When I got Emma from the Lady Nell "Seeing Eye Dog" school, one of the
complaints I made was her excessive amount of pull. When I said "forward" she
took off like a formula1 Massarati.
I was informed by her male trainer that Emma didn't * pull, but his female
counterpart agreed with me that she did!
I couldn't do much about it while I was under the eagle eye of the instructors:
I did get away with a hell of a lot of things of which they didn't aprove: but
as soon as I got home and away from prying eyes, I set about bringing her pace
back to something less than an all out sprint.
I gave her a couple of opportunities to come down from first gear to second,
but when she didn't, I stopped and adjusted the position of the breastplate so
that instead of running across Emma's chest, it was 3 inches lower and across
the top of her forelegs.
On the word "FORWARD!", she leapt into the collar and I pulled back on the
handle and her legs were whipped away from under her and down she went on her
nose!
PROBLEM SOLVED! She never pulled, excessively, again!
Jewel
From: Wayne And Harley
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 12:58 AM
To: iotalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IOTAList] Re: Harness Tension
Hi Buddy,
I agree that it is easier to tone down the tension and speed than it is to
increase those two traits. The difference with Owner Trained pups is that the
desired amount of tension and speed is a known quantity from the get go.With
programme trained pups they and you need to adjust on the fly. Our OT pups
are inculcated from the start to self adjust to match us and conditions. Harley
knows my preferred tension/speed, but if he slows way down I trust him and know
he has a good reason, usually, if the nose drops then it is probably something
he is going to try and snarf down.
It is also nice to know that, if needed, Harley has some reserve speed to call
upon.
I love that Harley can maintain the same tension over his speed range.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Hilda will be the same way.
Yours, Very Sincerely And Respectfully,
Wayne M. Scace
-------- Original message --------
From: Buddy Brannan <buddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 9/22/2015 06:32 (GMT-06:00)
To: iotalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IOTAList] Re: Harness Tension
Well...I'm not sure how this will play out with Hilda.
OK, so how can I explain this? Starting with Chet, I asked for a dog with a
medium to hard pull. Here's why, and maybe I have screwy logic. It seems to me
that, as time went on, my dog's pull would lessen. Eventually, all three of my
dogs have had a similar normal working pull into the harness, or, I should say,
a similar amount of tension caused by forward motion. It all sort of evened out
to about the same with all three dogs, all three of different sizes and
different builds. Essentially, they all pulled less. Sometimes I'd actually
like a bit *more* tension, but what I've ended up with has been enough, anyway.
I guess it is, because it's what we've all eventually worked out. The way I
figure it though, it's easier to get a dog to pull less than for a dog to pull
more, just as it's easier to get a dog to slow down than to speed up. If I got
a dog that started out with a light to nonexistent pull, what would that look
like some time down the road?
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
On Sep 22, 2015, at 7:16 AM, Caitlyn Furness <caitlyn.furness@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Janelle,
that’s interesting.
Cait
On Sep 21, 2015, at 7:58 AM, Janelle Colquhoun
<jc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm not sure about that.
Jewel, the Bell from the Kiwi south might be a laid-back farming girl who
teaches her dogs to have a country stroll alongside her, but there are
non-stop complaints on our Australian guide dog list from handlers who are
given school trained dogs who pull like a TGV or ICE train when they are
running late!
Janelle
----- Original Message -----
From: Caitlyn Furness
To: iotalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 9:23 PM
Subject: [IOTAList] Re: Harness Tension
Just to toos something else into the harness tension discussion..
Jewel has said that she likes a very light tension.. In general, I think
that North American dogs are taught, and even encouraged, to give way more
pull or harness tension then dogs from other countries.
If handled correctly, you can teach a defined tension without the mac truck
effect..
Cait
On Sep 20, 2015, at 10:34 PM, Jewel <jewelblanch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wayne! As you and others have known me for years and years, I, scarcely,
need answer that question because, as you know, I insist on the lightest of
light pulls, the dog and I just stroll along together with me following
him as though I was walking with a friend who knew how to guide a blind
person, and if that doesn't describe a guide dog and its human other half,
I don't know what does!
Jewel
From: Wayne And Harley
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 1:40 PM
To: iotalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IOTAList] Harness Tension
Hello Everyone,
I would like to discuss,
for lack of a better way of putting it, harness tension. Some call it pull.
I'll admit that back when I was a young whippersnapper of a Guide Dog Owner
that I preferred a strong tension from the pup. At that time I equated a
strong pull with a clear and strong flow of information up the handle from
the pup.
Now, after Owner Training Harley, Storm and Sky, that preferrence has
changed dramatically. While I still insist on a clear, strong flow of
signal up the harness handle, I now prefer very little pull on the handle.
Especially after training those three, who at first, all pulled like little
freight trains. My preference quickly changed, my aching left shoulder
thanked me! LOL
Harley occassionally forgets and slips into "freight train" mode, but a
firm "steady" usually gets him to lighten up.
What about the rest of you? Have you undergone a similar conversion, or
have you always been a light tension fan?
Yours, Very Sincerely And Respectfully,
Wayne M. Scace
