Today we had a puppy meeting, but I'm short on time today so I'll talk about that later. On to the question- so, after the meeting I was walking Don through the outdoor shopping mall when I noticed another Guide Dog pup (from the Contra Costa club, headed to a GDB graduation). His name was Avis. We talked for a bit and Don was very excited. Then, Don BARKED! I've only heard him bark once, when he was 8 wks old. He just let out one, loud, bark then stopped. But now I'm really worried. Is this going to develop into a problem? What should I do if he does it again? I've been walking him by the dog park lately, where a lot of dogs bark, is this a bad influence? Any advice would be much appreciated.
We practiced go to bed today at the meeting, but Don was too distracted by the smells and other dogs. Our puppy club has gotten REALLY big, new puppies and raisers seem to be flooding in. Today, we welcomed Nougat (who actually is nougat colored), Honeydew (love the name!), and Janet (an adorable black lab starter pup). There were also a couple of CCI dogs and GDB breeders. There was one person there, I am blanking on her name at the moment, but she was fostering a very cute black lab pup about 9 wks old. The puppy was headed for a service dog organization in Canada. She said that she was a breeder keeper to a dog named Holly, and I recognized this name from one of the blogs I follow. Not sure though. Has anyone heard of Holly?
Sorry I don't have any pictures of the meeting, but here are a couple of Digby, a dog that just went back to Guide Dogs for formal training. I puppy sat him when he was 10 wks old. He has such a soft personality and when he's happy he wiggles his whole body and wags his tail so hard it slaps him in the face.
Digby at 10 wks. He's a golden/lab mix, though you can't really tell in this photo. When he got older though, he got this beautiful long coat and golden retriever like ears. He was one of the puppies in the home litter that my leader had. The mom was Petal. Go Digby- I'm sure he'll do great in training.
This is a picture I found of Dakoda, a dog career changed a while ago that I puppy sat. Her puppy raisers adopted her and she has really settled down and become a great dog. They are now able to start another dog, Honeydew!
Talk about a small world :) Petal was raised be my leader and Digby would be a sibling of Donata who was raised in our club! She is currently in Phase 8 in Oregon. Another sister is in Phase 5 and another one just went back and is in Phase 1. On my old blog, I have a picture of Petal from CA Fun Days and some litter mate pictures. Here is the link to that update: http://smilinshell11.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/california-fun-days-09/
ReplyDeleteElizabeth was the one who raised Holly and her blog is here:
http://amazingraising.blogspot.com/
Marlin (a GDB we puppy sit) will sometimes do what is called an "alert bark" when he doesn't know what is going on. He will only do it in a new situation and it's a short, one time bark. As of yet, our CFR thinks he will grow out of it.
Hope you are having a great weekend! :) It's always fun to know where all the siblings of the dogs you helped raise end up.
I think you probably don't need to worry about the barking unless it starts escalating. Although I can identify, because I tend to worry a lot about things like that too! I think working around other dogs, barking or not, actually helps with this kind of behavior -- eventually your pup will realize other dogs are a non-event. My lab had a period of being dog distracted but with much work and patience he came out of it. Growing up helps too. Hope that's encouraging for you!!
ReplyDeleteThat's too funny! Cabana does the EXACT same thing. She almost never barks either, but sometimes, when she gets really excited by another dog, she'll let out a loud single bark. She's done it at our puppy group a couple times (of course, she has to do it when it's most embarrassing).
ReplyDeleteThe only other time Cabana barks is when we go to the dog wash place at Pet Club. She HATES the blow dryer, so she barks when I turn it on.
But I wouldn't worry about it becoming a habit with Don. At least, it hasn't with Cabana. I give a mild verbal correction, but it's a bit half-hearted. I sort of like it when Cabana barks because I so rarely hear her "voice" that it's nice to know she actually has one!
My first GEB puppy, Hart never barked either. Then, he let out a single one at about 9 months old, and he actually scared himself! I wouldn't worry much about this forming a habbit. It's actually probably a good thing for him to walk around the barking dogs. It's great exposure and when he's a guide, the barking of dogs won't bother him at all :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I left you and Don a couple of awards over at Alfie's World!
ReplyDeleteToby just did that to a male service dog at our church - I had just taken his coat off, and he was going to meet the other dog, but then barked.
ReplyDeleteWe think it has something to do with him NOT being neutered.
Our command is "no noise" Toby always stops after that command is given.
Good luck, hopefully he won't have any other issues!
Toby's Raiser
Thank you for all of your reassuring advice and comments. They have been very helpful. Alphini's Puppy Raiser, thanks for the award. I'm off to check it out! It'll be a great topic for a post.
ReplyDelete