the GDB lectures
I just read all of the Guide Dogs for the blind lectures on working with a guide dog. Well, I read all the lectures on the actual guide stuff...street crossings, reworking errors, working indoors, sidewalkless, etc. I skipped those on tour of the dorm, grad services etc. It was all a review for me, but still I feel like it's good to review it in preperation for Jetta. I know I get sloppy when I work with Monty sometimes.
I agreed with almost everything they said. Nail trimming is a point that comes to mind where I feel blind people are shortchanged by GDB. It's interesting that the lectures and the graduates don't always exactly line up. The parts on clicker training are especially true of this. There seems to be a miscommunication about life long treats and the difference between using treats as a reinforcer and outright bribery. The lectures are clear though.
I feel like I'm a bit closer to getting my head wrapped around the idea that Jetta is new. There are so many things I take for granted with Monty. Like when I am ready to leave my office, Monty knows when I take all my stuff and turn off the light we are headed home. He knows the way home and will gladly take me there without any direction from me. He still stops at the curbs and waits for my go ahead to cross, but he knows all the turns. He even knows how to detour if there is something totally blocking the path ahead. He'll go around the block and pick up the alternate way home. Perhaps it's just plain sloppy on my part to let him go on autopilot like this, I don't know. I do know that he's quite capable of handling it. Also if I wanted to stop at the bank or post office on the way home he would take the new direction with ease or as at ease as Monty gets.
I need to not do that with Jetta though. She will need clear directions, praise and feeback from me. In a lot of ways I am very excited for her arrival. She will work more easily, meaning without as much management as Monty needs. He's not a dog for a beginner. But she's also new and I will have to teach her all the places I go. It's not a problem, just something that needs to be done. Like the route I take to the middle school...there is a sidewalk that circles around the parking lot so that whole mess can be entirely avoided, but finding that particular sidewalk in a long line of sidewalks isn't very easy. Monty knows which one to take and we've been doing it for so long, I'm not sure if I could do it without him. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. It's just a bit daunting, thinking of all the new things, but it's also exciting!
I agreed with almost everything they said. Nail trimming is a point that comes to mind where I feel blind people are shortchanged by GDB. It's interesting that the lectures and the graduates don't always exactly line up. The parts on clicker training are especially true of this. There seems to be a miscommunication about life long treats and the difference between using treats as a reinforcer and outright bribery. The lectures are clear though.
I feel like I'm a bit closer to getting my head wrapped around the idea that Jetta is new. There are so many things I take for granted with Monty. Like when I am ready to leave my office, Monty knows when I take all my stuff and turn off the light we are headed home. He knows the way home and will gladly take me there without any direction from me. He still stops at the curbs and waits for my go ahead to cross, but he knows all the turns. He even knows how to detour if there is something totally blocking the path ahead. He'll go around the block and pick up the alternate way home. Perhaps it's just plain sloppy on my part to let him go on autopilot like this, I don't know. I do know that he's quite capable of handling it. Also if I wanted to stop at the bank or post office on the way home he would take the new direction with ease or as at ease as Monty gets.
I need to not do that with Jetta though. She will need clear directions, praise and feeback from me. In a lot of ways I am very excited for her arrival. She will work more easily, meaning without as much management as Monty needs. He's not a dog for a beginner. But she's also new and I will have to teach her all the places I go. It's not a problem, just something that needs to be done. Like the route I take to the middle school...there is a sidewalk that circles around the parking lot so that whole mess can be entirely avoided, but finding that particular sidewalk in a long line of sidewalks isn't very easy. Monty knows which one to take and we've been doing it for so long, I'm not sure if I could do it without him. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. It's just a bit daunting, thinking of all the new things, but it's also exciting!