I've always been good with dogs, I can read them well therefor training my own dogs has come naturally to me. I have a very close relationship with my dogs, and rarely have I ever met a situation I didn't know how to control, until recently.
I have a 3 year old Lab/German Shepard mix named Pooch, who is a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent animal, and my baby.
We've been spending a lot of time with our neighbors this summer and have become very good friends. Pooch is great with the woman and her two children (ages 7 and 1 1/2) but the man (we'll call him Bryan) is a different story. Bryan is terrified of Pooch. I have no idea why, (maybe its his looks?) but he is. Pooch of course picks up on this and becomes incredibly nervous around Bryan and has even snapped at him once when Bryan started to pet him then got too nervous, (for no reason really) changed his mind and jerked his hand away.
For the life of me I cannot figure out how to calm Pooch's nerves when around Bryan. Bryan is SO nervous of him that Pooch seems to be completely on edge. With every other situation I have ever been in, I can communicate to Pooch that everything is alright and calm him down and he eventually ignores that situation all together.
I've resorted to making Pooch stay inside when we're in the yard with them, or putting him in the down/stay position constantly when Bryan is around, but I don't feel like this is fair. When we spend time outside thats Pooch's time to explore the yard and play, (his off lead time) and I hate denying him of that.
If anyone could give me any advice about dealing with nervous people around your dog, I would really appreciate it.
I can't imagine keeping Pooch in the down/stay position every time Bryan is around...and he's been around him for several months now and Bryan's anxiety hasn't gotten any better.
Sorry for the novel, I hope that made some sense.
I have a 3 year old Lab/German Shepard mix named Pooch, who is a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent animal, and my baby.
We've been spending a lot of time with our neighbors this summer and have become very good friends. Pooch is great with the woman and her two children (ages 7 and 1 1/2) but the man (we'll call him Bryan) is a different story. Bryan is terrified of Pooch. I have no idea why, (maybe its his looks?) but he is. Pooch of course picks up on this and becomes incredibly nervous around Bryan and has even snapped at him once when Bryan started to pet him then got too nervous, (for no reason really) changed his mind and jerked his hand away.
For the life of me I cannot figure out how to calm Pooch's nerves when around Bryan. Bryan is SO nervous of him that Pooch seems to be completely on edge. With every other situation I have ever been in, I can communicate to Pooch that everything is alright and calm him down and he eventually ignores that situation all together.
I've resorted to making Pooch stay inside when we're in the yard with them, or putting him in the down/stay position constantly when Bryan is around, but I don't feel like this is fair. When we spend time outside thats Pooch's time to explore the yard and play, (his off lead time) and I hate denying him of that.
If anyone could give me any advice about dealing with nervous people around your dog, I would really appreciate it.
I can't imagine keeping Pooch in the down/stay position every time Bryan is around...and he's been around him for several months now and Bryan's anxiety hasn't gotten any better.
Sorry for the novel, I hope that made some sense.