Hi Ken:
I believe that your resolution makes some assumptions and state those assumptions as fact, for example, that food rewards make guide dogs more solicitous of food, or that it is "messy".
I agree with Michael that training doesn't stop when you leave the school. It's an ongoing process. It also includes reinforcing already learned training.
Food rewards is one of many tools a user can choose. Some schools use food rewards as a tool and some don't. Think of it as a sort of currriculum choice. If you don't like the curriculum a school uses, you can choose to go to a different school.
SHANNON L. DILLON
From: kenvolonte at comcast.net
To: mwillows at sbcglobal.net
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:46:10 -0700
CC: cagdu at nfbcal.org
Subject: [Cagdu] food rewards Resolution 2.doc
Food Rewards Resolution
Ken Volonte
Whereas guide dogs have been in the public eye for more than eighty years, and;
Whereas these guides have been bread to please their handlers, and;
Whereas some few guide dog schools now use food rewards in order 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 any dog must be rewarded within 1 second of catching a desired behavior, and;
Whereas use of food rewards in combination with the clicker is impractical because the time from behavior to reward is more than 2.5 seconds, 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 dog from scratch for others, 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 the use of food rewards as a tool rather than as an imperative.
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