[nagdu] A Mia misconception

[Dan Weiner]

And why do you want to walk on the  right side of the sidewalk, wouldn't
perhapsyou being on the center with the pup on your left so slightly on the
left be the ideal? Just wondering.

Dan
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of The Pawpower Pack
via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2014 10:29 PM
To: Beckman, Noah G.; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide
Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] A Mia misconception

Hi Noah,
I can really empathize with this issue.  Although I am an owner trainer so
was able to nip it right in the bud, maybe some of what I say might help. 
Soleil is my current guide, and when she first learned to pull into the
harness and started going forward, she began doing this left walking thing
you described.  My solution was to stop every time she started to do it, to
take her back to the right and try again, wha click and treat for every step
she held the line of travel on the right side of the sidewalk.  And every
time she would start even slightly to go left for no reason, I'd stop and go
back to square one.  Soleil is a dog who loves to be on the move, so it did
not take long for her to realize that left side walking got her nowhere,
while right side walking got her food and a long walk. 
Good luck! like

 Rox and the kitchen Bitches: 
Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
Pawpower4me at gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 2, 2014, at 7:43 PM, "Beckman, Noah G. via nagdu"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Good evening everyone,
>                I am noticing a consistent tendency in Mia's guide work
that I would like to eliminate.  It seems as though her perception of her
guiding window (the space both above her and to her right that she needs to
keep clear of obstacles) is quite a bit wider than necessary.  In other
words, I think she feels she needs to guide me as though my right arm is
raised and pointing straight out to my right.  Although her efforts to make
doubly sure my right shoulder doesn't collide with anything might seem
touching, it has several negative symptoms.  As we walk down a sidewalk, she
will tend to favor either the middle or the far left side.  If there is a
building line, curb into the street, row of parking meters, etc. to my
right, this tendency becomes especially pronounced.  As I attend a large
university, the volume of people on the sidewalk at any one time can reach
levels comparable to New York City.  This means that her love of the left
often results in oncoming people either having to step off of the sidewalk
or cut over to my right in order to avoid us.  Or, if we approach a group of
people that is standing on the sidewalk such that there is still a little
bit of room for us to pass, she will sometimes freeze or walk at a snail's
pace.  The same is true for slightly narrow, but definitely navigable gaps
between furniture or other objects.  When I ask her to hup right, she will
(usually) but not all of the way to the boarder of the sidewalk.  Also, she
will drift back to the left immediately.
>                I've tried putting the leash in my right hand and tugging
slightly to the right.  I've tried scolding her and, in extreme or repeated
offenses, correcting her when she pulls me to the left.  I've tried putting
on a praise party on those few instances where she keeps me to the right
without repeated encouragement.  None of these efforts has noticeably
mitigated the issue.  I am not exactly sure how or why this started; I only
became acutely aware of it in late August around the time other students
started moving back to campus.
>                Other than this problem, I hardly have grounds for
complaint when it comes to any aspect of Mia or her work.  I simply want to
be able to walk along and have thoughts or conversations with others that
are not continually interrupted by me having to remind my dog that we need
to stick to the right.  Your thoughts and suggestions about how to correct
this issue would be much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> -Noah
> 
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