saying.  My last dog Tara, a
gentle golden, would always look to other people to help her, especially
when I was walking with family or friends.  She would stop a few feet back
from a door, seat, bank teller window or store counter as if to say "well I
got you this far and that is enough let all these people help you".  In
Tara's case some of her hesitation was a lack of confidence but she really
did a lot of looking at anyone around us to help her.  It was extremely
frustrating but somehow I could not let Tara feel that frustration or else
she would just shut down and quit working.  I used food reward along with
lots of praise and pets when she located what I had asked her to find.
Gradually as time went on I dropped the food rewards most of the time.  Tara
was highly motivated by food so this worked quite well for us.  Now with
Eva, my current golden,  she is such a little show off that she proudly
prances up to what I ask her to locate and happily wags her tail with the
attitude that of course she deserves all my praise and the admiring looks
from her adoring public.  Good luck with your stubborn boy.

Sandra and Eva
SLJohnson25 at comcast.net
-----Original Message----- 
From: Julie McGinnity via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 4:03 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Julie McGinnity
Subject: [NAGDU] My dog's weird stubborn behavior, suggestions?

Hi all,

I have a mail yellow lab, and he is a particularly stubborn one.  He's
a good boy and doesn't get distracted by much, and he loves to work.
But he likes for people to do things for him.  For example, if he
thinks someone else will get the door, he does not want to show it to
me because he would rather it be opened for us.  I know he can find
doors when they're in his line of sight or he remembers they are
there, and when he does it, he is very proud of himself.  But
sometimes I have to make him find them.  This is also the dog who
really can't use the follow command because he thinks that if he's
following, he doesn't have to work beyond basic guiding around
obstacles.

I plan to walk around with my roommate next week and have him find
some doors for us.  She is good about letting me walk ahead so that he
can do it.  But as we all know, most sighted people lose their
patience, and they eventually get the door for us.  My dog will
literally look at people when he wants them to get the door.  He also
looks at people when he thinks I don't know where I'm going, and he
slows down to try and follow them.  He's kind of a manipulator.  Lol

Any other ideas?  I am firm with him, and although I don't use food
rewards often, I can break them out if you guys think that's the best
course of action.  He is good at listening when I tell him to hup-up
or speed up, and his obedience in general is totally fine.  It's just
this thing with manipulating other people into opening doors, leading
the way, etc.  Thanks.

-- 
Julie A. McGinnity
MM Vocal Performance, 2015; President, National Federation of the
Blind Performing Arts Division; First Vice President, National
Federation of the Blind of Missouri

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