(VICT) Fw: Questions from a friend about her guide dog
- From: "Mona Ramouni" <mramouni@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <GDUI-Friends@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Vi-clicker" <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:12:21 -0500
Hi everyone,
Cynthia sent this message and asked me to forward it to both groups she asked
questions of. Thanks so much for the help and all the advice.
Take care.
Mona
----- Original Message -----
From: Cynthia
To: Mona Ramouni
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 10:06 PM
Subject: Questions from a friend about her guide dog
Hi Karen and Thane, Thanks for your message of December 16. Sorry it has
taken so long to get back to you. I wanted to sign up for yahoo and GDUI so
I could make one reply to everyone who responded to my problem with one
letter. I had a couple of friends sign me up for yahoo, but for some reason
it didn't work. Now I have to wait until Monday to call yahoo back and have
them sign me up. Yes, Peggy is a big girl. She is closer to 75 pounds, but
she is physically strong and strong-willed as well. So much so that Pilot
had to put a prong collar on her. I don't have the strength in my fingers to
work those things and you're not supposed to let the dog sleep with them on.
So as a result, I was unable to keep it on her over the summer like I was
supposed to. Before I go any further, I should say that I have had Peggy
since April after having eleven wonderfull years with Robin, a chocolate
lab. Peggy is a fine worker, can be a good girl and very obedient when she
wants to be. The only problem is that like Mona said, she likes to ride in
people's cars and people walking dogs. When we get into those situations,
she wants to pull for the car she is going to ride in or lunge after the
dogs she sees. She has practically had me off my feet a couple of times. I
have been worried about that all summer, that and wondering if she would
slow down in the winter weather which I might add, she doesn't. You see, I
fell out here a couple of years ago and broke an ankle. Since then I have
been terrified of falling again, and I am afraid Peggy is going to get me
hurt. I went back to Pilot in November for a week of brush-up training, and
they put another prong collar on her. Plus, these dogs know when they get
back into that school environment, so naturally, she was not pulling any of
the mess she was pulling here at home. Well, the day after Thanksgiving, I
took her to the vet to find out why she was scratching herself raw. They had
told me that she could go ahead and sleep with the collar on. Well, come to
find out, that collar left big infected holes in her neck, so it had to come
off. She stayed well behaved for about two days after that. But now she is
back to the way she was before I went back to Pilot. I have already spoken
to the head guy at Pilot, and he is looking for a different dog for me. He
seems to think that Peggy just might be a little bit too much dog for me
which I've been saying all along. He also agreed with me that working with
your dog should be an enjoyable experience. As a result, they should be
calling me into class shortly after the new year, so I am working in a very
limited time frame. Dolores, the lady who is training Mona's horse gave me
some tips, when she brought the horse for a couple of days at the beginning
of the month. The problem with the clicker training is that the food rewards
are causing Peggy to scrounge around on the ground for stuff and beg for
food which are things she's never done before. Plus, I don't believe your
dog should work for food rewards. The other problem is that I am very
indecisive about what to do and don't feel right about calling Pilot with
yet another change of mind about keeping her. On the one hand, I love Peggy
and want to work with her, especially on the days when she's very good. On
the other hand, on the days when it's a battle of the wills, I really want a
dog I don't have to fight with. And the bad thing about all that is that I
will not work as hard to keep her as I would if I was totally committed to
working out her problems. Sorry this letter has turned out to be so long,
but I really think if you guys all know the whole story, it will make a
difference as to what advice I get. Mona didn't mention Peggy's strong will
to all you guys, so I get the impression that a lot of people think I am
dealing with a puller. No, we are dealing with hardheadedness and
stubbornness as well. Well, I think that's about all for now. Again, thanks
for replying. If you want to keep in touch though, feel free. I hope you had
a merry Christmas and have a happy New Year. Thanks again. Cynthia and Peggy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mona Ramouni" <mramouni@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <cvegil01@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:31 PM
Subject: Fw: (VICT) Re: questions from a friend about her guide dog
> Well, here's one that agrees with you, although I have to say, I made the
> mistake, thinking Peggy was between seventy-five and eighty pounds. Still,
> the sentiment holds.
> Mona
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karyn and Thane" <bcpaws4me@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Vi-clicker" <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 6:12 PM
> Subject: (VICT) Re: questions from a friend about her guide dog
>
>
>> Yikes 80 pounds- that would be almost two of Thane or Met. Nope I think
>> in
>> that situation I would probably want a better match too.
>> My guys have been a perfect size for me to handle. I can not imagine
>> leash
>> training a larger dog than I have. I know her dogs are trained by a
>> program.
>> It sounds like that guy may be better suited to a really tall active
>> person.
>> It must be hard though- saying goodbye when a mis-match happens. I know
>> inevitably one day I will attempt to train a dog and have it not work out
>> for one reason or another. Thus far I have been lucky that way.
>>
>> Karyn and Thane
>>
>>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
> signature database 3696 (20081216) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
> signature database 3696 (20081216) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> part000.txt - decompression could not complete (possible reasons:
> insufficient free memory or disk space, or a problem with temp folders)
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>
Other related posts:
