[Cagdu] Fw: food rewards resolution revized

[Ken Volonte]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Volonte" <kenvolonte at comcast.net>
To: "Mary Willows" <mwillows at sbcglobal.net>
Cc: <miguelmendez7 at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:38 PM
Subject: food rewards resolution


>    Whereas guide dogs have been in the public eye for more than 80 years, 
> and;
>
>    Whereas these guides work to please their handlers, and;
>
>    Whereas some few guide dog schools now use food rewards to reinforce 
> physical praise, and;
>
>    Whereas such use of food rewards may be entirely appropriate and 
> necessary during the initial training of the dogs for guide work, and;
>
>    Whereas use of food rewards is inconvenient and messy and interferes 
> with the relationship between dog and handler because the dog will not 
> generalize situations, but will instead be focused on trying to get a 
> kibble, and;
>
>    Whereas use of food rewards in public will lead to the erroneous 
> perception that we are training our guide dogs, and;
>
>    Whereas use of food rewards has the unintended consequence of making 
> the dogs more solicitous of food:
>
>    Now therefore be it resolved that the National Federation of the Blind 
> of California request that guide dog schools offer food rewards as a tool 
> rather than an imperative.