[nagdu] fear and correction

Tami Jarvis tami at poodlemutt.com
Thu Jun 12 18:53:30 UTC 2014


Abigail,

I've had a bit of work to do at times with my monster's wanting to mouth 
off in harness. It took me some trial and error to figure out the best 
way to work with her on it, and we seem to have it sorted out. Every now 
and then a car will erupt in barking right beside her, and she will 
start to bark back, but at least she generally remembers she's wearing 
her work clothes and gets back on track without much fuss from me. Whew!

Sounds like you're on the right track with Jada, finding the command 
that works for her. I found it also helps to focus on getting the 
substitute behavior and moving her on into work without my getting 
aggravated and uptight. That was tough for me, but once I got myself 
wrangled, it was easier to wrangle the dog.

I also found that taking some time to go find distractions that 
triggered her fool poodle mouth with the express intent of working on it 
helped. I knew the behavior I wanted to modify was coming and was 
prepared to work on it instead of being surprised. The bright side of 
living out here in the sticks is that there are dog distractions galore, 
so I just have to take a normal walk to find them. /lol/ She's gotten a 
lot better because I am constantly reinforcing her good work in ignoring 
it all and rising above it.

Keep up the good work.

Tami

On 06/12/2014 11:24 AM, Abigail Bolling via nagdu wrote:
> thank you all.
> sometimes, the barking in the house, I show jada that everything is ok.
> What worries me a little more is that she will also do this in harness.
>
> Unfortunately, I have spoken with my school about this a few years ago. their response was to take jada from me for almost two months. It killed our bond and it took her almost a year after that to trust me again. I don’t want to go through that again.
>
> I’ve been working with her on “Look” Similar to the touch command. The thing was that she didn’t want to respond to touch because I guess it sounded similar to ‘Watch,” Which is one of her guiding commands.
> Ah, clickers and treats, a wonderful invention especially since I have a lab who loves to eat everything she can!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Abby and Jada.
> On Jun 12, 2014, at 2:16 PM, Tracy Carcione via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Tami.
>> That makes sense, from what I've read.  Barking is a way to alert other members of the pack that something is happening requiring attention or help. When you, the pack leader, take notice of whatever it is, the dog has done its job and can leave the response up to you.  Kind of like me going and talking to the boss about some user giving me trouble.  I can pass the problem up to him, and stop worrying about it myself.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tami Jarvis via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> To: "Abigail Bolling" <violingirl30794 at gmail.com>; "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 2:05 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] fear and correction
>>
>>
>> Abigail,
>>
>> I've found that using positive methods is the best way to go for
>> territorial barking. It's natural for a dog to announce that something
>> is entering the territorial boundary (as defined by the dog) and also to
>> warn the intruder off. So correcting or doing anything else that adds
>> excitement or stress, either one, can aggravate the problem. The dog
>> assumes there really is something to be excited or anxious about, I think.
>>
>> Redirection works well, with a strong reward for the substitute
>> behavior. The touch command, having the dog turn from the trigger to
>> touch your hand, is a good starter. Then you can have the dog come to
>> you when you call it and give a touch. Eventually, if you have much
>> patience and consistency, the touch can be the dog's way of alerting you
>> that there is something it wants you to know about, but without all the
>> noise.
>>
>> One thing I discovered with a fear aggression barker a few years back
>> was that going to the window and looking out of it to see the big scary
>> danger satisfied the dog and enabled her to quiet down so I could work
>> with her to calm her. I guess once I had taken up the responsibility to
>> assess and dismiss the possible threat, she didn't feel the need to
>> anymore. I will still do that with my less hair-trigger dogs when they
>> take to window barking. We live in a house with a yard, so I find I get
>> a little lax about letting them have their entertainment... Until I
>> suddenly notice they're a little out of hand. Then I start looking out
>> the window with them to let them know I'm on it and can start from there
>> to get them back to some sort of civilized behavior. For some reason, my
>> going to the window and making a show of looking out alertly quiets them
>> down better than anything else.
>>
>> hth,
>>
>> Tami
>>
>> On 06/12/2014 10:40 AM, Abigail Bolling via nagdu wrote:
>>> Hi all!
>>>
>>> I have a bit of a concern with the Princess Jada.
>>>
>>> Whenever she hears people outside of where she is, whether it be at the door, or if someone walks in the house and is outside the room that she is in, she will bark.
>>>
>>> This has escalated to if she hears someone outside the window she will bark as well.
>>>
>>> I am concerned because I think this a fear/protective response due to abuse I have endured at the hands of some idiots, so I feel wrong about correcting her.
>>> However, this behavior is not acceptable in dorm situations or when I am at camps or other functions.
>>> I don’t want to necessarily praise her for the action either.
>>> Any suggestions?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Abby and the very very vocal Jada
>>>
>>> Wright State University, Social Work, Psychology, (Changed the third one again!) Biology
>>>
>>> “Keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and just let the music play.” (Julie Anderson Diamond)
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>>
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