Should I be concerned?

[smileyzookie]

Hey everyone Today, something happened that I dont really know how to respond to. :confused:

I was outside in our yard with Riven on leash to potty. Up drives this truck with 2 latin men in it. Some lawn sprinkler people. The two men inside get out, and walk around the van as if to come into my yard. Riven starts sorta barking like a half hearted bark. I reminded her no. The one man starts walking toward me, and Riven lunges for him not like hello, but like Im gonna rip ur leg off. But she wasnt growling. The man was just talking to me about my sprinklers and how he needed in my garage to set them. So, I go to the door, and the man is behind me. Riven is literally pacing back and forth behind me lunging at the man as Im walking to open my door to go inside and get the garage open. My husband pulls up and opens the garage door anyway, so I put Riven in the car and she just sat there as calm as can be just looking at these men. My husband is latin so they were talking in spanish and the man came in set the sprinklers had my husband sign some paper, and went off to the neighbors. Riven was fine. I dont know if she calmed down because my husband was there or what.

 

So... I dont know why she reacted like she did, or how to react to her. She has NEVER EVER shown ANY type of aggression. At the parks she'd rather hide behind me than be social. Sometimes, she'll sniff someone's hand and decide they're ok other times she'll hide behind me. But today, lunging and outright aggression just floors me. I never in a million years would have expected this. So Im sitting here thinking... What should I have done? Be happy that she was protecting, worried that she's aggressive? I dont know. In my opinion this man showed no sign of aggression toward me. And, I dont think being latin was and issue cause my husband is latin.. Im just completely clueless.

[MaggieDog]

That's a toughie - if it were me I'd probably keep an eye on her behavior toward visitors; maybe there was something about the guy (a scent, a mannerism, etc.) that set her off or reminded her of a negative event and she won't ever react like that again.

 

Of course she could be starting a new, undesirable pattern, so I would make sure she's on a NILIF (work to earn) program and that you really take a leadership role when new people come over. With Maggie, I've found that it helps to physically step in front of her when she gets nervous about something or someone.

[smileyzookie]

My husband thinks that it was because I was leary being approached by strange men, and Riven picked up on it. But, I wasnt scared. It was daylight, I was in my yard, homes are all around us, and they seemed like a typical working crew here. Im very fearful of strangers due to a past experience. But, today I didnt feel insecure or upset. And, Riven hasnt ever been around when strangers approach me. This is the first time.

 

I dont know if that really sheds any light on anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning since my husband finds it to be important.

[Meg's mum]

I don't know if this the case there, but as Meg is getting older she's increasing her 'watch dog' behavior at break neck speed. At first I would give a big gruff bark, puff up my chest and slowly move to the main door of the house, and she would back off. (The psychology worked I thought). But I can't do that all the time, now that it is spring. Our neighbors and the volunteer stream restoration crew travel down our driveway on an easment to the creek. Frogs, more birds than I can recognize, etc and even the air breaks from trucks racing down a distant highway pass set her off.

 

I think she thinks its up to her to protect us. Sometimes I wish I had an older male dog to give her a little ease. That's the theory anyway.

[Dixie_Girl]

When my husband and I first got together, he had a dobie. She was absolutely the sweetest dog. (we lost her to nose cancer, thought it was a foxtail) She was never aggresive to anyone. But one day my husband brought a guy from work into the back yard to look at our spa. The guy was from India. If it hadn't been for Tanya being in a fenced enclosure, he would have been dead. DH said she just went bezerk! Never did it before, never did it after. I think with dogs, it is just some people they don't like and we will never find out why in some cases.

[Lunar]

You said this is the first time you've had strangers approach you? It could be a combination of strangers, being on leash, and being in their yard. Oreo's reaction to strangers was always HIGHLY different when in the house/our yard to anywhere else (like the dog park). But there's also some extrordinary reactions to random people that she just REALLY didn't like.

 

I'd definitely keep an eye on her next time and be ready. It's probably not behavior you want to continue. I've read that you (the human) needs to be the one "protecting" - as in a pack it's the alpha that protects the rest of the pack. So step in between, put her in a sit or down, distract her - whatever. Get her attention on you, and get her to listen.

 

Granted that's not exactly easy. We're still working on Zeeke - he goes bezerk if someone comes into our house.

[GeorgiaBC]

We all think we'd really like a dog that would step up when trouble strikes to protect us. That the dog would instinctively know good guys from bad guys. The problem is, dogs don't instinctively know. And an aggressive dog is a time-bomb waiting to go off. I've had numerous dogs in my life, including two that I have no doubt would attack a bad guy. The problem is, both dogs bit good guys--like the retiree delivering phone books. And the UPS man. I am a guy who likes to include my dogs in everything, and likes to keep them off leash as much as possible. I have one rescue now, whose fine with strangers, and a second BC who I got as a puppy. That dog was socialized times 1000. I took her everywhere as a puppy, and she met hundreds of people and other dogs. I have to be able to trust them. Bottom line: I would take any sign of aggression seriously and nip it in the bud. We think "protecting" is good, but the odds of you needing protecting are remote. The odds of your dog protecting you against the meter reader and much more likely.