[Oagdu] your preferred method of training?

[Andrew Leach]

Good morning all:

My first three dogs were trained based on corrections and praise and they
were all good and exhibited drive toward guide work, continued to grow and
develop as our partnership strengthened and they were willing to step up to
the plate in difficult and challenging situations.  My guy who didn't make
it, (dog number four) was trained with food reinforcement, no leash
corrections and a good old leash correction was replaced with what GDB
calls, "time out", which is when you kind of gently shove the dog further to
the left and ignore them for a short period of time.  He definitely came to
me with much weaker of a foundation than the three previous dogs and his
skill set was even less impressive then his foundation.  I worked with this
guy for nearly a year and a half and just when I was thinking that we may be
making some progress, this guy would let me know otherwise.  Despite my very
negative experience with the new training methods, I do see some value in
food rewards as a supplement to other training methods:  examples include,
learning a new task, patterning in very difficult situations finding a poll
at a tricky street crossing just to name a few.  Part of the problem in my
eyes with these dogs who aren't trained with some of the traditional methods
is that you don't know until they get out in the field whether or not there
is any level of genuine interest in guiding and the expectation of food can
over-ride other things that the dog should be focusing on.  Lastly, my
experience with dogs trained exclusively with these new training techniques
is that they are more likely to melt down in difficult and challenging
situations such as large national conferences, several days of strenuous
work in a row ETC.

My primary reason for switching to GDA for my fifth dog is that they still
believe in traditional training methods and they haven't dummied down
expectations for the dogs or people in training.  They listened to me when I
expressed what I wanted in my guide and they took me seriously and they
stressed the importance of the matching process.  Also, during our class,
they provided each of us with plenty of relevant information about our dogs,
what makes them tick, best ways to connect with them ETC.  For example, they
told me that Brie does need a little babying, but once my bond is
established with her that she'll do anything for me and she is a very
serious worker who wants to be at the head of the class.  They also told me
that she needs to both give and receive love and this will make her a happy
and content girl.  

Sorry for the long post, but based on my experience, this is a very personal
topic with me and one which strikes a chord based on my negative experience
with a dog who only knows positive reinforcement.

Andy and Brie
-----Original Message-----
From: OAGDU [mailto:oagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chantel Cuddemi
via OAGDU
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 4:02 PM
To: Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users List
Cc: Chantel Cuddemi
Subject: [Oagdu] your prefered method of training?

Hi all,


I thought I'd bring up a topic for us to discuss in a friendly manner. I
would like to kno what your preferred method of training is. Is it positive
reinforcement, or is it just corrections and praise.


I actually see the advantages of both positive reinforcement and correction
and praise only.


I look forward to seeing what you all think!


Chantel, who hopes to get a poodle again someday!


_______________________________________________
OAGDU mailing list
OAGDU at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/oagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for OAGDU:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/oagdu_nfbnet.org/aleach5%40woh.rr.com
List archives:  http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/oagdu_nfbnet.org


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus