[nabs-l] a not so brief story on dog training: your thoughts?

[minh ha]

Valorie,

Thanks for sharing this story with us. I have a guide dog from GDB in
Oregon and she ouldn't be more perfect for me. But I can definitely
see the appeal in training your own guide dog because you have the
control from beginning to end. You should post this on the NAGDU list
though because there are a lot more owner trainers of guide dogs than
you might think. And many of them are veterans at the job, having
trained multiple guides over the years. Good luck.

Minh

On 8/15/14, Valerie Gibson via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> A few years back, I brought up a debatable topic--dog training.
>
> I tried to apply      for a dog training school and was denied on the basis
> of blindness.  This sparked a debate of sorts: Can a blind person train a
> dog?
> I responded to a discussion post about guide dogs and training, and with
> that in mind, I'd like to reintroduce this topic, and give you a peek into
> what I've been doing and my accomplishments.  I'd also like to hear your
> thoughts on the matter, and maybe some of you might have questions,
> criticisms, or words of caution, all of which are fine.
> I'm also going to talk about why i decided to do what I've been doing.
> Understand though that just because I do this does not mean that everyone
> should. I just thought I'd take this on, and it's working. I pray it stays
> that way.
> So, dog truing...
> I've always loved it since I was a kid.  I love learning how animals think
> and learn.  I love studying animal behavior through written observations and
> applying ecology, sociology and psychology of animals to this.
> My outlook on dogs is this: Dogs are not people. They are not furry
> children. They are beings who speak a different language, share a different
> culture and have a different mindset that we do.  Dogs don't just need a
> leader, they want one, and some moore than others.  Even a soft tempered dog
> will try to take over leadership position if it feels there is no one to
> guide it. Hard tempered dogs will try more forcefully to take over this
> spot, because their mothers or other "leaders" were made of sterner stuff.
> I don't want to bore you with a dog training guide, but that's just the tip
> of the ice burg for my philosophy.
> Last december, I purchased a seven and a half week old akita puppy in the
> hopes that I could train it as a guide dog.  I have my reasons for wanting
> the akita.
> The easiest way to get a guide dog would obviously be going to a school.
> Let me say first that I am, in no way, opposed to guide dog schools.  Having
> never been to one, I can not make a judgement call on their training
> methods, but given that there are many schools, there are probably just as
> many training methods for their dogs.
> I didn't, not, go with a school because I wanted to go rogue and didn't want
> to follow their rules, though I think some of the rules (from what i've
> heard) are unnecessary.
> I think guide dog schools are great for people who are taking on a dog for
> the first time or for people who just don't want to put in the time and
> effort in training their dogs to guide, or for people who simply don't know
> how.  I applaud guide dog trainers for their work in training tens of dogs
> at a time to go with handlers who have various life styles.
> So if training a guide dog would be harder, take up more time, and cost more
> money than just getting one from a school, why not get one from a school?
> First I understand dog psychology and how to train a dog.  Every trainer has
> their own philosophy, so mine might be different from your's for example.  I
> also wanted to see if I could do it. If Zion did not become a guide dog, no
> big deal. At least he would be a very well behaved house pet.  So I wasn't
> hell bent on this dog becoming a guide dog.
> So a week before christmas, I brought home this akita puppy.  I made sure
> that the breeder gave me one with the temperament that I was wanting rather
> than it's appearance.
> Zion's training began the moment I brought him home with crate training and
> overall good house manners.  He never got any extra privileges until he'd
> proven to respond favorable to the ones he had.  For example, he stayed in
> his crate unless he was playing or training. Never did he get to run around
> the house.  Every three hours, even if he was sleeping, he was made to take
> a potty break.  This often meant me setting an alarm to make sure that I got
> up.  It's a good thing I was on christmas break from school. :)
> Once he let me know when he had to go out, and as he grew, his potty breaks
> were at longer intervals.  Once he could entertain himself in his kennel, he
> was allowed to entertain himself in one room of my house, and for only half
> an hour.
> Slowly he got more and more privileges.  When he was a puppy and hardly had
> any rights in the home, I would let anyone pet him when we were in public.
> What you have to understand is that akitas are very hard to train. They an
> be trained, and yes, labs and goldens and german shepherds are easier, but I
> knew what I was dealing with when I took on an akita.  I believe in
> trainability, they rank number 48. They learn slower than a lab or
> retriever, and if not handled correctly, they can be aggressive to other
> dogs and people. They have a natural instinct to guard and protect and often
> times, they have a mind of their own.  Training an akita is very different
> than training a lab or retriever.
> Akitas also reach physical and psychological maturation a year or so later
> than a lab or retriever.
> When I started training Zion, i got a lot of frowns (and I'm sure some eye
> rolling) from both blind and sighted people.
> A lady who worked at Zion's puppy obedience class and is also a former
> trainer from a guide dog school that shall remain nameless, would often say
> to me (after Zion was being really stubborn), "See why it takes a
> specialized team to train guide dogs?" Even the trainers who were on board
> with my training him as a potential guide dog would all of a sudden have
> their doubts after speaking with this lady.
> This was very disheartening.  I wasn't discouraged at my dog's behavior, but
> at the lack of support I was getting.  I'd taken him to the class to get
> back in the groove of training and to speak with fellow trainers.  I guess,
> for some reason, I was amazed at a sighted trainer who trains dogs for blind
> people be discouraging to a blind person in training her own dog.  The funny
> thing was, when she made that comment, we weren't even training guide work.
> It was simple obedience.
> I stopped going to that class. By that time, I'd gotten down the basics and
> was going to teach my dog on my own.
> Zion went with me almost everywhere, and he hung out almost entirely with
> guide dogs.  I used a dog that I'd previously trained to teach him commands,
> because it was a very quick way for him to learn.  He learned a lot from the
> guide dogs too.  When he was three months, he was potty trained, and he
> could lie under tables at restaurants and not be a bother (though I'm sure
> the fellow dogs under the table with him would disagree.).
> Allow me to take a quick detour in the writing.
> There's a lot of hype about people taking their pets, buying a "service dog
> in training" patch and some "documentation", and claiming their dog's a
> service dog.  This royally ticks me off, probably more than i t would for
> you who has a guide dog.
> It gives people like me a bad name because I've got about just as much
> resource to back it up as they do, with the addition that my dog speaks for
> himself.  For another, I've put a lot of time into this dog's training. For
> another, this dog has cost me roughly 3 thousand dollars right now, and he's
> only mine months, and that's not including the medical issues we've been
> battling.  I completely understand and agree with service dog trainer's
> feelings when it comes to this issue because I know they're putting more
> money and work into the dogs than I am.
> I've heard that soon businesses will have a legal right to see documentation
> on service animals, and I agree with this.
> Now that that is said, I took zion almost everywhere with me.  As his
> restrictions got less and less at hime, they got stricter in public.  Now,
> people had to ask me to pet him, and they could only do so if he sat down
> politely.
> When he was about seven months, he began to wear a harness with "service dog
> in training" patches on each side of it.  By this time, he was used to going
> places with me, and he knew what I expected out of him.  Did that mean that
> he did not test me? Absolutely not!
> He wore the harness at first to get used to the feel of it, but he was still
> walked on leash.  At night, when no one was around, i walked him up and down
> the corridors of my apartment to teach him what it would feel like for
> someone to be holding onto the harness.  Luckily the apartment has pretty
> distinct left and right turns, and even at nine months, we're still working
> on those.
> The first break through for me came on August second.  I'd let him guide me
> before to the train station or to the front office, but I always had my cane
> out.  This time, I was not going to use my cane at all.
> Dangerous? sure, but if i didn't give him, and myself, a test, how would I
> know what he'd learned.
> Apart from getting distracted a few times, he led me to the train, guiding
> me around planters and pausing at stairs.
> I knew that this didn't mean that he could guide me anywhere. It just meant
> he had the idea of what he was supposed to do.
> If things are too distracting for him, I'd never let him do that, but if I
> feel that he can work and there are not too many distractions, I will trust
> him to guide me.  I will never put him in a situation where he would fail as
> a guide because he is still in the learning and correcting phase.
> That's another thing. Having never had a guide dog before, it was my
> responsibility to have trust in my training and in him, and that was a big
> step for me too.
> Since then, zion has guided me to the front office, to the train, to
> walmart, to petco and back to my apartment.  These are places that I know
> really well, so it's easy for me to correct him when I know he's made a
> wrong turn or is distracted.  Zion can find petco better than I can with a
> cane. Imagine that. :)
> At some point soon, I am hoping to get certified with the association of
> professional dog Trainers so that I can train other people dogs and maybe
> see if the NFB can't have a national  association of blind dog trainers. :)
> This certification would also give me some credibility in the work that he
> will be doing.  Right now, it's very difficult to find a trainer who will
> back you if you're a blind person training your own dog.  Throw on a
> "service dog" title, and it's almost impossible.The only thing that I would
> not train when it comes to dogs is dogs with aggression issues.  I think
> that this is where a blind person must draw the line.  Dogs communicate
> through body language, and it's easy to tell what body language the dog is
> giving off but with aggression, you need to know, and you can't afford to
> make a wrong move.  One could argue that a growl is a sign of aggression,
> but that's not always the case, and if it is, the dog has given off a few
> body signals before the growl that a trainer must notice.  You never want to
> get to a point where your dog feels the need to growl because that's usually
> the last signal it will give before snapping.
> I'd be interested to hear any feedback from dog lovers.  If anyone has any
> questions, I'd be eager to try and answer them, but I i do not have all the
> answers.  Zion's training is no where near finished, but even sighted people
> tell me: "he's come a long way as a puppy."  I once was told by someone that
> they had reservations that I was really training him as a guide dog, but
> they can see thahaht he would make a good guide dog.
> If anyone has trained their own guide dog, please email me. I'd love to hear
> of your experiences, and throw around some ideas on how best to train.
>
> Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope it was enlightening and
> not too boring. :)
>
> If you want me to keep you posted on Zion's training, I can do that.
>
> Everyone have a good rest of the day and good luck in school next semester.
> :)
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-- 
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence