How often do you "listen to your dog" when he/she reacts very negatively to someone? Do you figure that it's just one of those things and disregard it, or do you believe that your dog senses something that you don't?

This happened with Riley yesterday. I posted the whole story here:
Madness&Musings

I can't figure out why he reacted so strongly to such a likeable person. So do you blow it off, or do you listen?

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Deni
Mom to:
Riley - 4 yrs

Yes, I absolutely 100% would trust Vito if he reacted negatively to someone. He loves EVERYONE, so if he reacts negatively to someone I know something isn't quite right.

This has only happened once, and it threw me completely of guard. However, I definitely listened and was more cautious.

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What instincts? Some people Max likes more than others but he's never disliked anyone. A good guard dog or judge of character my Max would not make.

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"Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant."

~Jenn and Leif

This kind of reaction has only come from a dog a few times in my life but I tend to listen. I don't tuck tail and run but would be leary of that person.

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I always listen to Maggie...she's such a lover that, if she doesn't like you..there's a GOOD REASON...case in point...she was off leash playing in a field and a kid walks across the field...she ran to me and started humming at him (kind of a muffled growl)...2 days later, a kid that met his description pulled a gun on a lady and stole her purse a few blocks from Maggie's field.

I trust her implicitly. They pick up on things that as a human I miss. I would never ignore that extra sensory information.

Penny is a lot like Riley, not very social. She'll check out people just long enough to see if they have a treat. No? Okay, movin' on.

The one group of people she absolutely won't go near is people who smoke. She can smell that a mile away. I always feel a little embarrassed because they've all been so friendly. But, I do tell them "Oh, she doesn't like the smoke". Maybe it will help them quit.

She's never growled though.

Beyond a doubt. Ranger loves everyone and won't hesitate to approach people whether they're young, old, smokers, non-smokers, quiet, loud, drunk, short, tall, in costumes, disabled...doesn't matter to him.

The only times he's ever acted "out of character" was when there was definitely something wrong - either with the person's intent or "aura". For instance, there was the time we were walking down an alley and there was a playground to the left and backyards to the right. All the kids saw Ranger and started screaming his name while running up. Instead of sitting and wagging his tail like normal, Ranger's hackles went up as we got closer and he started growling and pulling on the leash. The kids and parents back away from him while I was wondering WTF was going on with Ranger. He LUNGED at a backyard wooden fence and everyone heard a surprised yelp - seconds later, there was a man scrambling over the fence on the other side, while Ranger was going nuts trying to chase him. One of the dads ran after him and found a camera - called the police and it turns out he was a pedophile...and had been taking pics of the kids while hiding in a backyard.

Ranger also turned into a whirling, frenzied dervish when we were getting followed by a car of guys. One of them went to get out and Ranger went nuts - snarling, spitting like a cat, hackles up and lunging. Guy got back in the car and drove off. Two minutes later, we met someone walking down the street and Ranger was back to his old self - asking for pets.

So if Ranger ever doesn't like someone or chooses not to spend time with them...I always wonder what's going on with his radar. He is much more intuitive than me and after he's proven himself to be a good judge of character, I'd be a fool not to listen.

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Member of the "Crazy 4 Collars Clique"

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Hmmm... I'm not sure if our Jacks is that perceptive about people. He's the type of golden who would follow burglers round the house and entertain them by bringing them all his toys.

Then the only time our Sammy and Danny both acted wigged out about somebody in particular, it was a young girl in a wheelchair at the petstore. She wanted to pet them. They both pulled out of their collars and took off running. It was so embarrassing.

Even if Danny didn't have his shyness problems about strangers and if Sammy wasn't as stubborn and goofy as he was, I think that would have put an end to any therapy dog plans.

Then again, we did have a couple incidents that happened and Ranger reminded me...

- We were housesitting for a friend out in the middle of nowhere. The woman's dogs were all crated in the basement, but our dogs (Sammy and Danny) were loose upstairs. About middle of the night somebody was outside walking around the house. Danny went into a frenzy and spent the next couple hours stalking around the house barking at every sound. He was never the type of dog to attack anyone, but he sounded big and mean. Whoever was outside went away fast.

- My sister was housesitting for the same friend and decided to take her dog (Sammy) for a walk. She was about a mile away from the house when she noticed some guys in a truck following her. Sammy was a small golden with a silky spaniel coat and big round black eyes, but he turned protective for her right then. He started growling and doing a "hyena back" at those guys. The guys stayed in the truck and my sister jogged the rest of the way back to the house, cutting across some fields. Nothing happened, but I guess that's it - nothing happened.

I really didn't think Sierra was much for reading people, but we have had a couple times where she is very standoff-ish with some people (very out of character for her) so I pay attention.
Also one evening, we were snuggling on the couch and all of a sudden, she started to growl, very softly and finally got up and when to our front door (we never use) and growled very loud and very long then trotted back to me and snuggled again.
I felt very safe that night!
Karen

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The boy...Lance & baby girl...Sierra

I read your post and wondered.. did the man have a hat on? Sometimes dogs react to hats. It could have been a scent that the man had on him or the man was afraid or just plain doesn't like dogs. Your dog could be detecting a chemical imbalance as well.

Griff has never reacted to a person with a growl but my Jake did one evening when I was alone with him and 2 men approached my door. I was hesitant and Jake sounded vicious. They were offering to do some work and I told them no thank you. They moved away quickly. I still don't know if Jake sensed something amiss with the men or just sensed my apprehension.

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AKA JsMom
Mom to Griffyn
and Jake at the Bridge