My glasses upset the dog

[Noglasses]

For starters- I don't have a dog, don't know the first thing about them, don't love them, don't hate them, live and let live.

We've got new neighbours, they have a dog, smallish, lots of hair. The dog seems to mainly be outside all day with the neighbours around and in and out the house, it looks perfectly happy to be there, mainly lying in its basket by the doorstep or sniffing around.

Every single fucking time I step out of my front door it barks at me like a maniac, running up to the fence, throwing itself off the fence like a mad thing, barking it's head off like it wants to eat me. It's tiny, I know it won't eat me but it makes me jump every time and irritates the hell out of me. I'm just walking out my door and down my path in a perfectly normal way.

I finally said to my new neighbour "wow, your dog really doesn't like me, ha ha" and she said, very seriously "He doesn't like people wearing glasses. They really upset him. If you didn't have your glasses on he wouldn't bark at you. He doesn't do it to upset you, he's very stressed by glasses."

Luckily my bus was just coming down the road so I just sort of laughed and said Oh right, there's my bus".

Seriously? Is this a thing with dogs? Either I am not very knowledgeable about the ways of dogs or my new neighbour and her dog are a bit odd.

@afaloren

My dog is afraid of hats unless worn by DH. They’re peculiar creatures.

Yep, mine is scared of people in hats, bushy beards and babies.

I have a dog who gets very angry at blackbirds. No other birds, just blackbirds. Which is annoying, as we live in a fucking forest full of blackbirds!

Dogs are weird, I have one that's not scared of anything, and another that scared of any object that is taller than her. She also barks if I change from regular glasses to sunglasses. But I read somewhere once dogs like to see faces and eyes, so that would explain her fear of the sunglasses

@SlipperTripper

I have a dog who gets very angry at blackbirds. No other birds, just blackbirds. Which is annoying, as we live in a fucking forest full of blackbirds!

Just remembered, mine hates robins. Every single other bird is fine.

My dogs got a fear of people wearing hats or hoods around him. Also people riding bikes and scooters etc. He’s a weird dog

Oh, this thread is such a gem! I’m half laughing, half crying at all these ludicrous hounds.

Honestly, it sounds like just an excuse for a badly trained dog and a shitty owner.

And I say that as a dog owner. Yes, some dogs are triggered by certain things but this just sounds like a dog with territory issues and and it would piss me off.

Well I feel much better informed now I know phobic dogs are actually a thing.
I'll have a chat next time I see them, I'll be understanding about their dog but still ask them how we can make changes. I'm not willing to be harassed by a small dog every time I go out my own front door.

This would piss me off too OP. But rest assured your neighbour will also find it annoying that their dog goes berserk every time you go in the garden. Hopefully it’ll annoy them enough to pay for some training on dealing with the irrational phobia.

My dog hates guitars and guitar cases. He started growling at a man in front of us in a queue once, and I couldn’t work out why as he is normally such a placid little thing. Then I noticed that the man was carrying a guitar case.

Another time, he started growling at the TV when someone appeared with a guitar. It’s so weird - hard to imagine unless you have experienced it, but I can definitely believe that a dog might take against glasses.

My friends dog HATES men with moustaches, a full beard seams to be fine but she just can’t deal with moustaches

My dog is absolutely terrified of flies!! He can't move if it's near him... flies seem to love our garden and house too!!

@TroysMammy

I had a friend whos dog was racist. He would only bark at certain people.

Mine was a bigot as a young dog. Racist, barked at anyone on crutches or in a wheelchair, old people with a stoop... anything that looked a little bit different, and she was off, judging them.

OP, it's quite common for dogs to have a bit of a thing, especially about something that changes faces and heads. Hats, hoods, beards, specs, visors, masks... test if it's true by not wearing your glasses a few times. Might also stop the dog getting into a habit of barking when it sees you. On that subject, can you make friends with it, so that you're not alarming? Ask the owner if they've got a handful of spare treats. They probably don't want the dog barking at you either, and it might be easier to solve if you work together.

Funny thread, definitely a situation that can be improved for everyone with a bit of training!

My dog is afraid of wooden spoons, his own food bowl when not in it's holder , umbrellas, prams, bald people and dogs wearing cones. As if the poor fucking dogs aren't feeling crap enough after whatever op they've had he feels the need to bark at them and then sit down glaring suspiciously as they pass.

My dog is racist - it's very embarrassing 😐

We had a ( very embarrassing) racist jack Russell who was also terrified of going under footbridges etc in the car. She would duck every time was coming up and put her paw over her eyes in the car.

@Paq

The word vet but not the actual vet

I love this.

Mine is terrified of the vet, but they always give her a biscuit. She has a 5 second break from being scared to thoroughly enjoy eating it, and then reverts to tail-between-legs, trying-to-hide-in-my-jumper-levels of petrified. It's absurd.

Last dog but one, he didn't like men with grey/white hair.

Probably says something about an experience he may have had before we got him, but it was a very real thing.

Yep, my dog is super placid, but barks at hats!

Mine is suspicious of me if I put too much moisturiser on.

My previous dog was, not unreasonably, extremely offended by extra tall people with two heads (ie people giving kids a piggy back or shoulder ride).

He also, not unreasonably, wanted to kill every boxer dog he saw. One had boisterously put a foot on his head and hurt his eye. It was quite funny, owners would think we were pulling him in on a short leash because he was scared; it was actually to protect their dogs. (The funny part was, he's a dachshund)

It's very easy to check: go out without your glasses on.

I suspect it's bollocks. I'd recommend squirting it with a water gun everytime it barks. It has learnt it can bark at you and get away with it. You have to assert dominance over it somehow.

If the owners complain, say you're watering the plants but can't see properly because you've taken your glasses off so as not to scare the dog

Dogs are weirdos. Like other posters, my dog also hates people with hats. Never had a hat related trauma to cause it, she’s just a drama queen.

It's very easy to check: go out without your glasses on.

The op has explained why that wouldn't be easy. Maybe I should take my glasses off to walk past it. But I'm majorly short sighted, walking down my steps and out the gate without my glasses on is much harder than it sounds

(My shortsighted DH would find this not merely difficult but dangerous, I think).

@Noglasses

Well I feel much better informed now I know phobic dogs are actually a thing. I'll have a chat next time I see them, I'll be understanding about their dog but still ask them how we can make changes. I'm not willing to be harassed by a small dog every time I go out my own front door.

Yes good idea OP. I agree that the dog owner needs to work with you on this.