[nagdu] Recall Issues

[Tami Jarvis]

Hi, Christo!

Are you talking about when the dog is in harness and having distraction 
issues? Or in other scenarios, like in the yard or something? I think of 
recall in off-leash terms, but that may be just me.

Dealing with distraction when the dog is in harness is easier, since you 
have hands-on control of the dog through the leash even when it is not 
listening to your voice commands.

In that case, the best way to start getting the dog's attention back to 
you is to turn it away from the distraction. I use a Gentle Leader on my 
poodle guide, which makes turning the poodle's head pretty easy even 
when she is in super stubborn mode. The important thing is to *never* 
use the GL for correction, but to exert a steady pull with only enough 
force to move the dog's nose (and thus it's eyes) away from the source 
of the distraction. This breaks the concentration on the distraction and 
also removes the reward from being distracted, since the dog is no 
longer getting what it wants.

With a neck collar, you can turn the whole dog, with the same end in 
mind. Break the concentration and remove the reward.

Either way, because you are exerting control, you are on the road to 
regaining your own leadership role. Ideally, you could lead the dog away 
from the other dog, but that's tough to do when it's your guide dog, for 
obvious reasons. I've been known to do that when my monster beast was 
younger and more stubborn, but only when I was really sure of the 
ground. When I'm not, then I would just get to stand there and prevent 
her from getting her way until she figure out that she wasn't getting 
anywhere. Sigh. She's nearly 7 now, so remembers to recall herself to 
work when she would rather be distracted. Then I can click/praise and 
move her on. So I use a dual command: Leave it! Forward!

The second command is to provide the positive behavior I want her to 
perform to replace the behavior I don't want. So I can reward her for 
continuing forward away from the distraction. Which is what I want.

That's a pretty general, basic approach. Can you give more details about 
the type of situation you may be dealing with?

hth,

Tami

On 04/01/2013 09:49 AM, Christo Thiardt wrote:
> Hello
>
>
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> Any experience with guide dog recall where the dog is so keen to dominate
> another that it ignores recall messages from its owner?
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> Would be good to hear.  Give hints/tips if you have any.
>
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> Regards
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>
>
> Chris
>
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