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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why does my dog HATE this man?

82 replies

GingerNinjer · 21/03/2021 07:38

When my dog was a puppy I took her to my friends house. She was fine with everyone in the house (including friends brother, in his 60s) but hated her husband. Growled, barked, hid behind me, wouldn’t go to him, hid behind a chair growling at him ... all quite unusual.
Fast forward almost two years, friend and husband come to visit (just in the back garden). Dog again hated this particular man. She’s bigger now obviously and mature, she growled, continuously barked at him, heckles raised ... he put his hand out for her to sniff and she started air snapping at his hand. She just wasn’t going to warm to him at all so we had to separate her. How bloody weird!!

Friend then told me their own dog doesn’t like him either?! AIBU to really wonder why?

OP posts:
Mollymalone123 · 21/03/2021 09:23

Your dog is reacting to the human emotions/ body language around him- if u tensed up or felt awkward even a tiny bit he will sense it and that’s the reaction from the dog you’re getting. You probably were a little apprehensive thinking ‘I hope the dog doesn’t growl at him again ‘and bingo.
I can’t take my dogs out if I feel even slightly flustered as it sets them off barking before we get out the door- I don’t have to say anything 😂 all body language and my emotions they react to

thosetalesofunexpected · 21/03/2021 09:25

You just mentioned on one of your Post thread,
there is Just something about this man I can not put my finger on !

Please trust your gut emotion instinct
It is there for a really good reason !

Animals have the very similar /same instinct as well !

Your gut emotional instinct is Primeval

Its there to protect you
Its your body internal Alarm warning system !

Have you ever read the book called the gift of fear by Gavin

I can not rember his surname !

He is a Famous American Author

Who works for top level security in America for the USA Government !

He was on Oprah Winfrey Tv show.

It was about women and their safety and how they had a gut emotion instinct warning them they could be harmed such as rape etc !

I am also going to find out about a Animal whisper name and contact details on a well known popular women's mag
She is really good and insightful

SylvanianFrenemies · 21/03/2021 09:25

@Dragongirl10

Listen to your dog he knows something you don’t, and l am neither a woo person or being flippant. There is something wrong , bad or evil about this man that is clear to your dog. Avoid at all costs.
My friend's dog is really aggressive to black people (their family is white). Are you seriously suggesting dogs are always aggressive/defensive for a rational reason?
Giggorata · 21/03/2021 09:26

We had a dog who disliked anyone who was ill, weak or very elderly. It was really obvious and embarrassing when he'd sit there, growling and showing his teeth at elderly neighbour, or a friend who had cancer.

ElizabethinherGermanGarden · 21/03/2021 09:26

Might he be ill? You read about dogs being able to smell illnesses such as cancers before they are diagnosed.

Nandakanda · 21/03/2021 09:30

The man is obviously possessed by demons or harbouring a malignant spirit of some description.

Probably best to conceal a crucifix or sage about your person just to be on the safe side.

SerendipityJane · 21/03/2021 09:33

My friend's dog is really aggressive to black people (their family is white). Are you seriously suggesting dogs are always aggressive/defensive for a rational reason?

As others have said (and I was thinking) dogs are very good at sensing how their owners are reacting.

thosetalesofunexpected · 21/03/2021 09:33

Is your dog a rescue dog?
If it is ?
your dog could have been mistreated abused in some way by previous owners?

Is it just this particular man your dog reacts to then?
or is in other men too?
,your dog also reacts in a way he growls a lot then?

Henneypenny7 · 21/03/2021 09:34

My dog who’s never been nasty in her life barked at a women heckles up in the woods who looked stressed and was shouting at her son for making her late was so weird we were on the middle of the woods really freaked me out.

gutful · 21/03/2021 09:37

Listen to your dog! My dog wouldn’t stop barking at this one lodger I had.

He ended up stuffing me for 2 months’ rent & Lied that his father was dying of cancer & this is why he couldn’t afford rent.

When I finally tracked him down called me a “psycho”

The dog knows this person is no good & untrustworthy

Iluvfriends · 21/03/2021 09:37

I've had my dog, now 9, since he was 9 weeks old. He is the most loving dog ever and craves attention.....until he meets my dad or brother.
His hackles go up, he barks, he goes low to the ground and just wont approach either of them. He wont even cross dads doorstop, i have to carry a 28kg dog inside.
Once inside we just leave him to do his own thing, he'll approach like he wants to go to them albeit with tail between his legs, but any movement from dad or brother and he backs right off. He'll sit by me, go explore the house then try approaching again. Maybe after 30/40 mins he'll get close enough for a pat on the head then he'll relax a bit and let them stroke him but he never fully relaxes around them.
They both love dogs esp dad and has always had dogs throughout my life so it's a mystery as to why he acts like this.

The dog certainly hasn't sensed he's a bad yin......lol.

Hoppinggreen · 21/03/2021 09:39

My very friendly dog took a dislike to my very nice neighbour who we have know for 20 years. Eventually they did make friends but it took a while.

Roselilly36 · 21/03/2021 09:40

It’s really strange I know, we had this with our dog, many years ago. Our dog absolutely loved people.

We brought a holiday home, sounds glam it seriously wasn’t, definitely not a stealth boast. We used to go every weekend, straight from work on a Friday night throughout the season. Before we had our family.

There was a lovely elderly couple on site, who our dog loved, they also had a son, our dogs reaction to their son, was something I had never ever seen in him before or since, growling, gnarling etc, every time he saw him. It was really weird and embarrassing, the couple would make excuses, he doesn’t like the cap he’s wearing, oh our son really loves dogs etc. Tried to give him treats, made no difference whatsoever.

So I totally get what you mean OP. I would have trusted my dog over a stranger, there was obviously something very wrong and he knew it.

ImAlrightThanx · 21/03/2021 09:41

I watched a programme once. It said dogs react to their owners unconscious reactions.
Perhaps there is "something" about the man that makes you uneasy and the dog is picking up on it.
Dogs don't have magically powers, they react to what is going on around them.

StillCoughingandLaughing · 21/03/2021 09:44

To the tune of ‘Listen to Your Heart’ by Roxette:

🎶 ‘Listen to your dog, when he’s barking for you,
Listen to your dog, cos he can sense what is true,
I just know that he hates him, though I don’t know why,
But listen to your dog - make sure you tell him goodbye...’ 🎶

thosetalesofunexpected · 21/03/2021 09:47

Jackie Weaver is the name of the pets animals whisper from Chat lts Fate women's mag

often see this mag on supermarket shelves

You can email Jackie at Email [email protected] OR SEE ANIMALPSYCHIC.CO.UK

Sayamino · 21/03/2021 09:56

My children occasionally do this.

thosetalesofunexpected · 21/03/2021 10:01

I do think dogs /or any other pets who has been mistreated/abused by anyone in the past,

If they come across someone who looks the same or similar or have similar /same mannerisms as the one person who originally mistreated them.!

I do think animals pets will instinctly react in a knee jerk trigger reaction to this person as it will confuse and remind them of the person who originally mistreated abused them.
As animals just like people rember emotional /physical trauma too !

thosetalesofunexpected · 21/03/2021 10:08

@florapalmer

That does make sense too
Your comment does
I did not think of that ! 😀

HeraInTheHereAndNow · 21/03/2021 10:10

He probably smells of something, to her, which is making her fearful.

My dog doesn’t like people in hats or carrying umbrellas 🤷🏻‍♀️

There’s a house we walk past, on our way to a nice open filled and she will not walk past it. She used to crawl past, on her belly but now she flatly refuses and we cross over the road then, when past it, cross back again. My friend thinks it’s hilarious and jokes that they’re probably burying bodies in the garden but I just think she senses something I don’t.

HeraInTheHereAndNow · 21/03/2021 10:11

Open field !

Chanjer · 21/03/2021 10:18

My mates lovely dog who sadly died this year absolutely detested me for a decade. Barked, growled, hackles up every single bloody time I met her. She'd normally chill out after I'd been there for an hour or two. However, every time I visited, even if it was the next day, she'd be the same

BerniesMittens · 21/03/2021 10:20

I'd trust the dog’s instincts. Call it woo if you like but animals have a far better natural instinct to detect evil than we do.

Lairymary · 21/03/2021 10:20

My old dog growing up used to go mental if someone came to the door wearing a hat for some reason. Does he wear a hat?

tolerable · 21/03/2021 10:41

is he ill(man)