[NAGDU] Taking Guides to Marches, Protests, etc.,

margo Downey margo.downey at roadrunner.com
Fri Mar 23 19:11:52 UTC 2018


I've taken guid dogs to marches and protests.  No problem.

Margo and Isis

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Heather Bird via
NAGDU
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2018 1:54 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Heather Bird
Subject: [NAGDU] Taking Guides to Marches, Protests, etc.,

One thing I have working in my favor is that my dog is from TSE and we
mostly use the word Pfui, pronounced like the French word for yes, with an
F sound at the beginning, fwee, not foo wee, so “no” does not automatically
equal “You are being a bad dog.” Dogs often get upset by chanting, even
positive chanting, because it is loud, and intense, even if the word “no”
isn’t involved. Also, dogs can pick up on emotions and protests are often
charged with emotion, both negative and positive emotions. What I did with
Ilsa was use the clicker to make a positive association. I used a few
things I knew would be similar to what she would hear. I played crowds
chanting “We will, we will rock you.” And “Black lives matter.” And “N F B,
N F B.”
complete with stomping or table thumping. Every time a chant would start I
would click and treat. I would play the recording or let the other people
chant, and I would say “Atta girl, good girl, big noise, atta good girl.”
While it was going on. She was alert and slightly alarmed the first few
times, now she just wags and sits up alertly looking for a possible treat.
I do intermittently and totally randomly reward after the initial
desensitization has been achieved, in order to maintain it. We had to pass
through a group of protesters down town and they were chanting and shouting
and banging on their thighs and clapping. Ilsa just wagged like a goof ball
and kept going. I did a mouth mark of a click I have gotten very good at
and once we got past them I clicked again and gave her a piece of cheese I
had in my bag. This will work with a lot of dogs, in theory, any dog sound
enough to be graduated as a guide should be able to deal with this stimuli,
as long as no one is throwing things or trying to assault you or your dog.
But realistically not all guides are the same and not all training
programs, and even really solid dogs from really great schools can develop
fears as they age, so I would suggest that everyone do this desensitization
training in some way shape or form, but be cognizant of how your dog is
reacting and proceed accordingly. It’s better to plan and then never need
it, then to discover in the middle of a legislative seminar, or a
convention, or a sporting event, that your dog has just been traumatized.
You can make yourself a bit bipolar and you will feel super weird during
the training, but it is worth it “Jeremy, if I ever hear something like
that come out of your mouth again, you will lose the iPad for a week. Atta
girl Ilsa, Ilsa is a good girl, no one’s mad at Ilssa, because she’s a good
girl.” “NFB, NFB, Good Girl Ilsa, NFB, NFB, big noise, good girl, NFB,
NFB.” (To the beat of the crowd chanting “We will, we will rock you.” “Good
girl, Good girl, Ilsa.” “We say, hell no, (insert name of politician) has
got to go. Great job. That’s a good Ilsa.” In the immediate, it can be a
little bit crazy-making, but the rewards are very obvious when you have a
pretty much bomb proof dog, happily doing their job when you encounter or
participate in a large, loud group activity which would be disconcerting to
an unprepared dog. I used the same method to get Ilsa used to fireworks,
because they can legally set them off in our area around the few weeks
before and after the fourth of July and they sometimes do so even in the
day time. I would click inside the house every time one went off far away,
and treat, then we would sit outside and listen, click and treat, then we
would get fairly close to an active display, more click and treat. One
afternoon, a little while before sunset, someone set off some fireworks in
a parking lot we were passing. I seriously jumped, both feet off of the
sidewalk several inches, almost peed my freaken pants, (have two babies the
natural way and your won’t judge) and what did Ilsa do? She jumped then
turned and looked at me, sat down, tail swishing and nosed my hip where my
bait pouch is when I am working with the clicker. So I retrieved my heart
from my throat, took a deep breath and gave her a treat. As we continued
our route they set them off again, a half a dozen more times, one while we
were crossing a busy street. Ilsa just continued to the up curb, and once
out of the street, she paused and turned to me enquiring about the
possibility of another treat.
Had I not done this training, she might have been ruined that night, or at
the very least, we might have been stranded sitting on someone’s front lawn
with a shaking dog waiting for someone to drive and come and rescue us. Had
I not prepared her and had the fireworks started in the middle of that
crossing, we likely would have been hit by a car if she had frozen or had
bolted. So, I absolutely support bringing guides to various types of
protests and marches, just prepare ahead of time and know what to expect
and help your dog know what to expect. Walking in a march, parade, etc. is
a whole separate issue with regards how you want them to guide you,
especially if you are walking in the street, and how to best go about it
will depend on your dog, your school and how often you intend to
participate in such events, so that is probably a subject for a whole
different post, right there.

 

Heather Bird

"They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." -
Martin Niemöller

In our diverse society we must never fail to speak up in the face of Human
Rights violations lest we be the next targets of such violations.

 

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