[nagdu] understanding dog language was your thoughts on this

Tue Sep 17 18:02:41 UTC 2013

That's interesting.  Ben has barked once in the last 4 years, I think.  Echo 
used to bark occasionally, until she got too old to be bothered.  I was 
shocked, the first time I heard her barking in the playpen at GDB.  My sweet 
little thing sounded so ferocious!  I didn't meet her little hidden demon 
until the playpen, and it was a big surprise.
Amba didn't bark much, either.  Even my shepherd didn't bark much, which was 
good, since my living situation wasn't so good and my housemate would have 
made a big deal of it.
So the long and short of it is that I haven't heard enough of my dogs 
barking to really get a feel for what they're saying.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] understanding dog language was your thoughts on this

> 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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>
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