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Help! Barking service dog *repost from behavior/training* Help!

The Service and Therapy Dog forum is for all service and therapy dogs regardless of whether or not their status is legally defined by federal or state law, how they are trained, or whether or not they are "certified." Posts questioning or disputing a person's need for a service or therapy dog, the validity of a person's service or therapy dog, or the dog's ability to do the work of a service or therapy dog are not permitted in this forum. Please keep discussions fun, friendly, and helpful at all times.

  


Member Since
01/13/2013		 
 
Barked: Sun Jan 13, '13 3:16pm PST 
Hi everyone, my neighbor has a dog that barks incessantly and particularly when he is left alone. When I notified the neighbor that the dog was barking non-stop, he informed me that he was a service dog in training because he has seizures. Of course, I said no problem but I would appreciate that they get this under control. Dogs bark, I understand that but they are not supposed to bark non-stop. I am not familiar with service dogs but it would seem to defeat the purpose... Anyway this week-end the dog was left alone all week-end so it cried, howled and barked until 2AM Saturday night. At some point, I got worried and had maintenance call the apartment because I feared something had happened since the neighbor told me he had seizures, turns out, they just left the dog alone. I feel bad for the neighbor but even worst for the dog left alone. I am asking this forum because I am uninformed about the subject and don't want to come across as incentive. Is this normal behavior for a service dog? Is it supposed to be left alone for long periods of time? How should I address this issue respectfully? I need desperately to sleep and work during the day (I work home). Any resources I could read or give to my neighbor would be appreciated. Thank you
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Member Since
12/01/2012		 
 
Barked: Sun Jan 13, '13 4:38pm PST 
A service dog school by me trains seizure alert dogs; their jobs are to continuously bark when their owner is have a seizure. If the dogs barks while home alone, people will learn to ignore it (like car alarms nowadays), which would defeat the purpose.
If the dog is in training, I would assume it should be with the owner for most of the day. Maybe the laws are preventing him/her from taking the dog to places (I know that in some places Service dogs in Training don't have many rights).
It may sound a bit mean, but if it gets too much, perhaps call Animal Control (or who ever would deal with the compliant in your area) and they can deal with it.
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Member Since
01/13/2013		 
 
Barked: Sun Jan 13, '13 4:58pm PST 
Thank you for the reply. I live in NYC, I would be surprised that he can't take the dog with him. That is why I was worried about the incessant barking and called help. Better safe than sorry. I was quite frustrated to learn that the dog was just alone and sad. Yes, it might sound mean but that is what I might have to do... it gives service dog owners a bad rep to be honest...
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Isaac

1278829		 
 
Barked: Mon Jan 14, '13 5:03am PST 
No, service dogs are not supposed to bark all the time. But this isn't a service dog, it's a service dog in training. But no, it shouldn't be left alone so long. How is it being trained if it's left all alone? And by allowing it to continue barking that way, he's allowing the dog to develop bad habits that will make it hard for the dog to become a good service dog down the road.

I wonder who is training the dog? If he's trying to train a service dog himself, it sounds like he doesn't quite know what he's doing.

As far as whether he can take the dog places with him as a service dog in training, I don't know how old the dog is or how much training it has had yet. It may not be ready for public access training. In New York state, people that are qualified to train service dogs can take service dogs in training into public places, but I don't know if this guy is qualified to train a service dog, so I don't know if he would have the right to take the dog places or not.

The dog itself doesn't have rights of public access, by the way. It's the person with a disability or the qualified trainer that has rights, not the dog.
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