[nagdu] Barking - revisited?

[Daryl Marie]

Thank you all SO much for the encouragement on this issue.  You have understood completely the fine line between Jenny warning me of something and being disruptive.  If you'd asked me this six months ago, I wouldn't be as confident as I am now that she is warning me of something.

Rebecca, you hit the nail on the head that it's not the docile guide dog behavior we're expected to encounter.  I guess so long as it's not constant, generally disruptive, etc., it's nothing to worry about.

Julie and others: if the weather is warmer it is easier to head her off at the pass because she will stand up and face whoever she's barking at.  In colder weather, the ground is too wet and/or cold for her to sit for long periods, so head movements are the only way I can tell, and by that point she's pretty much already barking.


Thanks again!
Daryl and the
----- Original Message -----
From: Becky Frankeberger <b.butterfly at comcast.net>
To: 'Daryl Marie' <crazymusician at shaw.ca>, 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:25:38 -0700 (MST)
Subject: RE: [nagdu] Barking - revisited?

Daryl, How about this one for size. I have a golden who heards me away from
people he deems not fit. A nice man after church offered me a way home. Well
I had transit coming. He gave me his name and said just call the church and
have them get in touch with me to get you. Well this whole time Jake got up
from his sit, crossed me, put his precious golden self between me and the
man, who wasn't even standing near us. I took the hint from Jake and thanked
him. I put Jake gently back in the sit on the proper side. Jake has been
known to softly growl if he doesn't like something, when I become aware he
stops. He will heard other dogs away from me objecting the entire time. My
school couldn't offer any help for these behaviors, so I keep my eye on him
and do not let things escalate and they haven't in seven and a half years
together. But yes mam I listen to my dog. Maybe you need to move away from
the people who are upsetting Genny. She is telling you something very
important. Probably stopped one or more of the homeless types from robbing
you with that  bark.

I was taking classes in Olympia, so had to take two buses. I didn't bring
Jake. I befriended a quick tempered odd character. He kept me safe from
others. One guy came over and said, "mam do you.." The odd man must have
glared at him as he backed off really fast. The odd man said I better stay
here until your bus comes. I was never bothered on the several trips. He was
my protector.  

Becky and tough guy Jake 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daryl Marie via
nagdu
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 6:48 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Barking - revisited?

Hi, guys!
I just wanted to discuss barking in harness... again.  This does not often
happen, but it happens enough that I think I need more than a "Quiet"
command.  Let me start off by saying that the barking is not constant, but
it is 1-3 "Woof!"s.  based on what I can piece together from her body
language, Jenny is not overly friendly, but not overly hostile when she does
this...

Occasionally, Jenny will bark in harness.  This almost always happens when
we are waiting for a bus.  it seems to be only if someone is making
prolonged eye contact with her (just a guess on my part), and this seems to
be primarily done by members of the homeless population in this particular
neighborhood.  She will bark once or twice, I say "No" or "Quiet", she
quiets down, but then the person will try and talk to her or pet her, which
causes her to either bark again or move away if she can.  It is usually a
quick exchange, but I can't seem to find any further patterns than what I
have described, except this tends to happen more after work...

but last night I was having supper with a friend in a mall food court, when
someone who was definitely under the influence of alcohol - perhaps
something else as well? - approached our table.  Jenny is not normally
affected by intoxicated people, but he bent down to her level.  The minute
he touched her, she tried to back away, and let out a bark when she couldn't
move any further away.  I told him to not pet the dog, Jenny quieted down,
but then he started talking to her, which got her barking again.

I am not sure what to do here... would love any suggestions.

Daryl

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