To dislike man because my dog does?

[BJsHair]

Went to friends house with dog today (doggy play date). My dog showed instant dislike to my friends husband, barking and growling at him. I put it down to her being a bit funny with men but then another bloke came in and she ran over, smothered him in kisses, tail wagging etc ... yet when friends husband tried to get her attention she went back to growling and barking. In the end I sat on the floor with her to reassure her that it was ok and the husband stroked her head. She tolerated it but growled throughout.

No obvious reason.

AIBU to keep a distance from this bloke now, and trust my dogs instincts? Friend has invited me around tomorrow for dog play date but she won’t be home, just her hubby. I’m inclined to trust my dog that he’s a wrong un. Hubby thinks I’m being ridiculous.

Never mind the dog. Do you want to be stuck in a house, on your own, with a man you don't know?

Just for a doggy playdate?

Meet in the fucking park, like everyone else.

Personally I think dogs are great judges of character and when you said she was fine with the other man, that settled it for me.

Bloke was white (as am I), bit odd looking

Odd looking? Lots of people seem to have maybe skipped over this. Dogs are not as kind as we are. In fact, they can be rude as fuck. I’ve seen dogs that bark at all wheelchairs - terribly embarrassing, but it is what it is. They often will be uncomfortable around things they aren’t used to (people have mentioned beards, wearing the wrong colors, or skin colors that dogs aren’t around much). So whatever makes him “odd-looking” to you may be a difference that your dog doesn’t approve of (whatever it is). More importantly, did YOU get any kind of feeling that this man wasn’t safe to be around? That might be a bit more useful than trusting your dog to be psychic.

Bit unreasonable OP. Dogs dislike people for the weirdest reasons. Maybe he was wearing the same colour as someone who was cruel to your dog as a puppy, maybe he had a beard, maybe he wore the same cologne that someone your dog doesn't like did. It could be tenuous.

That said, I REALLY wouldn't take your dog for a doggy playdate where an adult dog doesn't like is present. It won't make for a relaxing time at all.

Yab batshit

One of our dogs barked at a man with a visible physical handicap once .

Very embarassing.

One of my dogs has ironically always been right about people.. seriously my ex had to keep his shoes up in a cupboard or he’d shit in them (bastard got someone pregnant while staging a mental breakdown).

Another dislikes people because they’re above her.. they’re all chihuahuas.. it’s quite hard to be smaller than her.

And the last one would run away with hitler n Jimmy Saville.. she loves everyone probably just in it for the biscuits.

If ddogs started being funny with men in general I’d be more inclined to say it’s just a lack of meeting new men, beards, bald, tall, short etc and he fits into a category of new. If he’s the only bugger in town that gets it go with the dog.

I think YABU, the dog may not like him for any number of reasons, some smell he didn't like etc No other reason other than your dog barking at him is a ridiculous reason to not like a person imo

Trust the dog

Doggy play date?? 🤣🤣

I used to work in a pub, and a woman and her gorgeous Jack Russell used to come in all the time. We'd always make a big fuss of him. One day I bent down to stroke him, and I got one of those static shocks. The dog felt it too and backed away from me terrified like I'd hit him. Luckily his owner saw the whole thing too. But he would cower every time I came near him from then on in. So there's a dog out there who behaves like I abused him!

Sometimes DDog is perfectly spot on with his character judgements (the burglar, odd looking man in the park).

Most people he just totally ignores tbh

Unfortunately I did have to downgrade my estimations of him after he took a liking to a man who later turned out to be on the sex offenders register for something deeply unpleasant. It turns out that being willing to play fetch means someone must be a good person, regardless of any other factors!

Sorry WTAF is a doggy play date???

How are most posters answering the dislike and not THE DOGGY PLAYDATE

Why is this a thing???

I’d absolutely listen to your dog in this instance.

Worth adding, if your dog is not comfortable and you ignored her signals of this (the growling) and allowed the guy to stroke her you are eroding her natural signals. If this is done too often she may just stop growling and progress to a nip in situations like that.

I've rarely had problems with dogs, but did have one random dog take a dislike to me, for no obvious reason, and have the scars to prove it.

I think 'trusting your gut' is basically a way some people use to give greater weight to their prejudices than to reason. Going several steps further and trusting your dog's gut is...well....barking.

Going by this, you'd think I was a wrongun then. If I am around somebody with a dog, it won't come near me, on the odd occasion it will, I won't interact with it or I'll move away.

Perhaps I give off a vibe of "don't come anywhere near me", which is what I want to do, or I'm a wrongun. It's up to the owner to decide.

Doggy playdates are batshit and must be stopped.

That aside, dogs can be astute and they can be bellends. One of ours lay on the back of the chair in the window licking her nether regions while a man sat in the boot of DH's car rifling through for things to steal, watching him happily, yet she'd rip the arse end off a squirrel if it came within 50 feet of our garden.

I believe that every now and then people can give off certain signals which a smart dog might pick up on, but it's more than likely your signals the dog is alert to rather than his.

Ignoring whether your dog is psychic, you shouldn’t go on a doggy play date with someone you don’t know as it would be weird and awkward. Also pointless if your dog hates the owner.

I had a dog which hated my husband. I’ve had other dogs which didn’t hate my husband. I don’t think dh did anything to deserve being hated by the dog but he spent 2 years growling at him and biting him. In fairness he wasn’t keen on people full stop but was ok with me and my brother and dd and reserved his full hatred for dh.

So I don’t think dogs are always good judges of character.

And I agree that dogs do not need play dates.

Plus if your dog is growling throughout do not let someone continue to stroke your dog as your dog is “tolerating” it. Your dog is giving a clear signal that it’s stressed/unhappy and should be listened to. A dog which isn’t listened to when communicating like that has the potential to escalate to a bite.

This is bordering batshit, you can’t be serious. How do you feel about cats OP? Do you like chasing cars?

You can’t assume there’s something wrong with this man because the dog doesn’t like him! My husbands lovely and our own dogs love him but he once had an experience where this happened and the dog owner kept mentioning it as if my DH was a secret devil worshipper or something! Was very annoying actually and a bit unkind

And yes - dogs do not need “play dates” weird

I’m not a dog owner but even I know doggy/puppy play dates are a thing, I don’t get why people are so bewildered. It just means socialisation surely.

Play dates, even for children, is an American term, and slightly cringe, so no reason why dogs can’t have them.

Dogs are shit judges of character.

If you looked at the types of people dogs react mostly to...

1. Children
2. Those people with disabilities that mean they move differently or have wheelchairs etc.
3. (For dogs raised in white families) people of colour

Hitler has a dog that would appear to have judged him as being a top notch person.

I love dogs, study them and spend most my days with them. They can do amazing things but act as a fail proof barometer for evil they cannot.