Dog barking at one particular person..why?!

Ms.Sunshine

Our puppy is usually really quiet and greets people very friendly... but there is this one elderly male who lives beside us on his own who he really doesn't seem to get on with anymore.

When our dog was very young there was no problem and we always and still do find the man to be very pleasant to us but our pup seems to have different ideas and now when ever he seems him he either barks at him uncontrollably or will back away from him in fear with his tale between his legs!

It is the oddest thing to us.

My partner said on two different days he saw him take photos of the dog on his camera.. We thought it was odd but didn't think too much of it...(maybe just took it to show his grandkids or whatever if he had any!??)

Any idea what might be up with our guy?? It took me back a bit when I heard him do it as I had never heard him bark before the first time..

Thanks in advance. I am very interested in your response!:)

Raminahobbin

Has your dog ever been alone with the man? Or unsupervised in the garden where the man might have been able to get to him? If the dog is reacting fearfully, I'd guess he associates some sort of trauma with the man, maybe.

Sometimes, though, dogs just take against people. They find them weird and don't like how they carry themselves or the vibes they give off.

We used to have a neighbour who would walk past our house every day that set my dog off big time, and it was just cos of how stiffly he moved and the expression on his face.

Whispered

Maybe the man has a stoop, a limp, a Zimmer frame or in some other way doesn't look/move like your average person? Dogs can react badly to things that are different sometimes. How old is your dog?

aonb

Could this man have frightened your dog when it was alone in your garden at some point?? I ask this because up the road is the nicest little bitch - she is so timid and friendly. The elderly batchelor who lives next door thinks if he sees the bitch outside the gate he must roar at her to get back inside (she NEVER wanders) - she is terrified of him.

As earlier posters said, some dogs just take a dislike to a specific person. Maybe their smell (Im not being offensive here) or their stance - something that would be 'invisible' to you. Does this man wear a hat/cap?!?

If your normally friendly dog is barking uncontrollably at only this man, and backing away in fear, then there is definitely something wrong/off there - your dog is afraid of this person for whatever reason... and it could be your dog just being odd about one person too for some unknown (to us humans) reason

I think (but maybe some of the more knowledgeable folks on here will have some information) some people just give off bad vibes to animals - usually non-animal-lovers

Ms.Sunshine

As far as I can tell he doesn't seem to have anything that makes him stand out.. He doesn't have a walking stick or anything. He might limb a small bit , but it is nothing he has never been exposed to before.

I am beginning to believe he 'MIGHT' have done something to him but I can't figure out when as we are always with him outside... so it is a strange one. Especially when he used to be fine with him in the past.

Whispered: , Our puppy is almost 5 months old.

Aimeee

Does the men have a hearing aid? Might be a bit pie in the sky but maybe there's a sound that the dog can hear that might be frightening him? Our old fella (now in dog heaven) used to get very upset out of the blue, really frightened etc. Eventually we figured out it was when one of us went to put the kettle on. Now there was an audible beep from the kettle when it boiled and he was petrified of it, or it used to hurt him?? I don't know. The kettle had to be retired to the press for a good while. We have had noisy kettles in the past, even a proper whistling one at one stage but they never bothered him.

Aimeee

Also just curious why he took a photo of the dog? Is he a sellable pup? Or did the camera frighten him etc?

Ms.Sunshine

Not sure why he might have taken a picture of him! He is a mixed breed so I doubt he would be of much interest to him in that way. Not sure if he has a hearing aid or not.

But now today he is very hesitant to go out to where he was barking at the man ! Not sure what to make of it all.. He even ran out to the door as if he would go outside to do his business , but ran back to me straight away when the door was open for him. We never saw him do this before..

flowerific

If the man next door took pics does that mean he can see/ reach over your boundary fence or wall. The man may have thrown something at the dog. Are you always with the dog when he is out side. Where is the dog kept if you are out for the day

Ms.Sunshine

flowerific wrote: »

If the man next door took pics does that mean he can see/ reach over your boundary fence or wall. The man may have thrown something at the dog. Are you always with the dog when he is out side. Where is the dog kept if you are out for the day

Yes he can see and reach into our boundary. We keep him in a crate inside when we are out and when he is sleeping. We are always with him though when he is outside the house in the garden as he only goes there to toilet and we bring him for walks for his exercise .. so I am not exactly sure when he would have gotten a chance to hurt him.. but it seems as if he did some how!

flowerific

It would be odd to hurt a dog for no reason. Maybe he is using a dog whistle that you can't hear. If you are out in the garden with your dog and dog barks at neighbour, have your partner look out the upstairs window to see if neighbour is doing something

aonb

You know what dogs are like - your neighbour might have done absolutely nothing to him, your dog could just have taken issue with him - maybe he startled your dog when the dog was by the fence, maybe your dog doesnt like his smell/something about him... who knows. Your dog has some issue with this man, its a nuisance and unfortunate, but your best option now is to calm the dog and reassure him to stop the barking/fear while its new. When the neighbour is outside and your dog starts barking make soothing noises and try to calm the barking. Let your dog see you talking to the neighbour, soothing/stroking your dog at the same time. In a few days maybe you could get your neighbour to stroke your dog while you are with the dog. If you are sure the man isnt anti-dog or hasnt done deliberately something to frighten your dog, you could explain to the neighbour that your dog seems to be afraid of him, and get him to stroke/talk to the dog for a minute. This would also have the added benefit of you letting your neighbour know that there is an issue, just in case he was unpleasant to your dog...

rachblue

My dog is the same with my mams neighbour. She goes mad barking at him when she is out the back, I almost thought she was going to jump over the wall to get to him one day and had to drag her back in. But she is normally a very timid dog and never barks at people. (Only cats and imaginary things!) But one day she jumped over my mams front wall into his garden and he was coming out of his house and she just ran up with her tail wagging? So I actually think that when she is out my mams back and sees him anywhere near the wall, she thinks he is some stranger trying to get in. I think that is why she barks at him anyway, cos she does bark out my back sometimes when people walk by and she can hear them. Not sure if it is something like that, or like someone else said, he could just give off some vibe she doesn't like?

sillysmiles

Ms.Sunshine wrote: »

... but it seems as if he did some how!

Not necessarily.
Dogs can be weird sometimes, I wouldn't automatically assume that your neighbour did anything.