another cookie pusher gone, buuhhh byeeeee

Dennis, your a pip, I tell ya. LOL

Juliana,
Don't go away mad because of one person. How does that psalm go? Forgive them for they know not what they say.
Something like that.

If it were my dog though I need my dog to comply at anytime I give a recall (enre to the dog running off to play with the pup next door) and if that level of ob hurt the dog for service duty, then the dog wouldn't ever be given the chance to be making that decision on it's own. Unreliable recall is just too dangerous to be sloughed off.
Shrug, but that's me.

 Quote: juliana goodwin

"As for making decisions, that is only under the right circumstances. For instance; a guide dog only makes independent decisions while the handle is being held by the blind person. Once dropped, the dog must become complient. Waliking when the handle is dropped is done in heel, not sniffing or wandering at the end of the leash. In fact, unless the harness is removed, no sniffing is allowed."

--You don't know the first thing about my dog's job, or her working tasks- she's not even a Guide Dog!

--Also, had you read my other posts you would see that it's not as if I ALLOW her to keep on doing this sort of crap! She just wishes she didn't have to! so what?!

Never mind, I'm just angry and spewing my mouth. I'll just unsubscribe from this forum, I ought to have known better in the first place. If any moderators read this please feel free to get rid of my screen name.

Iam the one who posted about guide dogs. First, I shouldn't have asked for your program's name publically. I apologize for doing so. And even if I asked privately, it would be your decision on whether to reveal it or not. But I was shocked by what I was hearing.

As to the dog not being a guide dog, I was using the guide dog situation as an example. It happened to be something I thought would be readily understandable. But the point was that only when actively working on their task/s, should the dog decide things independently, if appropriate at the time.

You are correct that I don't know what the dog has been trained to do for you. Hence the generalizations and examples. If you wish me to give you detailed advice that would fit with the dogs tasks, and don't want to broadcast this publically; you can message me privately and I will do my best to help.

I am experienced in both service dogs as well as guide dogs. I have been training guide dogs since 1969 and service dogs since 1980. I have had dogs partnered all over the USA and Canada, and even a few internationally. The farthest being a man who came from S. Africa to have me train a dog for him. And many who returned to me for successor dogs. So my advice is based off of direct practical knowledge, not just thoeries or reading.

Ms. van Veen,

Excellent post.