[nagdu] Too much petting from roommates

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Shannon,

My original plan with Mitzi was to go that route, since it makes the most
sense.  Only she is so reserved and so naturally a one-woman dog, I ended up
having to train her to let other people pet her -- in a controlled way --
just to keep her from freaking out or melting down from drive-by petters.
Now she will accept being touched by others in a controlled greet, but only
if it's reserved, unobtrusive petting.  Every now and then at the dog park,
I will catch her letting someone pet her and love on her briefly.  Then the
next day, she might be back into hands off mode.

When I moved in with DD, I stressed a strong non-intervention policy, and
Mitzi took a long time to warm up enough to let him pet her.  Now, petting
from the dad is mandatory!  /lol/  They have quite the little ritual
happening.

With her, I've noticed that she still won't mind him at all, which is
something I reward her for.  She will sometimes go out to potty for him if
I'm asleep, but still sometimes I will have to get up to go open the door
for her.  I can, at need, hand him the leash, so long as I'm in sight and
sticking around.  Every now and then, he slips up and grabs her handle while
I'm getting out of the truck (it's new, so I still have days when the long
way to the ground discombobulates me), and she will start dancing around in
circles.  Which I reward her for.  /smile/  As I reward her for ignoring him
when she's working.  So it works for us, even though we get pretty silly
around here when it comes to the dogs.

Funny thing is that Daisy, who has become very mellow and sweet and
responsive under operant conditioning, has taken to ignoring me the same way
when he is home.  Nope!  Dad is the boss of me.  It's very funny.
Aggravating, but funny.

Heaven help me if my next dog is super-friendly!  I won't know how to cope.
Although I plan to follow the hands off policy during socialization and
training, then into the team building phase.  Once the dog is mature and
experienced, then we'll see.  /smile/  I can't imagine life without Mitzi,
but I can't help planning how I want to do things with my next dog.
Realistic, I guess, but kinda odd sometimes.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of solsticesinger
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 9:07 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Too much petting from roommates

I have found that, with certain dogs, too much attention from and bonding 
with other people, especially in the beginning, can cause some problems. I 
have a pretty strict hands-off policy when it comes to my dogs, but that's 
just me.

Shannon and Caroline
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lora" <blindhistory at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 4:49 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Too much petting from roommates


> Hello
> Has anyone found that their dog doesn't work for them as well if
> people pet the dog alot outside of harness? My dog isn't walking as
> fast and doesn't seem to respond to guide commands as quickly. Any
> thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> I'm also wondering if he isn't just getting bored with the routine.
>
>
> -- 
> Lora
>
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