[NAGDU] Food rewards, was questions about American Guide dog programs; is: food in training

Mon May 20 15:15:49 UTC 2019

It's my understanding that GDB does not use the clicker, only treats.

Krokus would like to be a GDB dog.  He does great when he gets a treat,
and, when the treats stop, the behavior drops off.

I'm kinda bummed about GDB these days.  I had great dogs from there, but
that was before they started their new methods.  Now I don't feel I can go
back there, because I don't want to carry around pocketfulls of treats
every day, and I'm not sure it produces a thoughtful dog. But it's been a
long time since I've met a GDB dog, so I could be wrong about that.
Tracy

> Hey Deb,
> There should be no need to shove food in your pockets every time you go
> out, and if that is what GDB's approach is, then I'm going to step out on
> a limb and say "they are doing clicker training wrong."
> A clicker is a tool, like a prong collar is a tool. If I were to use a
> prong collar for my dog, the goal would be eventually for my dog not to
> need it, or to only need it in very specific, very high distraction or
> other similar environments.
> I currently am working 2 dogs, both were trained exclusively with the
> clicker, one is 2, one is 8.5.  Neither of them require that I have food
> on my body to work. Food is a great motivator and can be very helpful for
> many of the guide dog breeds such as labs, but its not forever.  Unless
> there is a very specific situation, such as a national convention where
> the distraction level is very high, there should be no need.
> I totally see your point though about bringing food everywhere with you,
> and its a shame that this is becoming necessary for their dogs.
>
>
> Rox'E and the Kitchen Bitches
> Soleil, Rowan, Phoenix
> pawpower4me at gmail.com
>
>> On May 20, 2019, at 8:43 AM, Debra Chandler via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I'm sure Seeing Eye accepts students from Canada but not sure about
>> other countries.  I found last night's presentation re GDB very
>> interesting.  However I don't agree with such a food-driven approach to
>> training.  I personally am not going to fill my pockets with treats
>> every time I work my dog and reward my dog with a treat every time it
>> does something correctly.  The clicker is fine for certain behaviors
>> like  finding a traffic light pole.  But I'm just not comfortable with
>> using treats as reinforcers on a regular basis.
>> Deb and Tally
>> ---- Tracy Lloyd via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> I too would be interested to discover which, if any, of the US schools
>>> will
>> except applications from other countries, especially european ones?  I'm
>> in
>> the UK, and had thought that only Pilot would take applications from the
>> UK
>> and Europe.  anyone have any more info?
>>
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Leye-Shprintse Ã–berg via NAGDU
>> Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2019 10:25 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Cc: Leye-Shprintse Ã–berg
>> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Questions about American Guide Dog Programs
>>
>> ×‘×¡â€™×“
>>
>> Danielle,
>>
>> Thank you for your answer. Now, I know where Iâ€™ll start my research.
>>
>> Sandra,
>>
>> Some American guide dog programs accept international students and some
>> others donâ€™t do it.
>>
>> ×œ×©×œ×•×,
>> Leye-Shprintse Oeberg
>> Sweden
>>
>>
>>> 19 maj 2019 kl. 22:37 skrev Sandra Gayer via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I thought you have to live in America to apply for a dog from an
>>> American school. Can an applicant be domiciled in another part of the
>>> world entirely and still apply to an American school? I only ask
>>> because I couldn't help noticing Sweden at the end of the first email
>>> in this thread.
>>>
>>> Very best wishes,
>>> Sandra.
>>>
>>>> On 5/19/19, Danielle Sykora via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> The US programs that give ownership upon graduation are Seeing Eye,
>>>> GDF,
>>>> and
>>>> Freedom for sure, and I believe Pilot and GDA as well. Other programs
>>>> either
>>>> give ownership after a period of time, or say they give ownership but
>>>> still
>>>> have the ability to remove the dog in some situations.
>>>>
>>>> In terms of positive training methods, basically everyone is going to
>>>> tell
>>>> you the program they went to used positive methods because obviously
>>>> you
>>>> can't train a dog without rewarding them for their appropriate
>>>> behavior.
>>>> The
>>>> two programs that come to mind that truly strive to use the most
>>>> positive
>>>> methods possible are GDB and GDF.
>>>> Danielle
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>>> On May 19, 2019, at 3:02 PM, Leye-Shprintse Ã–berg via NAGDU
>>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> ×‘×¡â€™×“
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> Iâ€™m researching guide dog programs for my next guide dog. I wonder
>>>>> which
>>>>> guide dog programs give ownership to the guide dog handler after
>>>>> graduation and which dittos use positive training methods with their
>>>>> dogs?
>>>>> Thank you!
>>>>>
>>>>> ×œ×©×œ×•×,
>>>>> Leye-Shprintse Oeberg
>>>>> Sweden
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sandra Gayer DipABRSM, LRSM.
>>>
>>> Soprano Singer
>>> www.sandragayer.com
>>>
>>> Broadcast Presenter
>>> www.rnibconnectradio.org.uk/music-box.html
>>>
>>> Actor
>>> www.visablepeople.com
>>>
>>> Voiceover Artist
>>> www.archangelvoices.co.uk/content/sandra-gayer
>>>
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