(VICT) Re: New member and I clicker
- From: Sheila Styron <sheilastyron@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:24:17 -0500
In the interest of fairness, I have had 5 program trained dogs from GDB,
who although they have all been quite boring retriever breeds, grin have
all had excellent house manners, have had long healthy working lives and
have had no serious issues except that the first one, a golden,
developed thunder trauma as she aged, which back in the seventies, I
knew nothing about how to work with.
Sheila Styron, President
Guide Dog Users, Inc.
816-363-3172
sheilastyron@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jill
Gross
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:27 AM
To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: (VICT) Re: New member and I clicker
Jo, I would guess that you probably like the idea of selecting your own
dog for training. I think that is the greatest factor for me. I would
like
to pick my breed based on my research and I would like find a dog witht
he
personality traits that I like in a service dog. I have always been very
disappointed in the very limited number of breeds utilized by most of
the
guide dog schools. I know many people who have labs as guides and they
are
thrilled with them. I don't particularly care for them and feel that
they
have some important traits that decrease there desirability as guides,
ie.
they are very social and they are extremely food oriented. There are so
many fabulous breeds out there and I have have never understood why some
of them have never been used by the schools. I know there is a small
school that uses vislas and Leader will use the occasional bouvier or
boxer.
I "untrain" my guides to stop at the up-curb on street crossings. I do
most of my travelling in the city where people often drive wrecklessly.
I
want my butt and my dog's butt in the street as little as possible. I
have
always been good able knowing where the up-curbs are, so I find it safer
for us to get out of the street quickly. I have always trained my dogs
to
do other things, some that are practical and some that are fun. I have
also found that the dogs that are trained by the schools tend to be
unruly
in the house. I have had to do significant in-home training with all but
one of my dogs. I have often wondered how the nondog person who gets a
guide handles a guide who wrecks their house.
Jill
On Sun, 15 Apr 2007, Jo Clayson wrote:
>
>
> What would you like to do with your dog that the dogs in schools are
> not trained for?
>
> Interesting question. I've never had a dog from a school, and though
> I know a few people personally that have, I'm not really familiar with
> specifically what behaviors are taught, or not taught.
>
> Things I teach my dogs:
> Tricks: shake hands, roll over, choosing the correct hand in response
to a
> question, speak, etc. Both my dogs and I have fun with these.
Teaching a
> trick is a good way for me to try out a different training
> method....if I really goof up and my dog doesn't do a perfect "play
> dead" it's not potentially life threatening for me or my dog. Also,
> if my dog has been distracted and needs to focus back on me, tricks
> are often a good way to get that focus back. Simply because they are
> tricks and fun, there isn't the tension in my voice that so easily
> communicates to my dog, like when I might tell her to "leave it" ,
> "quiet" or "sit". A dog that does a few tricks can also delight other
> people, and help those who are hesitant or a bit fearful around dogs.
>
> Search & rescue: though we are not part of a search team, I want my
> dogs and I to be able to work together in this way. I live on 29 acres
> of land in a rather remote area with thousands of acres of undeveloped
> land adjacent. Should a guest here, or a hunter get lost, or should I
> be injured and folks are looking for me, I want my dogs to be able to
> assist in the initial search.
>
> Agility - we don't compete, but do this at home for fun, physical
> conditioning, and for building teamwork, self-control, and physical
> skills.
>
> "go to the bathroom" - take me to a public restroom . For a dog with
> a keen sense of smell, this seems to be a fairly easy task.
>
> Find my stuff: When we are away from home I may have a duffle bag,
back
> pack, jacket , bucket of tools, etc that I set down. Usually I know
> where they are, but sometimes I forget, or am "bleary brained" with
> chemical exposure and it's handy to have my dog take me to my stuff.
>
> Go to the car: as I don't drive, and ride with many different
people, and
> some of the families have more than one vehicle, I sometimes can't
> remember what vehicle I'm looking for or where it is parked. Kita
> does fairly well already in small parking lots. Zoomer could even
> find the vehicle in a very large lot. It's also been handy for the
> driver a few times who forgot where they parked!
>
> There are probably others. Often my dogs have figured out something
on
> their own that is helpful to me, so I reward and encourage it.
>
> Jo
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