My dog keeps barking at my grandfather?
how do I make her stop? He hasn’t hit her or done anything of that nature, but she keeps barking at him all the time he gets close or whenever she sees him. Today I did a bit of experimenting and it seems to me she is worried of him, which is weird because like I said, he doesn’t hit her, or anything of that nature. My dog is very laid back with everyone, doesn’t bite, likes kids, etc EXCEPT with my Grandfather. I’ve tried disciplining her, etc, but just don’t know what to do now. She’s a Black Chow Chow about 5 years ancient. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
My grandfather does sometimes wear a hat when he goes outside of the house. When he’s in the backyard she always barks in a warning kind of voice (she doesn’t show teeth she only barks and growls, but never shows teeth). I did question him if he tried to play with her. He said has tried to play with her, but she just runs away barking, which might tell me she has probably perceived that he might be threatening her. Oh well I’ll try some other things to see what else can work.
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make your grandfather pet her and then see if she still barks. It may be a scent that she dislikes about him or maybe she is threatened (for whatever reason.)
Chows are extremely loyal to only one owner. Does your Grampa wear a baseball hat? My shepard-chow-rott mix is VERY suspicious of people in baseball caps, though we’re not sure why. People who come in with a cap on have to go back out and take it off, and then come back in. It doesn’t work for them to take the hat off inside!
He might also have made what the dog perceives to be a threatening movement toward you at some point. Heaven forbid someone try to hug me around my dog!
Try keeping pup on a leash for a while during the time grampa is there. Have him sit beside you and both of you pet pup with plenty of ‘excellent girls’. Have grampa give treats.
Does grampa wear glasses when no one else does? that’s another thing that scares them sometimes.
My dog is singling out one person to bark at too; he is our next door neighbor. She acts worried of him and will constantly growl or bark at him. He likes dogs and even really likes my dog and has never kicked her but for some reason she doesn’t like him. I don’t know about your dog but I reckon mine is confused because she see’s me as the alpha dog but she also see’s me defer to my neighbor because he also happens to be my boss and I don’t reckon she’s okay with that. Perhaps your dog see’s you defer to your grandfather because well, he’s your grandfather, elder, is wise, etc. Don’t know if that helps you but I’m going through a similar quandary. Food for thought. When I see her ‘freaking out’ when he is near I make her sit and then lay down. If she doesn’t quit then she gets to go in the kennel for a10 min time out. She is slowly getting better.
Babies and animals are fantastic at interpreting ones persona. yes this is your grandpa but there is something about him that sets her on edge. If a baby starts crying and wont stop and an animal starts barking, they are very uncomfortable and therre is something incorrect. Don’t disapline her, just place her outside and away from your grandpa. It’s a warning of some sort, don’t push it a side.
my dog did that to my grandparents, they went to hug me and he got between them and started growling at them and showing his teeth.
well dogs have a tendency to not like everybody and sometimes there is no changing it but have him pet her and say her name nicely and have him give her pieces of his food dogs usually will like anyone that’s gives them half of what they are eating…also is your grandfather am mad type of person..cause remember dogs can sense and smell many things so she could be sensing something she doesn’t like and or smells something she doesn’t like
We do this thing with our dogs [black lab and yellow lab,] that when people come in, we have whoever comes in give them each a treat. Our dogs bark and are very excited when people come, and sometimes randomly bark at them throughout their visit. We found the more used to these people the dogs got, the less time they spent barking at them. It’s worth a try.
Is it an aggressive bark, or a playful bark? If it’s aggressive, you might want to keep her close, or on her leash when your grandfather is around. If it’s the playful bark, maybe have your grandfather play fetch with her, or another non aggressive game [avoid tug-of-war. If the dog wins, they might feel superior to the person who lost.]
If everything seems to fail, call or go to your vet and question what the deal is.