 |
 |
I have been a hearing dog owner for more than eight years and have never noticed any confusion between working dogs and humans! I think most people are sensible enough to understand that a dog can carry out simple tasks which are essential to the disabled person's access, yet mundane in the extreme for humans to do on a regular basis. Having an assistance dog has many benefits which extend way beyond access issues. We humans have worked with animals for thousands of years, and the service animal industry is just another development of that relationship. My hearing dog is certainly not a negative reality. And I do not much like the idea of a person hanging around my house telling me about every bell and buzzer, thanks all the same. Maggie Hampton ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Neuville" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 2:27 PM Subject: Re: visual impairment and training animals > Just a short word on animals and the juxtaposition to people with > disabilities. The growth of service animals is way out of hand. We are > substituting animals for humans and causing an image transfer that > reinforces people as animals. Look closely at the clicker training web site > and you will see that it now has been transferred to the special education > class room. Training children with behavior technology for animals is just > one of the negative realities as the service animal industry continues to > get way out of hand. > Be well > Thomas > > > Thomas J. Neuville, Ph.D > Associate Professor > Millersville University > Department of Special Education > 22 E. Frederick St > P.O. Box 1002 > Millersville, PA 17551-0302 > 717-871-4880 > [log in to unmask] > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lisel O'Dwyer [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 9:44 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: visual impairment and training animals > > I am forwarding this post with permission from Ann Edie, a blind horse and > dog trainer, as some list members may be interested in finding out more. > > From: "Ann Edie" <annedie@n...> > Date: Sun Oct 3, 2004 1:41 am > Subject: An Invitation to Help With a Project! > > > Hi, All, > > We have had some recent posts on the subjects of learning, teaching, and > presenting information to others. So I thought I might describe to you one > project that I have been involved in lately, and enlist your help in the > project. > > As many of you are already aware, I have been corresponding on the Internet > lists with blind and visually impaired people about Panda and her training > using clicker training. Many of the people on the lists use guide dogs or > other assistance dogs, and they have a keen interest in dog training and > handling techniques. I also belong to a blind equestrians' list, and many of > the members of that list are also interested in learning about clicker > training. Although clicker training is widely used in the training of dogs > today, the guide dog training community has been slow to move from > traditional correction-based methods toward methods based on the use of a > marker signal and positive reinforcement. This reluctance to change is > rooted at least partly in the sheer weight of seventy-five years of guide > dog training tradition which grew out of WWI and WWII military dog training > methods. However, another perceived barrier to the use of clicker training > by guide dog trainers and handlers is the belief that clicker training > requires that the trainer or handler have normal or at least fairly good > eyesight. > > This perception surprised me at first, since I don't find clicker training > to be any more vision dependent than other types of training. Perhaps the > reason why I did not run into the vision barrier is that I was introduced to > clicker training by actually doing it (under the mentorship of Alex, of > course), rather than through reading about it or hearing presentations about > it. When many blind and visually impaired people listen to presentations > about clicker training, they hear about the importance of free shaping, of > having the animal off leash, and of watching the animal and clicking > behavior that tends in the desired direction. They hear about the need to > capture offered behaviors, and about the importance of good timing of the > click and of visual attention and eye contact with the dog. All of these > aspects of clicker training can be rather off-putting to a blind person who > knows he has no chance of precisely monitoring what the animal is doing at a > distance. > > But guide and service animals need clicker training at least as much, if not > more than other animals. Many guide dogs develop behavior problems or health > problems shortly after beginning their guide work with a blind person, due > to the stress of the working environment and the stress of the > correction-based handling methods that are used. Many of these dogs "burn > out" and need to be retired at very young ages, and the emotional effects on > the handlers are often devastating. Besides having to give up an animal > which has become a beloved friend, the handler faces a severe loss of > confidence in himself as a dog handler and trainer, because despite his best > efforts to follow the instructions of the guide dog trainers, he has failed > to keep the dog working successfully. Handlers often feel that others will > believe they "ruined" a perfectly well-trained guide dog. And since the > breeding, training, and placement of a guide dog with a blind person costs > in the tens of thousands of dollars, the guilt associated with a failed > partnership is tremendous. > > Besides, the relationship between a person with a disability and her > assistance animal is one of the deepest and most reciprocal of human-animal > bonds. Traditional handling methods create a negative attitude in the mind > of the handler. She must always be on guard to catch and correct the animal > for each error or lapse of focus. The traditional training methods lead > handlers to think of their animals as "naughty" children who will take every > opportunity to do things they "know" they "shouldn't" do. They emphasize the > importance of the handler being the Alpha dog and maintaining discipline by > force if necessary. This "correction based" handling does not foster a true > and positive partnership between human and animal, in my experience. > Clicker Training, on the other hand, would truly foster a relationship of > respect and trust between the handler and the service animal. And it would > replace the handler's attitude of suspicion and distrust with one of > appreciation and encouragement of the animal's efforts. > > For all of these reasons, wouldn't clicker training be of great benefit to > guide dogs and to their blind handlers? I have always thought that it would. > And in the last couple of months we have reached a critical mass of visually > impaired people who are interested in learning more about clicker training > and how it can be used without depending on eye sight. We have formed an > Internet e-mail list in Smart Groups called VI-Clicker-Trainers, and we > already have several dozen members. We have had great discussions on the > list so far, ranging from the basics of what clicker training is and what > the resources are for blind and visually impaired people to learn about it, > to discussions of how to solve particular behavior issues, such as > scavenging, separation anxiety, and dog distraction. The experience level of > the group members ranges from first-time guide dog handlers to people who > have trained several service dogs for their own use, to people who have been > training dogs or horses professionally for many years. Besides the sharing > of clicker training success stories and the mentoring of beginner clicker > trainers which naturally occurs on all good clicker training lists, we on > the VI clicker list brainstorm techniques specific to non-visual use of > clicker training and solutions to issues specific to guide animals and guide > work. One of our members, XXX, has been so kind as to volunteer to post a > series of beginning clicker training lessons to introduce new clicker > trainers to the method. XXX has been using clicker training for several > years to train service dogs and therapy dogs professionally. She has only > recently lost much of her vision, and so she is exploring ways of continuing > to use clicker training as a blind trainer. > > I would like my blind and visually impaired friends to find resources that > speak to them about clicker training in terms that make them feel welcome. > I would also like to be able to recommend to them clicker training workshops > and training classes where they will be included and where they will find > useful techniques and strategies that they can employ without depending > exclusively on visual monitoring of the animal. > > This is where you all come in! I would like all of you who give > demonstrations of clicker training and who teach people to use clicker > training with their animals to be aware that pet and working animal owners > come in all sizes, ages, shapes, and with all sorts of physical, sensory, > mental, and emotional resources and limitations. Challenge yourself to think > of them all as clicker trainers and to keep in mind how their relationships > with their animals will blossom with clicker training. If someone with a > disability or other difference comes to your demo or clinic, and you can > almost guarantee that there will be someone that fits this description at > any gathering of even a few individuals, try to include that person as a > full participant in whatever activities are planned. Try to offer several > options of ways to do things and ways of learning things so that as many > people as possible can feel included. Listen to the individual and let her > suggest ways that she thinks may work for her to do things, as well as > suggesting things that you think might be helpful. And here is the main > thing I would like you to help me do--If you know people who give clicker > training classes, who write clicker training articles and books, who make > clicker training videos, who organize clicker training conferences, or who > in any way offer clicker training to the public, remind them that people > with all sorts of differences are also animal owners and are among their > audiences and will benefit greatly from the use of clicker training. > Remind > them to be open and welcoming of individuals with different learning styles > and abilities. And if you are a participant or presenter at a clicker > training event and notice someone who appears to have a disability or > difference which might require adaptations of standard techniques or > modifications of presentation style for that person to feel included, I do > hope that you will take a chance and strike up a conversation with the > person and see if you might be able to help make them feel more included. > Who knows, you might even find a new friend! > > A recent posting on the VI-Clicker-Trainers list from XXX illustrates how > persons with disabilities can feel isolated and alienated at conferences and > other public events. I would like to think that the clicker training > community is open enough and inclusive enough to welcome, support, and > encourage all those who want to learn and use clicker training to enrich > their relationships with their animals. > > In a post to the VI-Clicker-Trainers list, XXX wrote: > HI all, > Yesterday was an interesting day. As you know i have been attending the > YYYYY conference here in ZZZZ. I decided to take Alex [her service dog in > training] even though I wasn't sure if she could handle the stress. She > wasn't real bad, but was stressed, so I decided to take her home. We left > the conference hotel and had to walk 4 blocks to the bus stop. As we were > crossing a driveway for one of the buildings, a car came over the little > hill and came close to hitting us. Alex did a perfect traffic check! Once my > heart came back out of my throat, I praised her and we continued. I am so > proud of her! But I was also scared out of my wits! Anyway, So far I am > really disappointed with the conference. Too much of it is visual and too > many slide presentations that I cannot see. And to be honest, no one will > talk to me except the staff. I cried on the way home. I used to love the > wonderful networking...YYYY offers the conference [on DVD] with all the > presentations for $170.00. I paid $500.00 to go. > Next > time I will > choose the DVD instead. And I hate being VI right now. And I am sorely > disappointed. 2 more days left [of the conference]... > > XXX > > By the way, Neil, this is in part my answer to your invitation to talk about > learning styles and teaching methods. I agree that this is certainly a > worthy topic for Clicker Camp. But we don't have to wait till then to get > started on it! Anyway, if any of you would like to listen in on the > discussions of clicker training for people who are blind or visually > impaired, and share with us your expertise on clicker training theory and > practice,or offer some suggestions, I invite you to join us by sending a > blank message to vi-clicker-trainers-subscribe@s.... > > Thank you all in advance for helping me in this endeavor to make the Clicker > Training community truly inclusive and supportive of everyone. > > Ann > > ________________End of message______________________ > > Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now > located at: > > www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. > > ________________End of message______________________ > > Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List > are now located at: > > www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. > > ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.