[NAGDU] Fear of skateboards

[Scott Wilson]

I’m very sorry to hear that your dog is having difficulties with skateboards, sometimes throughout their life things that they may be really didn’t care for but didn’t make too much of a fuss about can amplify and increase as they age. And even as far as new things developing later on in their life. These are the unfortunate parts of having a living breathing animal. Although they are super intelligent and amazing partners for travel. Even the common house dog can come up with things later on in life that were never a problem prior. No one has been able to explain why this happens, But doing exactly what you’re doing and trying your best to resolve The problem with positive reinforcement and encouragement is what I think is the best method. But I would definitely contact your school and seek their advice. Although problem-solving can usually be done on our end without contacting the school, there are those certain things that are just way too difficult to figure out even for the schools. But I don’t see this being an issue that would call for retirement or anything like that. It would have to fall into the category of dangerous or unsafe. I wish you the best outcome and lots of luck in figuring out this problem, please update us on your progress no matter which way it goes. These kind of problems arise more than you would think and hearing the resolution or the outcome could be helpful to others and myself. Thank you very much for the explanation and sharing your question. Wishing you the best, tales up!

> On Mar 28, 2021, at 8:43 AM, Tracy Carcione via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I don't have much useful to say you haven't tried.  Have you asked your
> school for ideas?
> My dog Echo never really loved traveling to new places, and, as she got
> older, her dislike of new places got more intense.  I don't know why, but I
> do think older dogs can be more anxious about things they used to just not
> like but could deal with.
> Good luck.
> Tracy
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carmella Broome
> via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2021 9:12 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Carmella Broome
> Subject: [NAGDU] Fear of skateboards
> 
> My  guide dog was startled by a skateboarder  one morning and has  become
> increasingly  anxious when she  sees  people  riding (or even carrying)
> skateboards. There  are a group of guys who  come to the  parking lot of a
> building across the street from where we live  to skateboard  every  Sat.
> and Sun.  They have been doing this for years and she has seen them riding
> around and jumping  plenty of times. Now, she  gets  nervous and distracted
> when she sees them or if we encounter other skateboarders while on walks. We
> live near a university so  this happens more  often than it might
> otherwise.  My husband and I are trying to  get her comfortable with them
> again, at a distance and using treats.  She is really weirded out, though. I
> would appreciate anyone's advice on how you might approach this or hearing
> about experiences with your dogs and skateboards. I don't know how common
> this might be.  Its always amazing how  years of  neutral (or even positive)
> experiences  with something can
>  seemingly be wiped out by one negative experience.  My dog was somewhat
> sensitive to   things that looked weird to her when I  first got her.  She
> seemed to   get past that fora few years.  This started to happen again
> during the past year. She just turned eight.  I'm worried that this is going
> to start happening more often with more things.                 
> 
> Thanks,
> Carmella
> 
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