Category: Animal House
do guide dogs burn out? my question is to you all the guide dog users out there. i have a labrador retriever who at the beginning was a dream never got me lost. always took me to where i needed to go. just a dream. now i don't think she wants to work. she acts more like a pet then a guide and she has gotten me lost plenty. she has even walked me into the highway once. i am getting worried.
i tried telling the organization but they won't even aknowledge it. what should i do?
First off, try to see if your dog isn't just having some issues that can be corrected.
If you really think your dog is finished working, which does happen, then it might be time to retired your dog. Burning out or just not wanting to work does happen and your school should listen to you and help you try to decide if it is time to retire or it is something else.
I have not had this situation yet but I am sure someone on here has and could give you better advice but as for your question. Yes they can just burn out and one day choose not to be a guide anymore, no matter what age they they are.
HTH
Like Nicky, I've never been in this situation myself, but two of my friends who are guide dog users have. I'd say make sure there are no other health issues going on, and, as Nicky said, the school should be able to help you figure out what step to take next. But it can happen.
hi guys an incident that my guide dog has done. she scratched up the trash can and has dented it. she is haveing behavior problems with food. my mom is furious and now i owe her a garbage can of a hundred dollars.
i am in a swirl of mess.
i want to scream but lets see what other thing she does next.
if it's really an issue, why wait till the dog does something else? why not figure out what can be done to rectify things now?
well, what kind of things is your dog doing?
Taring up a trash can is not a good thing.
But what is it made out of?
If i got myself a trash can that cost over a hundred bucks, which I would never do, no matter how much money i had unless it was a really fancey one that recycled for me and shredded paper so on so on... I don't know how a dog could mess it up? I would think that an exspensive trash can would stand up to a lot of abuse.
But to get to the problem itself.
Your dog attacked the trash can to get to the food inside. Does your dog have a skavaging issue? Sounds like it could. This is something that you can't ever relax on. I know, my dog has this issue and i have to stay on top of it or she will start to eat things she shouldn't.
Is there a way to keep her out of the kittchen? My dog is not allowed in my kittchen because I know she might try to eat things off the floor while i am making food and might spill or drop something, or might try some other nonsince behavior.
what other kinds of things is she doing? It might just mean she is loosing a bit of her training and you will have to learn how to bring her back to her trained self. I hope that makes since. I would sit down and really think about what the problems are and then try to figure out how they could have became. Once you figure this out then you can find a way to turn it around and fix your problems. You might have to call your school for assistance with this . Don't be afraid to comunicate with your school. Your school can't help you if you don't talk with them. And if you wait to long, it will only make things worse and might even make them non fixible. Dogs can get stressed and can get ill from stress. So lets try to see what is going on here and how to fix it.
Who the hell pays $100 for a trash can? By all means, replace it, but don't think you have to replace it at equal value. I'm sure the Dollar Store will have a perfectly useable one.
my mom is the hell person who paid a hundred dollars for a trash can. don't ask me why? i would have bought a cheaper one.
nickey she is also dragging me to food on the sidewalk everytime we walk. i sometimes have to do a showdown with her to see who wins.
but maybe your right
maybe we both need training again. i'll contact the school to see what they say.
thanks
How often do yall do Obedience? Just curious as I know that that's usually the first thing school staff will ask?
at least once a week maybe even unti three times a week
Hmm, well since it sounds like you are having various problems, I would definitely contact your school. This is a difficult situation adn I wish you the best of luck.
Agreed. Contact the scool and get their take on this. Make sure you cover all possible bases.
Wishing the best of luck with you and do keep us updated please.
I give my dog a good correction if she goes after food but fortunantly she isn't dragging me to any. If I can tell she is pulling me off track, I plant myself and then tell her "no, forwoard" and if she continues, I make sure there isn't something in the way. If she is just acting up I keep making her go the way i want and even give a correction if Ineed to.
She leaves her distractions to just sniffing and I tell her off for it. i am sure if I don't, she would start to get worse.
If all else fails, I am deffantly for a prong collar. I believe that they aren't as harsh as people believe, they are safer on the trackia but these are my views.
My dog has major food issues as well. BUt we work hard to prevent them. One major thing is don't keep obedience to a few times a week. Do it every day, do it throughout the day. Don't always do it in a session. THrow it into her routine all the time. One big thing that has helped Lacey with her food distractions is making her wait to eat. I will pour the bowl, and walk all around the room, even leave the room and come back, and she's not allowed to touch that bowl until I tell her "eat". It took a ton of correcting at first, and Lacey got very upset, to the point where she was shaking. But, now she doesn't touch that food until I give her the command to eat. However, it has helped the problem a lot. Feel free to contact me, because I've worked with this issue a lot and would love to help.
Hi, across here in the uk, we are trained in food refusal, as part of training, and sometimes winnie sure needs it! This might be something to discuss wwith your trainers/instructors. how old is the dog? what kind of work load does she have? it's possible she could simply be bored wwith the work, maybee try alternative routes to your most common destinations. It is possible she isn't wanting to work anymore, but call your trainer/instructor and see what they say. best of luck.
I definitely think guide dogs get burnt out. My second guide decided he didn't want to work after 6 years. He started by slowing down, then things progressed to him taking me towards people, and litterly jumping away from the harness because he didn't want it on him any more. When he started doing that, I new he wanted to retire. Glad I did so, because he's much happier, and has a great home. And I now have my third guide who loves to work. As a lot of the other posters have said, communicate with your school, maybe there's more going on then her just not wanting to work.