Advice on lab behaviour - sorry, its long.

alowe

Hi, I need some help / guidance about what to do, and if this is going to be a problem. And Apologies for the length of this ....

We have a one year old golden lab since she was a pup. She was never mis-treated, hit or harmed in any way, and has always been loved by myself and husband. I would take her into work with me, where she’d be looked after for the day with 3 other dogs. She’d get taken for walks off the lead about 3 times a day, with the other dogs (open large green area). Now, for the last 2 months we’ve been at home, because i’m on maternity leave and we now have a 2 month old baby. She doesn’t get as much exercise as she use to, but along with what walks we take her on, I also make sure to put her into a kennel with her other doggie friends for a few days, so as she gets loads of exercise, and socialises with other dogs.

She is a scardy cat, and is a nervous dog – in that any loud noise, and she runs. She has also been known to be scared of a skip on a walk. She is a very good natured dog, and I don’t believe would ever harm anyone. She has never even come close to showing any tendancies to bite anyone, and we can play with her and annoy her without her getting annoyed with us!

So, the problem. She appears to get aggressive towards men. If someone calls to the house, the hairs on her back go up, and she will growl – at the same time, her tail is tucked well between her legs. Male friends we’ve had call over – and all like dogs, might have dogs and are not scared of dogs - she’ll stay like that for a while – watching them cautiously. We’ve tried to encourage her to let the person pet her, and given them ham and other treats to give to her. E.g. the last friend we had over, he threw bits of ham for her – if it was far enough away from him, she’d take it, but would make sure she didn’t get too close. By the end of the visit, we had her to a point that he could pet her. However, as soon as he went to leave, she had her hair up and was growling again. She has been the same with the odd female friend, but once they pet her, she’s all waggy tails and happy. She doesn’t seem to get to this happy stage with men – just enough to let them pet her, and give her food.

There are thoughts that she could be protecting me and esp the baby, but she’s done this behaviour without me there. She also did it when I was at work and she’d be out on her walks, in that if you walked towards her, and she didn’t recognise me, she would be on full alert, and bark/growl, until she coped who I was, and would then run towards me.

A friend of mine is worried that this behaviour could progress to aggression, and this worries me – so i’d like to try to stop the behaviour now before it does become a problem.

Any suggestions on why she’s like this and also how to try and stop it.

Thanks.

LisaO

Hi & congrats on the new baby Your lab sounds like a lovely girl and obviously much loved and cared for. It can be upsetting when pets behave out of character because they can't tell us what has caused the problem. How long has she been doing this & can you link when the behaviour started to any specific event, no matter how small or insignificant it may have seemed? Perhaps she could have been scared or surprised by an unexpected caller at the house when she was there alone (don't know if that's a possible scenario)? Sounds like you are doing all the right things to deal with the situation. Sure you will get lots of good advice here - always seems to be plenty to go round.

alowe

LisaO, thanks for the well wishes. The one great thing is that she was never nervous towards the baby. She actually behaved perfectly, in that she knew something was different with me - I had a baby in my arms and not in my tummy! But she was very gentle and apprehensive with her, but not in a scared way. We introduced her properly though, and everythings fine there .... although completely off the point, I have to tell you this story ... our babs has a bit of cradle cap, and a friend suggested to put unsalted butter on it (apparently better than olive oil). anyway, I did this and my babies head smelled of butter! We had her asleep in the main room with the dog, suddenly we heard her wake up abruptly crying from her sleep ... the dog was looking guilty! We reckon she sniffed the baby, smelt the butter, and licked her head This is the type of lab we have .....

The only thing I can think of that scared her, was haloween night, we brought her out for a pee, and a firework went off and scared her. When we got her inside, the poor pet was looking up at the ceiling with cowering eyes. We did as I thought you should, and when the bangs went off, didn't act differently - so as she wouldn't get any nervousness off us.... Apart from that - can't think. She's never been in the house alone, so no-one would have called without us there ..... I'm not really sure what to do apart from what we're doing. She's probably fine with males after she knows them continously, as she's grand with my dad. But another male friend of ours, who would generally call once a month, and has known her since she was a puppy - she acts agressive towards.... agh....

anniehoo

My dog is exactly the same, actually there are alot of dogs that behave towards men like this. Men portray a more domineering persona in general than a woman would and many dogs see this as an immediate threat, therefore react before (in their heads) the domineering presence becomes a problem for them.Men are generally larger,have louder and deeper voices and not as "soft" if you know what i mean like women, so to a dog who relies on body language to communicate this persona can be perceived as territorial or domineering to them.
Ive never "cured" my dog (shes 13) and on a perfectly calm walk she will suddenly run and bark at a guy for absoutely no reason...shes like a pussy cat once she knows they're ok! Id be curious if any behaviourists had an answer for this!