my dog growls at men and somtimes boys. what can I do?

[GoldenSparrow]

We got a new dog 2 weeks ago, he is very good most of the time. He will sit, stay, lay down, and come.
However he hates men. If any man comes over the house he will growl and bark constantly! He will do this until the man leaves. The man might stay for half hour, and the dog will not stop barking and GROWLING!!!
The dog Tucker will not listen to the word NO if a mans is over. Tucker knows the word no, and listens to it any other time except when we have guests. We tried to have the man give a treat whenever he comes over, but Tucker wont take his favorite treats from any men. He does not mind the hubby of the house, but any other guys he hates. No matter how many times the same man comes over, Tucker will not get use to him.


He’s fine with women and kids. He will bark at them when they first come into the house, but will stop after he sniffs them. However sometimes he barks or growls at certain boys.

If where out with Tucker and a man gets near us he starts the barking and growling hair on his back standing up. We thought about doggy school, but the trainers a man. I know Tucker would be fine with all the other dogs. I am just worried he would bark the whole time with all the people there.

What can I do?

 

[debilorrah]

I would contact a trainer. It sounds to me like the dog was abused in the past by a male. Poor doggy.

 

[ducksinarow]

My dog is also like this. Your dog views men as threats. I use it to my advantage. If I trust the man I put him in the bedroom. If not I tell the person the dog will bite and tell them goodbye. Keeps door to door salesman out.

 

[wolftracks]

What breed is he? Some breeds are very territorial and men are more intrusive to them. The No command may not work, but teach him "leave it. " "No" is usually associated with something that is bad, so the bad man is in your house. Also trying making him lay down in one spot when company is there. My Cane Corse has had to at times, lay on her bed until a whole visit is over. They can bark laying down, but usually not as intensely.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

he is a Jack russell terrier and border collie mix .
if I put him in the bedroom, he barks and will not stop. he does not like to be alone.

 

[SourRoses]

Yep... sounds like he has been harmed by a man before... or witnessed a man harming someone he cared about.

It sounds like it's the same man in your house alot of the time? Yet the dog is fine for your husband... that leads me to think, that treat or no treat, the man coming over has something particular in his behaviour or appearance that is setting the dog off.

Sometimes it can be as simple as a hat. We knew a dog once who was scared to death of anyone wearing a hat. Take the hat off, and he was fine.

For the "little evil men" I'd hazard a guess that it's the boys that are more active and tend to look aggressive to a dog (waving their arms around and such) that are most bothersome to your dog.

Wether most visitors like it or not, when they are in your house (which ALL dogs view as *their* house, like it or not) they need to follow certain ground rules.

In our house, when we have little kids over... (with 2 dogs and 3 puppies).. we do not let them run inside. They have to take their shoes off at the door (for the noise factor on tile), and I let them know it's not OK to yell or jump around near the dogs. Not that most of ours don't like kids, they do... but keeping the dogs from feeling intimidated is a good preventative to future problems

Make sure when your "evil man" people come over... the dog has his own seperate, decent sized, secure area to hide out in. Let him feel he has his own area that he is free to defend, and keep your visitors in another area.. say the kitchen and living room while letting the dog have the patio, or a bedroom, or the upstairs. He will still bark of course.. but if he feels a little safer it will probably not be as bad and he might eventually give up.

I read in a training book somewhere, that in those situations where the people yell at dogs when they bark... the only thing the dogs understand is that the human is barking too and there *must* be something to bark about.

Just don't make your scared dog share the same space as a visitor he is frightened of... thats the way bites happen.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
You are on the right track to get a trainer to deal with this. Your dog knows commands when it's calm and no distractions are around only. This really means your dog isn't really trained. To have a fully trained dog you need to work with the dog in many different circumstances and teach the dog that compliance with commands is expected no matter what is going on around you.

How old is Tucker? What breed? He needs his training to be generalized and you need someone to teach you how to have higher expectations of his behavior. I doubt he was abused by a man, abuse rarely dictates long term behavior in dogs -- unlike people.

 

[SourRoses]

Ohh.. a JRT & Bordie Collie mix?

Our 2 adult dogs are JRTS and one of the "puppies" is a Border Collie!

Don't have much experience with the Border Collies, Dory being our first... but with the JRTS... all I can say is there is no point arguing an issue like this with them. They are more stubborn than any human could hope to be.

You just have to find a way to manage it and keep your sanity... Like sticking him in a sound proof room

At least somewhere you can't hear it as much.

Both our JRTs bark at stuff... alot. We love them, so we put up with it. Rosie is 12 years old, and though we taught her to do many things (she did frisbee competitions, ect.) We never could teach her not to bark when we leave her.

My one year old male, Eli - otherwise known as Squishy

... he barks anytime anyone comes over until he is used to the noises the individual makes. His bark is so loud... oh my gosh.. it hurts my ears. Some remnant of Beagle in his bark, plus a high pitch. He knows it's a new person from a back room before they set foot in the door... then after a person has visited two or three times he will stay quiet with them in the house. One person though... he has never settled down around, and that is someone I personally dislike. They pick up on that stuff, and they don't forget it.

When we first got Rosie as a puppy... one thing the breeder said to us that we have found to be so, so true... is that a Jack Russel will hold a grudge.
Rosie for instance.... will punish us for days after an incident where we have to take away a favorite toy ( like when they are too destroyed) or have to discipline her... she will sulk and not even look at us and pretend we aren't there, until she finds it in her heart to forgive us... Usually when we get her a new frisbee from Petsmart = instant forgiveness

 

[GoldenSparrow]

h

 

[dainerra]

I just want to point put that it's more likely to be a socialization issue than an abuse issue. When we rescued Freya at 2 years old, she hadn't seen a man since she was taken to her kennel at 5 months old. Needless to say, she was TERRIFIED of men. Why wouldn't she be, since one older lady is the only human she had seen in 1 1/2 years.

I'd start outside the house. Don't try to get him to take treats from men, just get him around them. See if he reacts the same. When you have men over, put him in his crate with a super yummy treat like a marrow bone.
I know you said he doesn't like being alone, so that would need to be worked on as well. Feed him dinner and yummy things in his crate, teach him that it's a good safe place. Believe me, it'll make life much easier!