(VICT) Re: Alex- Dog Attack
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 13:19:39 -0400
Sandy, give Alex time, and give her positive experiences. It took Judson
about six months to truly relax around dogs after our dog attack.
Shelley L. Rhodes M.A., VRT, CTVI
and Guinevere, Golden lady Guide
juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.
Graduate Alumni Association Board
www.guidedogs.com
More than Any other time, When i hold a beloved book in my hand, my
limitations fall from me, my spirit is free.
- Helen Keller
----- Original Message -----
From: <Infinitepaws@xxxxxxx>
To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 10:00 AM
Subject: (VICT) Alex- Dog Attack
Hi all! I finally gave up getting the GDUI presentation to download on my
computer and got permission to download it to cd at work. One of the reasons
was
that Alex was "attacked" while coming home the other evening and while she
seemed to handle it fairly well, I was checking to see if there was
something
else I could do or could have done. BTW, it was a good presentation! it is
at
_www.gdui.org_ (http://www.gdui.org) on the front page to download as a
audio file. Although if you have dial-up it might not download
properly..which
was my problem.
One of the things I have talked about here was touched upon in the
presentation. They said that many times a dog that is actively guiding and
not paying
attention to the other dog is less likely to be attacked and/or injured.
I work actively with Alex on walking and working past fence fighting dogs
when I can.. Luckily for me we have some on the corner on the way to the bus
stop to practice with. Anyway, I have a cue called "On by" that is a cue for
her
to ignore their distraction and speed up forward. I use this on many
distractions but it is most used for fence fighting dogs or other dogs we
encounter
on leash. It really helped the other day.
Alex and I have to go to the store every other day to buy dog food since we
are temporarily feeding kibble instead of raw and I cannot carry huge bags
of
dog food easily. The danes and Alex eat 20 lbs every other day. Anyway the
idiot bus driver missed my stop and ended up letting us off 3 blocks past
my
stop. It means jaywalking a major street and walking up a really steep
hill,
but what the heck, gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway we were just coming
to
the top of the hill and were about 3 houses from home when two (I think)
small
dark dogs came running out from the front porch and tried to attack Alex. I
was stumbling over them and they were under Alex's feet..I cued Alex "on
by"
and tried to keep going .. hoping the owners would get the damned dogs.
Alex,
bless her soul, tried to do what I asked and did pretty good considering.
She
just turned in her harness and pulled to look back a few times after we had
gotten clear of them and the owners had corralled them..
I hate owners who choose to have their dogs off leash and yet cannot
control
them with voice commands..If they had run out and the owner had voice
control , they could have called them back before the engaged Alex. I firmly
believe in the saying Unleashed is Unloved. Except where the dogs have
earned the
privilege of being off leash due to owner training.., anyway, off that
soapbox...
We got to the house and , since she had handled that so well I took her
harness off immediately inside our gate and turned the sprinkler on.. her
favorite reward.
Alex and I went to get dog food again last night and we have developed a
small problem that I hope some time and work will cure. We were walking to
the
bus stop and a small dog was being walked on leash and we had to pass it,
of
course it lunged out to the end of its leash although not agressively and
Alex was a bit nervous. I cued On by and we went on to the bus stop .
Unfortunately they were following us and I had a little bit of a time
getting Alex to
focus on work instead of them. She did do fine when we sat down and the
little
dog walked by on the side walk in front of us.. just a tiny whine. On the
way back,we came in from our regular stop and some small dogs opposite the
large fence-fighting dogs started barking and fence fighting. Alex lurched
forward into her harness like she would for a on by cue but also was
vocalizing a
little with tiny yips and squeaks.. I dont want her to do that at all. I am
going to ignore it and c/t quiet over the next few weeks and see what
happens.
She also pulled really hard on the last street cross to our gate. Hopefully
that was due to the sprinkler reward and not relief at getting home..
I don't want to report the owners to animal control since they live 3 doors
away and could cause problems but I do plan on dropping off some information
in their mailbox about the penalties for off leash dogs and for interfering
with a service animal.. actually I might just do that with the surrounding
neighborhood too. A little public ed can't hurt. Hopefully it was a
one-time
thing.. Hopefully, there won't be any long term issues either.
Any other ideas or thoughts?
Sandy Foushee
Infinite Paws-Abilities Training and Service Dogs
Teamed with Alexandra Guide/Service Dog
Colorado Service/Assistance Dog Club - Trainer.-
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