[nagdu] shorelining

[Julie J.]

Mardi,

I was having the same problem with left turns. I found that if I c/t when 
his head turned left, then one foot...it really helped him understand what I 
wanted.  Once I focused on the smallest bit of left movement the concept 
really took off.  I didn't need to break it down very much at all after the 
initial first few bits.

I think left turns are harder because the dog is turning away from you.   A 
left turn also requires more thought from the dog for clearance and graceful 
maneuvering.  Or at least with Monty this is what I am finding.  Right turns 
are pretty much one fluid movement, while left turns require a chain of 
tasks.

It sounds like Shaman is coming along very nicely.   I love to hear about 
how you work your dogs and how you train specific tasks.

Julie



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mardi Hadfield" <wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:28 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] shorelining


> Hi every one,  Nala naturally walks to the left. I use the term, step left
> and step right, when I want my dogs to keep left or right. I am teaching
> Shaman, the left turn and right turn now and I am finding that he does ok
> with right, but I have to push him to the left to get him to turn that
> way.Even with the clicker, he still has not gotten it yet. I think maybe 
> he
> just doesn't like going left. He has been learning every thing else I have
> taught him, quite fast,but not turning left. I am always worried that I 
> will
> run over his toes with the wheelchair.I need more hands. I really have my
> hands full with the clicker, the treats, the wheelchair controls and the
> cane and the dog.I will be glad when Nick has a break from school,so he 
> can
> help me.I had planned to have a dog already trained before he went back to
> school,but it did not work out that way.After having to career change
> Wanagi, because of her hip injury, and then not being able to find another
> dog right away, well I have had to do most of Shaman's training on my own 
> so
> far. I will definitely need Nick's help when it comes time to train Shaman
> on the bus lifts and avoiding stairs. I can do the elevator work my self. 
> He
> is doing very well in traffic now and is better about 
> distractions,although
> loose dogs are still a problem. He is beginning to get it about stopping 
> at
> curbs and drive ways, and the other day,there was some garbage on the road
> in our path and he went around it on his own.  I used to travel against
> traffic when not using side walks, but was told by a cop that I needed to 
> go
> with the traffic like bicyclists,as my chair was considered a vehicle. 
> There
> are a lot of sidewalks that I don't use as there are no curb cuts to get 
> on
> them or get off. There are also some that are so uneven that I prefer to 
> use
> the street rather than jar my spine every 2 minutes.Also there are some
> sidewalks that end abruptly with a drop off. Arizona has no common sense
> when it comes to building sidewalks. One of these drop off sidewalks is at 
> a
> bus stop,so I avoid using that bus stop.I have on occasion ,gotten stuck 
> in
> gravel as the county prefers to use gravel instead of sidewalks. I have 
> also
> gotten stuck in mud. It is a lot easier to just use the side of the street
> to travel on.  I find that I don't get lost as often as I used to when I 
> had
> more vision,if that makes any sense. Nala knows her way around pretty well
> and the only time I tend to loose by bearings is when I have to go some
> where I am unfamiliar with. If I have gone some where at least twice and
> said the name of the place,Nala knows where we are going and will take me
> right up to the door.Some times when we are passing a bus stop, she tries 
> to
> stop there. I have to tell her that we are not stopping there today. Some
> times if we are going on a familiar rout, she thinks we  are going going a
> certain way and tries to turn down a street that we are not going on.Again 
> I
> have to tell her that we are not going that way today. She is definitely a
> thinking dog.I keep telling her that I am giving the directions here,not
> her. One time ,early in her career, I was coming home from a friends new
> apartment,and it was really dark and I turned down the wrong road and lost
> my bearings. I stopped and tried to figure out where I was. I told Nala to
> find home and she took me home. I just hope that Shaman can be  as good a
> guide as Nala is.  Have a great day,   Mardi and Nala,semi-retired and
> Shaman, gdit
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