[NAGDU] distracted relieving

Sat Mar 23 18:49:15 UTC 2019

I’m not sure about all programs, but I know at GDF relieving only when and where the dog is told to is really emphasized with raisers, during training, and in student lectures. Puppies are systematically taught to relieve on a schedule and are introduced to outings and walks increasing in length. 
My dogs were sometimes difficult about relieving at first which lead to a few accidents on route, but were otherwise very good about relieving on a schedule. 
My now retired dog started pooping once rather than twice a day when I switched to his current food brand. I feed a larger meal in the morning and smaller meal for dinner, and he poops first thing in the morning. Same distribution of food for my current guide and she poops first thing in the morning and around noon.
I always correct the dog for relieving inappropriately, but consistently relieving on route usually can’t be solved just by correcting. Usually a diet change, alteration in feeding schedule, exercise before relief opportunity, etc is also needed.
Danielle, Thai, and Jackie 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 23, 2019, at 12:41 PM, Jean Menzies via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Tracy,
> 
> No, my dog is not from TSE. Not that that matters, though. I think this is an all-too-common problem.
> 
> That's good that the raiser you know knows that parking on route can be a problem. The problem I see, though, is that simply having them go ahead of a walk and then having a walk with no pooping might not actually be teaching them anything. It might be just timing the walk between poops. Our real world doesn't work like that. How or when do they know that actually pooping on a walk is a no-no? I expect trainers don't work on that at all.
> 
> I do have places appropriate for stopping on routes, but I need the dog to respect park times as well. I'll see how this new balance of split feeding goes. So far the first day shows promise. But the jury is still out.
> 
> Jean
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Tracy Carcione via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2019 9:16 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Cc: Tracy Carcione
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] distracted relieving
> 
> Your approach of changing the feeding amounts sounds possible to me.  Could work, and it's easy to experiment with.
> 
> I know a TSE puppy raiser, and she really makes an effort to get her puppy to go before they head out.  So at least the raisers know it can be a problem.
> 
> Yep, way back when, I would correct for this behavior and it would stop, but these days that's frowned upon.
> Tracy
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jean Menzies via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2019 11:26 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Jean Menzies
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] distracted relieving
> 
> I'm glad you have found a workable solution for your girl. It makes it
> easier that she is a once-a-day pooper, as you say.
> 
> I'm also wondering about feeding schedules and transit time for the GI
> track. I currently feed twice a day, morning around 7 or 8 a.m. and then
> around 4 or 5 p.m. I've just started a trial of feeding him a smaller meal
> in the morning and a larger one in the afternoon/evening. I'm hoping that he
> will then poop mostly in the morning, and then have a clearer system
> throughout the day. Is there any logic in that?
> 
> I have no idea if puppy raisers try to teach the pups not to park on route
> or not. Way back in the day, I remember being taught to correct for this,
> but that thinking seems to be out of favour now. Now it seems to be positive
> reshaping of the park time behaviour, so that's what I'm trying to work on.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Raven Tolliver via NAGDU
> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2019 5:22 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Raven Tolliver
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] distracted relieving
> 
> I’m just over the first six months of my partnership with my second guide,
> and she is similar. She indicates very clearly that she needs to poop by
> doing a partial squat.  So I have two places on route that I will give her
> the chance to relieve.  If I let her, she will sniff around for 20 minutes
> before parking, or  just sniff around a bunch, not park because I won’t give
> her the time to sniff, and then end up parking on route.
> I have resolve this for the most part, and I realize my solution works
> because my dog only poops once a day.
> I have gotten into the routine of making her poop before breakfast. So I
> will fix her food, leave it in her crate or on the counter, then run her
> outside. If she doesn’t poop, I bring her back inside and tie her to the
> couch with in view of the breakfast dish, and leave her there for several
> minutes. Then I’ll go back outside, and try again to get her to relieve.  It
> usually works on the first try, but sometimes there are days where I have to
> take her out twice for her to get the idea that she will not eat until she
> poops. This is not a 100% solution, as there are some days where I leave
> early enough that she just ends up parking on route. At this point, I’m just
> glad it happens outside and not inside.
> It’s extremely ridiculous to me, but I guess of all the problems I could
> have, it’s not nearly the worst.
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