My Heinz 57 and Boxer/Back Mouth Cur go nuts over delivery trucks (mail, FedEx, UPS) and black teenagers. When I walk them and they see a black teenager, they become Cujo. It’s really embarrassing. “Hee hee, sorry about that, I’m not racist or anything…”
My dog loved everybody, well, mostly. If we walked he loved the people and the other dogs. Same thing at the dog park. He’d lick the hand of the vet as he was being probed.
But just once I took him into PetSmart and he snarled and nipped at two owners and their pets. I took him out. It was the only time I ever saw him exhibit aggression.
Had a dog that hated cops, even in plainclothes.
I had a female Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who was very affectionate towards us and loved to meet and snuggle up to everyone. She was something of a terror towards other dogs in our household until they recognized she was boss. Her only fears were of balloons, rotating ceiling fans and non-human primates (she hated seeing them on TV).
Last night, talking over the fence with my neighbor… Reicher (the freaky one) spent a good 20 minutes trying to warn him away. Fortunately, my neighbor is a pretty stable and confident guy, and knows dogs - He and I continued the chat until Reicher decided that he wasn’t going to chase the neighbor off - and didn’t need to, either. Redirection and basic calm attitude put his mind busy elsewhere, and convinced him that this was a ‘normal’ situation, and he could safely stand down. He did, however, maintain a fishy eye on my neighbor, ‘just in case’ - but he lay down and mostly relaxed (ceased stress panting, etc.).
This is the ideal when dealing with a dog whom has ‘issues’ with strange people, strange situations, and other ‘scary things’ - you desensitize, deconflict, and re-direct. The idea is to give the dog non-presurized time time to conclude that ‘yes, this isn’t really a threat.’ If you pressurize them, you re-enforce the anxiety.
Our dogs are aggressive toward several of our elderly neighbors who have motorized scouters. We fairly certain its just the machine which probably looks like a motorbikes that have left the street to dog eyes.
Pepper Mill had a German Shepherd when she was younger. He used to break away from his collar , go to the Police Department, and prevent officers from entering the building. They used to call her up to come get her dog, so that the cops didn’t have to go in by the back entrance
Maybe trying to enforce some work-life balance for the Fuzz…?
My friend’s German Sheppard invariably barks at my vehicle but then is full of love as soon as I open the car door. UNLESS I am wearing a hat. Even after sniffing me and hearing my voice, the dog was highly agitated (pacing, barking, whining) until I removed the offending headgear.
According to this article, some dogs don’t understand “removable parts” and are frightened by things like hats, backpacks, umbrellas, etc.
I’m guessing your dog was put off by the new “shape” of your head.
My dog, a Chihuahua, but a very quiet one, rarely barks. I bring him to work daily and he mostly sleeps. When one of maintenance men stops by to cool off or just say hello my dog will bark at him because he is black but once he sees I am OK with it he is OK with it. Racist little baby.
Forgot one. My little boy is black and tan and while walking on leash we encounter many people walking their dogs of all shapes and sizes and everything is cool unless it is a blond dog. Louie will bark and strain to get to any blond dog so we have a little reverse racism too. Dogs, go figure.