My Dog doesnt like people talking to me!

[Sapakus]

hey guys, i am stumped on this 1 problem, and would really like to get your opinion!

Ice is a very beautiful and loving dog, but lately he has shown some signs of aggressions, what set it off was this -- I'm not a good story teller so please bare with me

1 day, about a month ago, I walked out of my garage for the daily walk with Ice, As I was grabbing something from my car, Ice runs to the Trash that was sitting on the sidewalk. And there are trees about 30 ft across my house and a guy was there who sounded drunk that I didnt know about.

Me: Ice Come here
*Ice comes to me, I grab his leash and tell him to sit*
Drunk Guy: "What the F. you say to me??"
Me: *startled* " Huh ? I didnt say anything to you."
Drunk: "No You said something! Dont F'in talk to me"
Me: "Dude, I was talking to my dog" *see him start walking towards us*
*I See Ice ears perk up and he starts to growl quietly"
Drunk: "You dont got no dog, ima F you up!"
*I'm getting angry/ scared at this time*
Me: "my dog is right here"
*Drunk guy comes out of the Trees holding something in his hand * (i dont know what it was)

*Ice goes Ballistic, Growling/ Lunging/ Barking ... Im trying to hold him back as tight as I can*

Drunk: "Oh My bad man, My bad" *walks away real fast*

...
Im happy that Ice scared him off so i praised the **** out of Ice at that time!

But Now, here is the problem:

I started to notice that he doesnt ignore people walking around anymore, he gets alert and stares at them! So I started acknowledging strangers, just saying "Hey, how are you" who always end up talking about how beautiful Ice is, I thought he would get the point that I like talking to people but nope, Ice now starts Barking at them!

My dad walked him the other day in the morning and told me he kept barking at this one person who was across the street and wasnt even talking to them!

What I am trying to do now is, as soon as A stranger is in our view, i bend down and praising him, until the stranger goes away. If Ice barks, I say NO and walk away. Is this the right thing to do ?

[Sapakus]

Sorry about the long Post, here are some of my favorite pics of him

[Caledon]

No advice but I like his name.

[billsharp]

I'm not a professional, but here's my two cents. This was probably a significant event for Ice. He's never sensed such fear/tension from you before, nor such relief/approval from you when it was over. He's now overlyimprinted that responding aggressively to strangers is a good thing. I would think you have to "re-socialize" him, ie, talk to strangers with him there and correct him for fixation/aggression and praise him for relaxed behavior. You probably want to muzzle him just to be safe. You probably need to do this with willing participants at first who are told ahead of time what you'll be doing, how to act, and will stay relaxed and conversant despite your quick digressions to train Ice. Basically, he needs to have his compass recalibrated. I'd love to hear from the professionals on this board about just how to do this.

[Sapakus]

Thanks Caledon

And thanks bill, Appreciate your input, that's what I figured and i have started randomly talking to random people while praising him. seems like its starting to help, and its about a 50/50 chance of him barking or ignoring. I am not not sure what exactly to do if he does bark!

[Eiros]

Wow, he is a HANDSOME dog.
I know a lot of dogs (including mine) will bark / lunge at strangers or other dogs while walking on leash. Maybe some of the tips regarding that issue will apply here too?
We have been working with Jack on calmly watching strangers and dogs go by and rewarding him for eye contact and no barking. If he barks, he is corrected and we walk away, meaning he cant see or meet the other people. It sounds like you are doing something similar and so far this is working for us. I agree with the other poster too, setting the dog up using willing volunteers is a great way to control the situation and get some practice.
Not really being helpful here, but I thought I should talk about the topic too instead of just how lovely your dog is

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Sasha had this problem, and what I did with her that really seemed to work was to teach her "leave it". We started off doing it with treats. I'd put a treat on the ground in front of her and tell her to leave it. If she did, she got the treat. When she was pretty good at that I moved to the treats actually touching her and telling her to leave it. When she would do it I would give her the treat. Then I started working it outside, but not nessiarily toward people. If she saw something on the ground (poop, dead animal, ect.) that I didn't want her to sniff but that she wanted to I'd tell her to leave it, and I'd pop her collar, if she did it, she got a treat. Then it went to if she did it without a collar correction she'd get a treat. Then we moved on to people. I'd see a person, I'd tell her to leave it, if there was no reaction, she got a treat; if there was a reaction she got a collar correction. Now I don't know how it is with everyone's dog, but I've noticed with Sasha if I make her sit while a stranger approaches she's much more likely to bark. I don't know what that's all about, but it seems to be the pattern.

I also used the willing volunteers thing too. I had a friend of mine come over (as she did this not only on walks but when people came near me in the house too) and it started out with she had to be nice when the girl came in, if she did she got a treat, if she didn't she got told to leave it, if she didn't stop growling then she got put in the garage for about a minute (or until she stopped barking if she decided to bark in protest lol). Then it moved to the girl sitting in the same room, then it moved to the girl actually sitting on the couch right next to me.

I'm not going to tell you she's perfect, she recently wouldn't let a date of mine enter the house, but it's a lot better.

Your boy is very handsome by the way

[Sapakus]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

I would try "willing volunteers" but everyone I know has already met Ice and also, if I am at a pet store or anything, Ice never shows aggression to people or pets. he lets everyone and anyone approach and pet him!

[ShenzisMom]

Try the LAT game? Look at that. Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog

What I am trying to do now is, as soon as A stranger is in our view, i bend down and praising him, until the stranger goes away. If Ice barks, I say NO and walk away. Is this the right thing to do ?

This is certainly not the right thing to do. You are amping yourself up. While doing this, Ice is sensing the same thing he did when he scared the big bad drunk away and thinks he needs to carry on protecting you. Essentially, you are making him have anxiety due to your own anxiety. Try the LAT game. Or you can try to redirect him by doing some commands by the sidewalk while people pass.Not right near the sidewalk mind you, outside his threshold. Sit, down, paw, etc. Gradually get closer to the sidewalk as time goes by, making his 'bubble' smaller.

That is one beautiful dog, and his name is very fitting!

[Sapakus]

Originally Posted by ShenzisMom

Try the LAT game? Look at that. Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog

What I am trying to do now is, as soon as A stranger is in our view, i bend down and praising him, until the stranger goes away. If Ice barks, I say NO and walk away. Is this the right thing to do ?

This is certainly not the right thing to do. You are amping yourself up. While doing this, Ice is sensing the same thing he did when he scared the big bad drunk away and thinks he needs to carry on protecting you. Essentially, you are making him have anxiety due to your own anxiety. Try the LAT game. Or you can try to redirect him by doing some commands by the sidewalk while people pass.Not right near the sidewalk mind you, outside his threshold. Sit, down, paw, etc. Gradually get closer to the sidewalk as time goes by, making his 'bubble' smaller.

That is one beautiful dog, and his name is very fitting!

Thank you, i will def. look into LAT but I must admit, Ice seem to have gotten better as of late