Dog barking at random males

[rookiemere]

Rookiedog is 4 and generally pretty well behaved albeit with a propensity to chase squirrels.

Recently he has started barking when he sees random males - generally ones on their own and without a dog. He's the least aggressive dog ever, but it still must be scary for those on the receiving end. I don't want to have to put him on a lead for all of his walks as we live in a rural area so we rarely bump into people, but I cannot have him doing this to other people.

Any thoughts on why he is doing it and how we can stop him ?

You don’t need to put him on a lead for all of his walk surely? Just recall and put him on a lead when you see someone and then let him back off again when the coast is clear?

@Leonberger the issue is he seems to snuffle people out a lot sooner than I see them, so this morning the poor guy was round the corner so I knew nothing about it until he hared off and started barking.

Our dog did similar we found distraction worked best. First we used cheese while he was on the lead. I'd show him a piece so he would look at me and give a couple him of pieces while walking past. I eventually got this to one piece after a successful walk past. Now he's off lead and I use ball as he's obsessed with it. He no longer barks except at cats/squirrels. Not solved thst one yet.

Yeah actually now I think about it, he had started doing it a couple of years ago and we had to go right back to basics in training with food treats every few yards .

It's a really hard one to solve when they spot the "enemy" before you do!

Will he recall back to you once he's started barking? If not, what about clipping a long line to his harness so that you can stamp on it if the refuses to listen?

My dog did this. Men in hats/caps
Once I had explained to said man it's the hat , he would take it off and then give her a fuss.
We no longer have this issue thank god. It's now switched to mobility scooters 🤦🏻‍♀️

Odds on he's doing it because he is worried about them.

To help him feel better you would need a slow, patient and well controlled program of desensitisation, ideally combined with counter conditioning. To do those well, you need control of him and this means a lead.

Realistically, this means you keep him on a lead at all times, you choose places to walk where you have full sight all around you at all times or you have a combination of him only being off lead if you can 100% be sure someone is not going to pop up and surpise you. At least until he is more comfortable around strange men (and be aware this may never fully happen).

Some info on desensitisation and counter conditioning here:
www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/changing-your-dogs-behavior-with-desensitization-and-counter-conditioning/

They are talking about other dogs but dog and random men are interchangeable for you.

@drinkingwineoutofamug beards seem to be a common factor, but how he knows when he can't see the front of them is a mystery to me.

It's mostly DHs dog but he has been away for a long weekend so I'm doing more walking than usual. DH is not a fan of long leads so I guess it's back to the treats.

Tell him no! The dog needs to know the appropriate way to behave in a situation. Tell them no and give them a job to think about- so ask them to heel, focus on you and walk past.
you have the early signs of a really dangerous behaviour. If the person feels they are at risk and reports you it doesn’t matter that “they are the least aggressive dog ever” the law is not on your side here. You need to nip this in the bud now.
Lead or long line whilst you work on this

Have you got some underlying anxiety about strange men? Hardly unusual, if you do. Maybe you've been startled in the past, and he's helpfully warning you there's a solo bloke round the corner.

In an ideal World, you'd line up some random men to pop up and give him treats.

@picklemewalnuts no underlying concerns about solo men- particularly ones I can't even see . I did wonder if it's somehow related to DHs absence as it certainly seems to have stepped up in the last couple of days.

@SarahSissions that is a very good point about the law, I'll talk to DH when he comes back. Now that I reflect upon it we did have a few instances of this about a year ago and we seemed to solve it then by working a lot on return behaviour through treats.

Mine doesn't like random men..especially dark haired young men in black hoodies,,,no idea why.
We use the CARE approach.. at first sight of the enemy we get her attention WHILE she is looking at him, treat, treat and more treats til the person us out of sight, then stop,
Scary man = best treat.
it works. She is 90% less reactive towards her imaginary enemies now!