A little over six years ago, my guide dog ,Kismet, was attacked by another guide dog at a conference. It was way more than a little barking and growling. Blood was drawn, twice. At the time Kismet was only four years old and was turning into a truly great guide. The attacks almost derailed her promising career. She became fearful around other guide dogs. Her fear manifest as growling and barking. She sounded aggressive and I knew I had to do something to calm her fears if I wanted to keep her working. I bought a soft crate and started traveling with it. That way, she had a safe place she could go to during long meetings when other dogs were in the room. I did a ton of clicker work with her. It took a long time before I knew I had been right to believe in her and do all the work it took to bring her back from those attacks. About that time, Veterans Affairs cut our travel budget and I sharply curtailed my travels. With the publication of my book, I’m back on the road. Although Kismet worked with confidence when we hit the road again, her barking once again became a problem. The only thing I could do was use a gentle leader to prevent her from barking. Gradually I noticed that she was getting less grumbley. Gradually I left off the gentle leader. Now I feel we’ve turned the corner. I’m at the Americas Guide Dog conference in St. Louis. We’ve been around over 50 teams of dogs for two days. Kismet has barked only once. I made a joke of it and nobody cared. I’ve hardly used the gentle leader at all today. I have my kismet back.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 20:27:38 +0000
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