[nagdu] Barking again...

[Tami Jarvis]

Daryl,

It's tough when you can't identify the trigger or triggers. Is she doing 
just a single woof when she does bark? Do you notice other body 
language? Does she seem anxious or stressed or anything different? The 
waking up bark does sound like a startle reflex, so do other occurrences 
come from being startled? Hm... Poodles tend to let out a bark when 
startled, and Mitzi has done so. I'm trying to get Loki conditioned 
early on being quiet and maybe doing another alert behavior to cut down 
on the likelihood he will do it in harness. I'll let you know in a 
couple of years if it worked. :)

I'm finding that going around with someone who is also working on 
barking with her dog is really helpful. She can be my people spotter... 
And bike spotter and skateboard spotter and... It helps to know early 
that a trigger is nearby, it really does. Is there a chance you can find 
someone to hang out at bus stops with you and just be observant? Well, 
you would have to find time, as well. Hm...

Another thing to observe might be details of your own reaction, like 
tone of voice when you speak to her, other body language and actions. I 
dunno. I get uptight over certain misbehaviors and give wrong signals to 
my dog, so it all goes downhill. If I remember to breathe normally and 
remind myself it's just stuff to deal with, I can just deal with it and 
Mitzi and I can go on with our lives. Usually. Since the poodle bark is 
a high-alert thing, it's important for me to be all calm and la-di-da 
when I would sorta like to strangle the dog. /lol/ I learned that late 
with Mitzi, so we went through a real rough patch before we got it 
turned around. Aargh!

I think keeping track and finding a pattern is the best idea and may at 
least help find what her motivation is. Sometimes a stern reminder is 
the best approach, sometimes you have to be more creative.

A really good technique is to turn the dog's head away from what it's 
barking at, which is usually also what it's looking at. This breaks the 
concentration and also is a form of negative reinforcement, since the 
dog tends to want to look at whatever it is. You can also get a feel for 
tension level. It does help to keep my voice low and firm when I give 
the quiet command and to praise in the same way. When the dog relaxes 
under my hand and I can feel the throat relax into quiet, I can let the 
dog look at the thing-a-ma-jig as an added reward... Then if the dog 
barks again, I can turn its head again and work on quiet... This isn't 
the approach I take in every situation, so I can't remember exactly what 
it worked well on with Mitzi.

Good luck getting it sorted!

Tami





On 03/13/2015 08:21 AM, Daryl Marie via nagdu wrote:
> So I am back to dealing with Jenny every now and again barking in harness.  I have no idea what in particular is causing this most of the time.  I am not talking about her barking her displeasure at a drunk person reaching out to grab her, but just wanting to voice an opinion on something.
> A couple things:
> 1) I don't know what is setting this off, so I can't set up training opportunities.
> 2) This is not a regular occurrence, but it happens often enough that I want to deal with it, rather than having it be a self-rewarding behavior.
> 3) Every once in a while she will bark (startled?) when she's been asleep at work, but for the most part this only ever happens outside, particularly when we are waiting for a bus.  I have only once gotten any verbal feedback ("oh, the dog doesn't like my green jacket!")
> 4) I have contacted the guide dog school for pointers, and am waiting on a phone call.
>
> Would like any pointers!
>
> Daryl
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