[nagdu] understanding dog language was your thoughts on this

Tue Sep 17 16:14:00 UTC 2013

The other day Belle was barking.  I was in the kitchen working so Kiddo ran 
interference for me.  I told him she was barking at another dog, but he 
thought she was just barking.  She's old and a bit addled and does this 
sometimes.  Anyway when Kiddo looked out the window, sure enough there was 
another dog walking by.

He thinks I am some sort of crazy dog lady for being able to tell what the 
dogs are barking at by the sound of the barking.  Same goes for all the 
other variety of noises they make.  I'm no dog whisperer, but I can tell the 
difference of the broad categories of expression...another dog, some 
wildlife in the yard, people coming up the walk to visit, play with me...

So is it really that unique to be able to distinguish what the dogs are 
communicating?  I've never thought so, but Kiddo lives here and spends a 
good amount of time around the dogs too.  My dogs do bark at home, 
especially Belle.  I'm okay with that.   Monty doesn't bark in harness and 
that is all that matters to me.  No clue what I'm going to do when Jetta 
comes back, she doesn't seem to bark.  She makes other noises though, so I 
suppose I'll learn how to read her too.

Thoughts?
Julie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tami Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 11:01 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] your thoughts on this

Good question. Honestly, if you don't know the dog and don't know how to
read body language, there are times you can't tell. Well, and people who
are afraid of dogs will see aggression in anything. People who don't
know dogs will be scared of things that people who do know dogs will see
as amusing play or excitement displays.

So the hard and fast rule about lunging, snapping, snarling, barking,
growling turns out not always as easy as it sounds. One person sees the
dog moving forward to give a friendly greeting, maybe even straining
against the leash, but just trying to be friendly. Another person sees
an attack lunge. One person hears a greeting "woof." Another person
hears Cujo. This is why it would be so great if the dogs really were as
perfect as advertised in their public behavior. It's embarrassing enough
if your dog does something doggy, but there will be a variety of
perceptions and responses all around while you're dealing with the dog,
or even after you've reminded the dog to be perfect and it is again. Sigh.

A temperament test by some designated expert might be a useful tool in
case things get ugly in a situation where someone has complained about
aggression. With a program-trained dog, that testing will have been done
probably at several points during the dog's raising and training. So
that's a plus. It would be nice if the handler's judgment carried enough
weight, but if someone is complaining and an authority figure is caught
in the middle, then having an expert to pull out of your pocket is
awfully convenient.

Anyway, there's not necessarily a hard and fast rule. I mean, we all
know those sorts of behaviors are inappropriate, and we know aggression
is a deal-breaker. But some of the inappropriate behaviors don't
necessarily mean an aggressive temperament, so then those can be dealt
with behaviorally in many cases. If the dog still can't manage too much
excitement and learn to manage its behavior, then that is a problem,
too, but a different one than real aggression.

JMO

Tami

On 09/17/2013 05:58 AM, Star Gazer wrote:
> This does make me wonder if there are define standards on "aggressive" v.
> "excited" behavior, and also who gets to be "The Decider" when something
> like this goes down.
> Anybody know?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Laura T
> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 4:55 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] your thoughts on this
>
> First I would like to say that I was surprised by the activity did not 
> know
> it was going to be taking place second the quite place was the idea that 
> the
> guide dog school came up with third the problem was Vegas got excited was
> not aggressive as the professor is letting on. Vegas was in his lets visit
> everyone mode that I am trying to break him of for the rest of the meeting
> that is why I was having trouble holding him back fourth this started
> because wen he got excited he scared someone who was afraid of dogs and 
> she
> complained afterwards to the professor
>
> Laura L. Thompson
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