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Seeing Eye

   
☼Annie- ☼

I'm Love-A-Bull!- Pit Bulls are- dogs too!		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 13, '08 2:34pm PST 
Just for fun I've been teaching Annie the ways of the seeing eye dogs. I need to exercise her brain so that she doesn't get overyly excited or stressed. I have a diary telling about everything, so feel free to take a look.

Puggle loves!
Annie and her trainer
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Shadow

I Survived- Pancreatic- Cancer!		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 23, '08 1:14pm PST 
I'm just curious, how are you training her? My two dogs Laura and Patriot are in training to be Service Dogs, dogs who assist the mobility impaired.

If you want I'd LOVE to chat about training techniques. Since your pup is not an actaul Service Dog we can't talk about access issues, but those are boring anyway! laugh out loud
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☼Annie- ☼

I'm Love-A-Bull!- Pit Bulls are- dogs too!		 
 
Barked: Wed Dec 31, '08 8:39am PST 
Well, much praise is needed. You have to praise if they stop before bumps, walk pulling slightly, and ignore other animals. I taught Annie what "home" meant and left and right so that she can guide me as safely as possible. Annie's always gotten tensed up whenever she sees someone cross the road and is very cautious in that way. I guess you can't quite use the same methods for all dogs, but you find what they respond to best. Annie made it very obvious and HELPED me train her.

Puggle loves!
Annie and her ownerpuppy
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Shadow

I Survived- Pancreatic- Cancer!		 
 
Barked: Thu Jan 1, '09 2:10pm PST 
I use the command "wait" before they exit doors, cars, crose the street, etc. When they are on wait that is all they do. the I say "out" (for the car and doors) or "let's go" (when walking across the street) or "release" (like when they are running awayor sitting there) to signal they can resume what they were doing.
As for guiding around things, this is REALLY fun to teach! They pick it up SO quickly. When walking towards a lamp post or something the tendency is for the dog to walk to the RIGHT around it. You want to teach them to walk to the LEFT and bump your leg. For a guide this is neccisary because you never want the pup to "pull" the harness away from you. Same when they are making left turns. They have to go in a circle if you will to make the turn.
Ok so your walking towards the item and they are walking right, let them go and have the leash catch the item and them to whip around. (note: don't be walking too fast so they don't hurt themselves) It will startle them and I garuntee they will not go to the right again. After that praise everytime the go to the left and so on.
As for home, well you got that down but for anyone that wants to teach it here is how I would do it.
Start not to far away from the house and yell "home" or "house" or whatever and run with the dog to the house. Click and treat. DO this and gradually increase the distance. Soon the dog will relize that if you yell home and he runs home he will get a treat.
Left and right are easy to, just steer the dog and add a treat. Dogs need consistancy to pick up a new trick. If they can connect an action to a word and are being praised for it they will do anything!
Also a guide command for stop is "halt"
The key to the command "leave it" is to make yourself more interesting and rewarding then the object of desire. Call them in a high voice, add treats whenever the focus is on you. You'll find your dog wants to please and pay attention to you more if you are engaging.

Edited by author Thu Jan 1, '09 2:13pm PST

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☼Annie- ☼

I'm Love-A-Bull!- Pit Bulls are- dogs too!		 
 
Barked: Fri Jan 2, '09 5:35pm PST 
I totally agree. Great advice, but still, I am just doing this for fun. Annie loves it and so do I. All she needs is praise and she'll do anything!

Puggle loves!
Annie and her ownerpuppy
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Shadow

I Survived- Pancreatic- Cancer!		 
 
Barked: Sun Jan 4, '09 1:49pm PST 
I was thinking, what I do is "serious" for my dogs, but really it's still just a game! laugh out loud Getting them to retrieve I taught as a game, same with hitting the buttoms and other things! You can't tell a dog that what they are doing is serious business, some kind of "get it" others just think it's a game which is completely fine! I think that when I stop raising I will get a puppy for myself and raise it the same way. Maybe I'll be a bit more lax when it comes to getting on the furtanture or what not, but like you said dogs need a job and are happiest when doing something to the fullest! big grin

Keep up the good work with Annie! Please don't think that I'm trying to "out do" you! I may sound a bit intense, but sometimes I take training way to seriously! I need a vacation....bol. I also wasn't really directing that post at you so much as sharing some info for others. I should probably start a different thread for training techniques. Please feel free to share how you do things, who knows it may work with my pups! little angel

And I totally agree with the praise thing, a job, some food and a kiss is all my dogs need to be happy! laugh out loud

Edited by author Sun Jan 4, '09 1:53pm PST

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☼Annie- ☼

I'm Love-A-Bull!- Pit Bulls are- dogs too!		 
 
Barked: Mon Jan 5, '09 11:14am PST 
Annie does just think it's a game. She knows it's a walk and loves any place we go on a leash. When I walk one of our neighbor's dog she sets a great example. The neighbors dog is 7 months old and has had no training for the beginning. His owner has desperately asked for my help with training. I'm glad that I can make a difference with my neighbors dogs too.

Puggle loves!puppy
Annie and her owner
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Jet

Happy- Thanksgiving! 		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 3, '09 3:28pm PST 
If your dog pulls, I recommend the Gentle Leader head colllar. Just type in Gentle Leader Head Collar in any search box, and you should find it.
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