My puppy keeps barking!

Barking is a natural behavior for dogs, and some dogs bark more than others. Some bark at certain things, some bark at everything. Sometimes it is an alert bark, sometimes a happy bark, or sometimes a protective bark. But for a service dog, barking is almost always a no-no. Nobody wants to be seated in a restaurant at a table next to a dog that barks because they heard a noise or someone that looks weird to them walks by. Or be in a hotel room next to another room that has a dog staying in it that barks at every bump or noise. One of the worst is walking with your own dog and having someone else walk by with a crazy reactive dog that goes nuts when it sees your dog. Unfortunately, I seem to be the poor person walking by with the crazy dog-reactive dog.

Patrick barking at other dogs has been an issue since we got him as a baby puppy. He is great with dogs he knows but very reactive when he sees dogs he doesn’t know. Around 14-16 weeks of age he was making pretty good progress and doing better and we were very excited by his progress. And then while on a hike (on a trail where dogs are supposed to be leashed) an off-leash Golden came running up to Patrick, Ricki, and me. It stood in front of us and stared. Well, Patrick really didn’t like that and went into a huge barking fit that went on even after the owner of the dog came and took it away from us. That one moment set Patrick’s progress back—all the hard work and training seemed to just disappear. After that day, Patrick was very reactive with almost every dog he saw on a walk or out in public. We had to start our training all over again.

How can you fix this issue? Every dog is different and will respond to training differently. This is our first time working a puppy through this specific issue. I have raised puppies in the past that were very fearful of different situations and the best thing for them was to take a break for a few weeks and not expose them to what was bothering them. Patrick, on the other hand, does better the more stimuli you give him. As an experiment I decided to take him to a pet expo a few months ago where we knew lots of dogs would be there. He barked a little bit with excitement when I got him out of the car, but then no more while we were there. Although I had a hard time keeping him from pulling at times while walking, to my surprise he was quiet despite being around over 100 strange dogs. Now this hasn’t fixed the problem but it was definitely a step in the right direction. 

Since then I have been working Patrick to walk quietly around dog parks—not in them, just around them. There are multiple dog parks close to where we live, so it is easy to work him at many different locations. My goal is to be able to walk Patrick up to the fence and have him watch the other dogs inside running and playing, all while being able to remain calm and quiet. We aren’t there yet but making baby steps. 

We are also making trips to pet store, where the goal is to be able to walk calmly and quietly through the store even if he sees another dog. Once again, he isn’t perfect at this yet, but making progress. For me, it is a lot less embarrassing to be in a store that allows dogs if Patrick lets out a bark or two, than in a store where we may run into a pet dressed as a service dog and he lets out a couple of barks (and yes, this has happened). 

Patrick can smell if there is a dog close by him and his body language does change. One time, we were shopping in Target and I noticed his body language change. Sure enough, someone was passing by with a small dog in the shopping cart. I got lucky that Patrick didn’t see it in the cart and we were able to continue without any outbursts. 

We are also now attending dog training classes to get Patrick around other dogs in a controlled setting. I purposely put him in a class called “dogs with attitudes” so that he would at times be “set up” to be around other dogs that bark at things, because he will often bark if another dog by him barks first. After attending two classes I already see some improvement. I did have to laugh a little bit when I first joined that out of the seven dogs in attendance five of them were German Shepherds.

I will admit that I do get a little anxiety when working Patrick in public. I never know when we will come across another dog. While Patrick is doing much better when multiple dogs are around him, it seems to be the surprise appearance of a single dog that sets him off the most. His barking is embarrassing at times.One time we were walking in a mall and he saw another dog across they way and barked. He completely frightened the people walking in front of us, who had no idea that Patrick was behind them. Not to mention that a 65-pound Shepherd barking can be a little scary to some people. 

Another time we were having lunch with a friend and were seated outside on the sidewalk because Ricki and Ozzy were there as well. Along came a person walking down the sidewalk with their dog. That dog barked at us and then everyone was barking. That was probably our most embarrassing moment.

Patrick’s barking issue isn’t going to away overnight. Issues like this take a lot of time, work, guidance, and patience to get through. Despite this issue being frustrating and embarrassing at times, I still have high hopes for Patrick. He has been making progress in the right direction and he is so solid on almost every other aspect a working service dog needs. He settles nicely, has great relieving habits, is very confident, super smart, loves to learn new things, and most of all seems to love to work. I hope that by sharing some of my struggles with Patrick’s training I can help other people who are raising not feel so alone with their struggles. Puppy raising is a journey with good days and, well, let’s just say not so good days. I have learned with past puppies not to give up when things are hard—sometimes they will really surprise you. Some puppies take a little longer to mature and learn, so give them a chance to grow and learn at their pace.

Amie

Time flies!

Where does the time go? It seems like just last month Patrick was a little puppy—now my little brother is bigger than I am! He hasn’t just grown in size but in knowledge as well. He has been a pretty good boy and I have been trying to teach him as much as I can. He knows all his basic commands pretty well now, and is getting really good at posing for photographs. I often look unhappy in my photos because doing obedience skills makes me nervous. I don’t like messing up and being wrong. Mom and Dad are really nice to me if I make a mistake, but I hate disappointing them. 

Patrick doesn’t pester me nearly as much as he used to. We can now go outside and play as a family in the yard. Mom and Dad used to have to take Patrick out by himself instead of with Ozzy and me. Patrick was really bad about chasing me and trying to herd me. I didn’t like it very much and got a little nervous about running after my ball when he was out with us. Now that he knows to play with his own toys instead of nipping at me while I run, it’s so much better. I run after my ball and he runs after his own toys. We still play tug a lot, and now that he is bigger and stronger Ozzy comes and helps me—we double team him. 

Ozzy seems to have finally accepted him as part of the family and is playing with Patrick a lot more these days. Ozzy playing with him has helped take some of the responsibility of teaching Patrick manners and have more time to myself to enjoy chewing on my bones. Mom has been trying to do special outings with me as well so I don’t feel left out. She spends a lot of time with Patrick, since he is even more needy than I am! 

But I have to say Patrick is doing pretty well. Now if I can just get through to him that we aren’t supposed to bark at other dogs, and to stop trying to pull when walking he would be pawesome. I try to show him by example, but he is having a hard time paying attention when other dogs are around or if he is really excited to be going out. Oh well, I guess I will keep trying. 

This boy has even more energy than I do! But he is also doing much better about being calm and quiet in the house. He finds toys by himself now rather than trying to steal mine. Patrick has also being going out more by himself in his blue jacket. This makes me happy that he is out working and learning about his future job, but I don’t like being left home. At least I have Ozzy with me. I’m so happy that we kept him. He is my best friend. Well, it looks like it’s about bed time here, so I better go claim my spot next to Mommy before Ozzy or one my kitty siblings takes it. She’s my mommy! Just kidding—I will share her.

Wags and kisses,

Ricki

GUGP and Puppy in Training TV

Is it easy to start a web video series about puppy raising?  No. The number one most difficult part about starting a web video series for me was getting that first Puppy In Training TV video published. In fact the series was supposed to start with the puppy before Dublin.

It all started shortly after turning in puppy in training No. 1, Stetson.

Puppy in training Derby at the beach

Before picking up Derby, puppy in training No. 2, I had a grand idea to document his journey as I had done with my first pup, Stetson, on the Puppy in Training blog. This time, however, I would use my brother’s camcorder and publish videos instead of writing on a blog.

Armed with my brother’s camcorder and a couple of friends, we drove out to Guide Dogs of America to start Derby’s video adventure. I got some nice video clips of Derby and his littermates at GDA puppy pickup. The following weeks, I took more great footage of Derby and his pals playing at puppy kindergarten, obedience classes, and outings.

Then everything went wrong. I had no idea how to edit a video. I had no idea how to do voice over or talk to the camera. I still don’t know many things about creating a good video, but I’m learning.

So what happened to all the great footage I had of Derby? I took baby steps. I edited and put together a short movie of Derby and his two siblings Dexter and Dutch attending puppy kindergarten. These movies were never posted to Vimeo or YouTube, but instead I shared them with my fellow puppy raisers when Dexter and Dutch went on to guide dog college.

I also uploaded short movies of Derby testing a slow feed dog bowl.  Derby was a fast eater and sometimes choked on his food (I know, unusual for a Lab). I put together these movies using my Macbook, iMovie, YouTube, and my brother’s camcorder (I think I may have had a tripod, too).

Raising Derby taught me the basics of web video and gave me the foundation I would need before launching Puppy In Training TV.

The Influence Of GUGP on Puppy In Training TV

Dublin working hard at the office

I remember as clear as day: “Growing Up Guide Pup” in my Google Reader Dogster news feed.  I clicked through to find an embedded YouTube video with the heading, "Check out this week's vlog for an update on our favorite guide pup's progress. Ricki is getting so big!"

It was so cool!

The featured video was episode five, so I went back and watched episodes one through four, and saw my future web series unfolding before me.

Amie and Matt put together something much better than I could have ever dreamed of and it gave me the template I needed, motivation, and inspiration to start my own web video series.

I had no idea what I was doing when I picked up the camcorder and started shooting video of Derby two years earlier. Growing Up Guide Pup helped me get more organized. That night I started writing the scripts to my first few episodes for Puppy In Training TV.

1. Ep1 Picking Up Your Puppy
2. Ep2 Taking Your Puppy To Work
3. Ep3…

I tried to put together weekly episodes like Growing Up Guide Pup, but I found it way to difficult to keep up. I was lucky to get one episode a month published to YouTube.

It took over two years to publish my first episode of Puppy In Training TV. In August 2010, I uploaded Puppy In Training TV - Ep1 - Picking Up Your Puppy to my YouTube channel.

If I had never discovered Growing Up Guide Pup, I would never have completed my vision of a web video series about puppy raising.

The Influence of GUGP on Puppy Raisers

I’ve been fortunate enough to get piles of positive feedback from the Puppy In Training TV video series. I can only imagine that the influence of Growing Up Guide Pup is ten-fold of what I’ve experienced.

What does GUGP do for puppy raisers?

1. It brings in new puppy raisers. I would guess that GUGP has brought in tens, if not hundreds, of new puppy raisers across the country.
2. GUGP shows puppy raisers some of the many outings they can go on with their puppy in training, from the ball games to county fairs to Disneyland. Getting your puppy out and about and used to public places is a big part of puppy raising.
3. Training issues. Puppies don't come to puppy raisers as a finished product. GUGP shows that our puppies aren’t always perfect. It takes time, patience, persistence, consistency, and a lot of other adjectives to get your puppy ready for guide dog college.
4. Help! I bet Amie and Matt have had to answer thousands of questions about puppy raising. Growing Up Guide Pup gives puppy raisers a forum to ask experienced puppy raisers questions like, “How do you give up your puppy?  I could never do that…”
5. This might just be my own personal thing, but GDB Fun Day! Ever since I saw the episode on Guide Dogs for the Blind Fun Day I’ve wanted to go.  Maybe someday you’ll see me and my puppy in training at GDB Fun Day at the San Rafael campus.

What do you guys think?  Has Growing Up Guide Pup influenced you in some way?  What has GUGP done for you?

Thanks Amie, Matt, and Ricki for all you’ve done with GUGP and here’s to your continued success with GUGP 2.0!

Colby

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