Dutch Shepherd Forum

This is an entirely new phenomenon. It just began yesterday. I was at the doctor's office with my dog and she just started barking at a pair of people in the waiting room, and then at another patient who entered later. There were 4-5 individual barks. Then, this morning at Starbuck's she again barked at me 3 times while I was ordering my drink. This is completely unacceptable (not to mention embarrassing) for a service dog and must be stopped IMMEDIATELY.

My thoughts are: both times, I was in a rush- maybe she picked up on the nervous energy and this got her excited as well? I normally make it a point to actively portray a calm, measured demeanor in front of the dog. The other thing is that I have been using a separate command for "quiet," so maybe I just need to tell her "No!" instead? (The NO has a lot more weight and she will comply if I use it- I just prefer not to when it can be avoided) My other thought is that she was possibly barking to say, "give me attention, where are the treats," which is still completely unacceptable.

Anyway, I am open to advice/suggestions on both why she was barking and how to stop it.

Im not on here very often, so don't know the history of the dog-age etc. I assume this is a DS? How old? I'm assuming its an older puppy as you are learning new things about her personality. You might just have an excitable, curious, protective pup that is doing what DS do! Sounds normal and I wouldn't correct barking behavior on a pup- maybe a quiet word to help distinguish that it's not acceptable to you. I see you called her a service dog- is she in training? Again, how old? A DS as a service dog will depend on temperament and personality.

I see this as exhibiting normal DS behavior- she might not be right for a service dog. Are you fostering/training her or plan to use for yourself? 99.9% of DS would not be right for most types of service work. There are exceptions of course, coming from a breeder who only breeds for those traits etc. Still, you could get some true DS DNA in there! Expect it. And keep working her. But depending on age (under 1.5 years-they mature very slow) she will still exhibit puppy behavior and go through the regular fear stages as well. Unsure of new people, protecting owner, all expected to be top on their list of behavior for this breed. It has to be worked out with socialization every day. It goes against everything they are made of. Mine is social only to those I allow him to be. He does not bark at strangers. He ignores them. I have taught this to him on a daily basis with our daily excursions. He is 5 months. Same with my GSD pup. He's 4 months. Both going to be PPD's, both great (completely neutral and ignore) strangers and surroundings. Again-I had to instill this behavior as it is not normal to the breed. Hope this helps!

Don't let that shit go! Correct her when she does it! Use a collar for correction it's a dutchie NO isn't gonna work much longer... for a service dog this behavior isn't acceptable as you stated..honestly you need a trainer with a lot of your issues... I know you don't want to hear this but you have a lot of issues that I see as very simple fixes!

Steve Gossmeyer wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2017 12:31 pm Don't let that shit go! Correct her when she does it! Use a collar for correction it's a dutchie NO isn't gonna work much longer... for a service dog this behavior isn't acceptable as you stated..honestly you need a trainer with a lot of your issues... I know you don't want to hear this but you have a lot of issues that I see as very simple fixes!

Steve's the pro here and may know your situation better than I do. I didn't realize this was an actual service dog, was just going by your descriptions of protective behavior. Not a good sign for a service dog. Take his advice and start the professional training. Service dogs, from what I understand are bred for that purpose and start imprinting and exposure training from as early as 3-4 weeks old by the breeder, then go off and start a training program for the specific service work it is providing. Good luck!