[nagdu] Barking again! (are you tired of this subject line, cause I sure am)

[L Gwizdak]

Hi Abigail,

I have some of these issues with Oliver, a young German Shepherd.  We have 
been home for a little over 2 months.

First my questions to you.  What breed is your dog? How old is she?  What 
kind of child exposure has she had?  Has she had any negative experiences 
with children and what age range are these kids?  Are you aware of the body 
language that is being displayed by your dog when she barks and/or growls? 
Is it only at kids?

Because I don't know the answers to any of these questions, hard to help but 
I can share what I do for Oliver's barking while we are out and about.  I 
was told to give two-handed leash corrections and use the Gentle Leader 
headcollar for the barking for the bus as it is approaching the stop.  All 
this got me was a more out of control dog and hassles from the public. 
People don't bother to correct their dogs around here.  I found out that 
this tecnique that my trainer wanted me to do was NOT working.  So, we are 
doing the opposite.  No leash corrections.  No Gentle Leader.  We have 
brought out the good old clicker and pouch of treats and are using possitive 
reinforcement.  This is still a method in progress but I am seeing 
improvements in his behavior but slow going.  If he does not bark, then a 
quiet dog gets a click, treat, and a ride.  If he decides to go into out of 
control barking and not stopping, he gets no click, no treat, and no ride! 
He then gets to watch the bus and my friends pull away with no Oliver on it! 
It is slow going but I think the thoughts are going around in his head that 
barking equals no bus ride.  He adores riding!

I don't know if your school teaches clicker or not.  We had it at Seeing Eye 
where we did target work.  We used it to have him touch a doorknob with his 
nose and to point out a pole at a street crossing.  Teaching a dog to DO a 
new behavior works pretty fast.  But undoing a negative behavior is much 
slower to do.  Hahaha, like for us!

Is the growling at kids a new behavior?  What is going on around you when 
she growls or barks?  Without knowing the body language it is hard to figure 
out the possible why for the behavior.  Is she scared?  Does she not like 
kids? Are there always kids involved when she does the barking or growling?

I would also ask a trainer from your school be sent to observe the behavior 
if it can't be solved via the phone or email.

Yeah, I was almost ready to send Oliver back but he seems to be improving 
and his work is very good.  I think his issue will be resolved by my new 
method of dealing with it and maturity.  He is one of the youngest dogs I've 
gotten and shepherds mature more slowly than Labs.  Hope you can resolve the 
problem because I know it isn't fun to have a guide dog that growls and 
barks in harness.

Lyn and Oliver
"Asking who's the man and who's the woman in an LGBT relationship is like 
asking which chopstick is the fork" - Unknown
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Abigail Bolling via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2015 7:18 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Barking again! (are you tired of this subject line,cause I 
sure am)


>
> Hi all! I want to start this out by I have been asking around on how to 
> deal with this issue, so any and all advice is welcome. My girl is a 
> barker. I've known this since I received her. And I just take it as a 
> "this is what she does" thing. But, I draw the line at aggressive 
> growling, especially in harness. I went to a doctors office with my 
> Boyfriend last week, and a childs, yoga class let out while I was in the 
> waiting room alone. One of the kids came up to me to look at Jada. All of 
> a sudden, I felt a rumble in my foot. And then I heard a growl. I 
> immediate corrected, probably harder than I needed to, or so I thought. 
> But she continued. This will be the third time I have called my school 
> about Jada barking in some capacity... So hopefully they can help me out a 
> little more this time. But my main worries are 1, I am returning to said 
> doctors office again, and I have no idea what to do with my pup. My second 
> concern is that my practicum later in school will be around children. And 
> I really don't want an aggressive dog around children who are seeing me as 
> a social worker. Any thoughts, at all? Anything at this point. I have a 
> great network of people who are trying to mentally prepare me if I have to 
> Retire Jada, but I don't want to believe that yet! (yay mental 
> resistance!) Anyway! Thanks a ton.
> Abigail Bolling
> "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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