Cody's unusual response to a parked SUV...why?

[nowwown]

We were walking Cody this morning on our regular walk and went down a gravel road that is only used by utility trucks occassionally; i.e., no cars. All of a sudden he reared up and growled/barked ferociously at a parked, empty SUV that was at the top of a hill.

 

It's not "typical" at all for any vehicle to be parked there or anywhere along the road.

 

Do you think he was "protecting" us, calling out an alarm to warn us?

 

Or that he just saw something "not normal" and that bothered him?

 

Interesting behavior.

[Guest pax]

Was it black? Maybe he's a conspiracy theorist at heart.

 

[vickim]

I think perhaps that he knew that is was something out of the ordinary and was barking an alarm. Some dogs are very reactive to this. If I put something in a place that it has never been before, Whisper thinks about it (and I swear I can see her processing the information) and then decides if it is something to get worked up over or not.

[MrSnappy]

At the beach last night a dog was all hackles up and barking at the ocean. I asked her owner what she was barking at and she said "the stump" - big tree in the water. Apparently the stump was scary.

 

Piper barks at people from a distance, like she doesn't recognize they are people from far away. Piper has never met a stranger, so it's unusual for her to bark at people.

 

Tweed barks at people who are on the ground, like kneeling. His philosophy is that we have two legs, and we should be upright at all times. Or maybe he's just an idiot.

 

RDM

[PSmitty]

Once, an empty plastic grocery bag wandered into my front yard. Jack just about took out the front window. Bags, scary stuff, I tell ya. But then again, he's afraid of everything.

[MrSnappy]

On a street corner downtown there is a life sized metal bull. My dogs are all terrified of it!

 

RDM

[BustopherJones]

Annie goes ballistic when any strange vehicle is parked in front of our home, but will not respond if it is a vehicle to which she has become accustomed (one belonging to a member of the family or a neighbor). I therefore tend to believe that she is going into "protect" mode when she sees something out of the ordinary.

[dognutmom]

I think perhaps that he knew that is was something out of the ordinary and was barking an alarm. Some dogs are very reactive to this. If I put something in a place that it has never been before, Whisper thinks about it (and I swear I can see her processing the information) and then decides if it is something to get worked up over or not.

 

 

I had a retired racing greyhound, Roulette, that was like that. Once he figured out how the non-track world looked and worked (like stairs, mirrors, mini blinds, ceiling fans etc) he was very attuned to any changes. If a tree branch fell into the yard, he noticed that right away and we had to go over and check it out. Every December, he had to check out the Christmas decorations in the front yard and even had to stand up and check out the wreath on the front door. If people changed yard ornaments along our regular walk route, that was suspicious as well and required some investigation.

 

He did NOT like it if we painted a room or worked on the house and moved all the furniture around for a while.

 

He was a very orderly dog .... all toys belonged in the livingroom. If Princess or Luce took toys and played with them elsewhere, sooner or later we would find that Roulette had gathered them up and put them back into the livingroom where they belonged.

[painted_ponies]

My nine month old BC, Faith, and my terrier-ist, Abbie, will both spook and then bark and growl at tractors left in the fields or, doG forbid, in our driveway. They're not afraid of tractors as long as they stay where they belong - it's when they pop up in unexpected places that they're a problem. Obviously renegade machines and not to be trusted.

 

Horses are the worst - I nearly got flattened once when someone moved the manure fork from its place on the left side of the barn door and put it on the right. Of course, I was walking on the left side of my draft cross when he spotted this obviously life-threatening manure fork and almost wrapped himself around my neck (but mom, if it can move to the other side of the door who knows what else it's capable of).

 

I can sort of understand it. After all, the only chance one might have of eluding a predator might be noticing its unusual, crouching form against an otherwise familiar background, in time to get the heck out of there or take other defensive action.

[nowwown]

My nine month old BC, Faith, and my terrier-ist, Abbie, will both spook and then bark and growl at tractors left in the fields or, doG forbid, in our driveway. They're not afraid of tractors as long as they stay where they belong - it's when they pop up in unexpected places that they're a problem. Obviously renegade machines and not to be trusted.

 

Horses are the worst - I nearly got flattened once when someone moved the manure fork from its place on the left side of the barn door and put it on the right. Of course, I was walking on the left side of my draft cross when he spotted this obviously life-threatening manure fork and almost wrapped himself around my neck (but mom, if it can move to the other side of the door who knows what else it's capable of).

 

I can sort of understand it. After all, the only chance one might have of eluding a predator might be noticing its unusual, crouching form against an otherwise familiar background, in time to get the heck out of there or take other defensive action.

 

 

That is too funny! Thanks for making me laugh out loud !!

[Shetlander]

Tweed barks at people who are on the ground, like kneeling. His philosophy is that we have two legs, and we should be upright at all times. Or maybe he's just an idiot.

 

My first sheltie was like that (not the idiot part, poor Tweed, so misunderstood ). He hated people kneeling or sitting on the ground. And heaven help us if anyone crawled. He had very firm opinions on how people should comport themselves.

[HighDesertSpice]

Hailey barks at the neighbors lifesize wood cut-out bull-dog. And all people wearing hats of any kind. She's really shy now of anything that sounds like a clicker now (tape measure). We havent' used a clicker for over a year and she was never shy of one before....wonder what's up.

[Brandon M]

Lance gets spooked by plastic bags when they catch a bit of wind. Also plastic tarps blowing in the wind. They really freak him out. Yesterday we got out of the truck and a tarp scared him and he was standing there barking at it. I said "BOO" and he just about jumped out of his skin. It was funny

 

Also once I was driving back to CA from Nevada and had to go the long way because all the passes were closed. We were behind this one truck that for some reason Lance didn't like and he growled and huffed and puffed at this truck for a half hour until I finally stopped for gas and lost the truck. He didn't have a problem with any of the hundreds of other trucks we'd seen that day, just the one.

[Root Beer]

This past spring, I put a vacuum cleaner at the foot of our driveway for junk day. The next time I let the dogs out, Speedy went wild when he saw it in spite of the fact that it was about 100 feet away from him!

[hoku's mum]

When Hoku was a pup, he thought that MONSTERS landed every Tuesday at the side of the road, and disguised themselves as trash cans. It took him months to be able to walk past the cans each week without a meltdown....

[Samantha J]

Holly's scary thing is our neighbour - a lovely old man who actually looks like Father Christmas. He has the big white beard and we think that is what she doesn't like. She has barked at him on and off since a pup. We thought she was getting better actually a few months back as we had been seeing him more often and slowly she was going closer without barking at him. Now though for some unknown reason she has started barking at the poor man again. I really don't know why she is so scared, we have had her since 7weeks old and nobody has been be nasty to her. I guess they are a bit odd sometimes. We are back to square one i think with him again

[clara]

Fun topic! I think Cody was probably just alarmed at something new that shouldn't be there. Ling is like that with some things... mostly in the house. She hates any new light fixture or lamp and will howl hysterically at one once she notices it. And small elderly ladies with head scarves and sunglasses FREAK her out. Unfortunately these tend to be exacty the sort of people who act all scared and freaky when a little BC goes boowoo at them... of course making it even worse. You'd actually be surprised how many small elderly women with head scarves and sunglasses I encounter in my neighborhood!

 

And it's a good thing she got over he "childhood" fear of orange traffic cones or agility would have been a no go!

[Samantha J]

And it's a good thing she got over he "childhood" fear of orange traffic cones or agility would have been a no go!

 

 

lol

[Anda]

Ouzo is fearless.

 

Unless we're talking about the air conditioning, which is simply spooky to him. Or smoke - as in burned food. In the case of smoke, he runs concerned to the balcony door and gets out, letting us deal with the potential fire. He usualy looks at us, then at the entrance door, knowing that when there's smoke, there's also a smoke alarm and then there's a door that gets opened to let the smoke out

 

He is midly concerned about the hair dryer or the blender, and he feels an unstoppable urge to bring me his balls and throw them at my feet while the noise making device is running. As in "forget about that, pay attention to me!".

[Tassie]

MrSnappy @ Jun 27 2007, 10:52 AM)

Tweed barks at people who are on the ground, like kneeling. His philosophy is that we have two legs, and we should be upright at all times. Or maybe he's just an idiot.

 

Mr Tweird is no idiot. My old KelpiexBorder Collie Jess, an eminently sane and sensible dog, was of exactly the same opinion - and the same opinion as Liz's old Sheltie

He had very firm opinions on how people should comport themselves.

.

 

In Jess's day, the garbage was placed out on the street in big back garbage bags, ready for collection, and Jess would worry about those, since they must have looked like a person crouching or kneeling. She was a friendly dog, like Piper, but one day growled at a woman who had approached us slowly, coming up a steep hill, so that only parts of her appeared at a time, and she gradually reached full size - Even when we were standing chatting to her, with the other dogs totally relaxed, Jess was still muttering under her breath.

 

Funny dogs.

[WyoBC]

Yeah I know, Black Jack knows for a fact that plastic bags are pure evil!! He hates when the heater or air conditioner comes on. That and fans. ?He still can't figure them out. He'll sit there for a good five min watching the blades go 'round and 'round. It's funny to watch his head go in circles all day. (wouldn't he get dizzy? I would )

 

What's up with bikes too? He can see them coming from over two miles away when he's in the truck.