(VICT) Re: levity
- From: "kitty hevener" <khevener@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:29:44 -0800
Hi AnnaLisa, I learned escallator travel for the same reason yhou did
smile!! I had tried it during formal training, but it wasn't working for
me. The instructor was trying to get me to jump off and I can't do that for
balance reasons. During a blindness convention, I had another instructor in
whom I really trusted work with us. As he started to train her, sunstar
laid down on the escallator. The instructor thought she was focusing more
on me instead of him, so I had to step out of her sight for a couple
minutes. She is a very courageous dog and is an awesome problem solver. She
picked up very quickly on little terraine changes that caused me problems.
When we get really really lost, and I am standing in one place listening for
cues, sometimes she just starts to move. I have usually told her that I am
really lost. When she starts to move, she feels so confident that I just go
with her. She will inevitably take me to a person. This is something I
never taught. To my knowledge, that behavior was never trained. She just
does it smile!!
----- Original Message -----
From: "AnnaLisa Anderson" <annalisa@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 11:20 AM
Subject: (VICT) Re: levity
Hi Kitty,
Yeah, that's quite the image, a dog clicking and treating their handler...
Hmm...
I'm so sorry this happened to your Sunstar, but she might surprise you with
her willingness to try again. I guess it depends on what kind of
temperament she has, whether she's real adventurous or likes to take on
challenges. As I said, I trained my previous dog on escalators myself, and
I probably did it all wrong, in fact, I know I did. But because of her
willing spirit, it worked out.
I was at a national blind convention at the time, and it was a whole lot
easier to take escalators for the first few floors of the hotel than waiting
around for crowded elevators all the time, or trying to find stairs. So I
wondered if I could teach Megan how to ride the escalator. Well, mistake
number 1 was trying it on a down escalator first. I got on, she didn't.
Fortunately I had friends with me who could wait with Megan till I got back
up again. So I thought, that's the end of that, we won't try this again.
Well, sometime later that day, Megan totally surprised me by walking right
to an escalator next time she saw one. It was as if she was saying, come on
Mom, try me! I can do this, just give me another chance! This time it was
an up escalator, so I thought well, maybe I should let her try. After a
little hesitation, she did jump on and rode all the way to the top, and
jumped off. Megan was so proud of herself, and I was very proud of her too.
I praised her tremendously, and she was literally jumping for joy. We had
another up escalator to take right after that one, so we hopped on that one
too, and Megan did just as well the second time. That was the beginning.
Down escalators were still a bit tricky for awhile, but she eventually
mastered those too, and she did well with them for many years after that.
Of course I knew nothing of clicker training back then, so I give Megan a
lot of credit for taking on the escalator challenge herself and succeeding.
I don't know if that encourages you or not, but I just wanted to tell you my
experience with this. If I had it to do again, I would approach it much more
cautiously and slowly, but the need was there at the time, and fortunately
for me, I had a dog who was willing to overcome her fear of the unknown and
give it the old college try.
AnnaLisa and Sundance
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.22/921 - Release Date: 7/26/07
11:16 PM
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.23/924 - Release Date: 7/28/2007
3:50 PM
Other related posts:
