[NAGDU] King of the Creepers

[Shawn and Kerri Sprecher]

Hello Tracy and list,
Thank you for writing this message, it was exactly what I needed to
hear. I am going through the exact same thing; Iris, my German
Shepherd, is one of the smartest and most intelligent guides I have
ever had, and in class she showed that she would definitely stop at
the down curb or walk right up to a door. Well, there was an uneven
spot in one of the routes we took during training, and I didn't get
hurt thankfully, but I did stumble and have to catch myself with my
other foot, which made her yelp. She's very sensitive to me and I have
never had a dog yelp when I stumbled or fell due to them not slowing
down enough. I actually thought I'd stepped on her but the instructo
said that my foot was nowhere near close enough to her foot to elicit
a yelp like that, so he said the only thing it probably could be is
that she feels a great deal of responsibility for me, and she was
showing concern for me. The instructor said that he's seen several
other shepherds do the same thing.
Well, after that stumble, now she is almost too careful, wanting to
avoid down curbs or stairs as much as she possibly can, and  I have
thought about starting click and treat as well, because she seemed to
respond well to it in class with finding things and such, so I know
she's really good at clicker activities.
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I have the queen of creepers to
mmatch the king of creepers. smile
I'll be interested to know how this goes, if you're ok informing us
about the outcome or any techniques they're having you try.
Talk soon,
Kerri

On 5/22/19, Tracy Carcione via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Danielle seemed to be wondering why I'd need to carry treats in the office
> anyway, so I may as well say.  Krokus is the King of the Creepers.  He
> often
> stops 5 or 6 feet short of where I want to go, especially in the office.  I
> tried getting really happy when we arrive, and I tried correcting him, but
> he still stops short and I either have to drop the harness and heel him or
> get him to creep slowly up to where I want to go.  Really annoying.
>
> I asked my school for advice, and they said click-and-treat, which I did.
> But, once the king sees he's not getting a treat this time, he goes back to
> creeping.  So I've been randomly treating, which somewhat fixes the
> problem,
> though I suspect he's smart enough to know when I have treats with me and
> when I don't.  Rather a pain.  I don't want to keep carrying treats, and I
> don't want to stop short, either.  I'm getting some follow-up with another
> issue soon, so I'll ask about this, too.  I just bet there's a note on my
> file at the school that says "will put up with any amount of crap, so give
> her the problem child".
>
> Tracy
>
>
>
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