Hi Jill, welcome to the group. I am a guide dog user as well. My dog was trained with the traditional methods which never worked for me and I never liked anyway. So have been using the gentle leader with her and doing lots of positive stuff. We are not perfect, but we are good and quite functional. One book I highly recommend is "the culture clash" by jeanne donaldson. It is available in digital format from recording for the blind. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jill Gross" <jgross@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 1:46 PM Subject: (VICT) ew member, introduction Hi, my name is Jill Gross. I am very excited about joining this list. I have been training dogs to some degree or another since I was about eight years old. During my college days, I supplemented my income by training people's dogs in basic obedience. In recent years I have largely concentrated on training my own dogs. I would love to hear from other people who share my passion. I currently have six salukis and one German shepherd who is a guide from Fidelco. Two of my salukis are rescues and the others are ones that I have had since puppyhood. I show three of them in the conformation ring. I only began showing about two years ago and am fulfilling a childhood dream by doing it. I like the general principles behind clicker training. It is inevitable that, with a pack as large as mine, there are some occasional problems that need to be addressed. An aggression issue between two of my males is what initially drew my attention to clicker training. I was advised to read Emma Parson's "Click To Calm" which, unfortunately, I have yet to find in an accessible format. After reading "Don't Shoot the Dog", I see many practical applications for clicker training in my life. As I mentioned, I do have a guide dog. Nora is my third dog from Fidelco (my fourth guide). My first dog from them was absolutely amazing. However, their breeding program has changed significantly since those days and I have been very disappointed with my last two dogs. I am very frustrated actually. I would love to communicate with those of you who have trained your own guides or had guides trained specifically for you. I am quite the novice with clicker training and need to learn. If any of you have materials that I can read in alternative formats, please let me know. I have a six-month-old pup that I have just begun training and I would like to introduce her to the clicker. I am really unsure about how to start. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Jill -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.16.4/615 - Release Date: 1/3/2007