My boxer/coonhound mix, Sasha, is usually pretty laid-back, except when guests show up. However, after most of my guests have been in the house for a few minutes, Sasha calms down and acts normally. This is NOT the case when my mother comes over! Sasha barks and growls at my mom as though she's ready to bite her head off any minute, no matter how long my mom stays. My mom--who, granted, is not a "dog person"--tries her best to speak nicely and be friendly to Sasha and let the dog sniff her, but the barking never stops. The other day, my mom went on a walk around the block with us, and Sasha chose to bark at Mom the whole time, while staying silent around strangers on the street. Arggh!! What is up with my dog? How do I stop this behavior?
2007-01-25 04:39:01 · 17 answers · asked by A L 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Your mother may be trying too hard and the dog senses her unease. Tell your mother to totally ignore the dog. Do not talk to the dog, do not look at the dog, staring or even looking at the dog for too long is threatening gesture in the dog world. If he comes to check her out, that's fine let him sniff, but she should just continue to ignore.
You may be inadvertently encouraging the behavior. When he is barking at you mother are you trying to calm him, petting him and tell him it's OK? What you are really saying it it is OK or even good to bark at her at your mom. You must not praise him for bad behavior. Firmly in a calm but assertive voice tell him NO.
It will take both of you to address the problem.
2007-01-25 04:56:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say that the dog is picking up a vibe about your mom that she doesn't like. It's mistrust for some reason, she is unsure of what your mom might do next, so she barks to make sure that everyone is aware that she is nearby. I would have mom sit with a treat in her hand, call the dog to her, and command the dog to sit. Give the dog the treat when she does what she was commanded to do. Do this a few times each day that mom visits. Eventually, hopefully sooner than later, the dog will realize that your mom can be trusted and that she indeed has what the dog wants(treats). As the dog trusts, remove the treats and only give when she is not barking at mom or is exibiting behaviour that should be rewarded. Good luck.
2007-01-25 04:50:58 · answer #2 · answered by fisherwoman 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This sounds frustrating. It's hard to say why a dog picks one person to dislike - but you can do things to turn this around. For now, your Mom should not look at your dog at all. This will probably not be hard for your Mom to do as I'm sure she's frustrated too! Your Mom should not speak to or otherwise engage the dog at all. After 1 or 2 days of this, your Mom can start to throw treats near your dog - again, without speaking or engaging the dog. Using canine calming signals will help, too - yawning, blinking a lot, turning your body to the side and away from your dog, bending down to touch the floor while looking away - all of these things are signals that your dog will understand to mean "Calm down, I'm not aggressive."
Direct eye contact, stares, walking quickly towards your dog are all to be avoided as it will set you back and start up the barking all over again. Pay the dog for choosing to hang out near your Mom, and use calming signals to keep things peaceful.
Alpha rolling, and "biting" the dog with your hand, are not good ideas at all. You're going to make your dog very uncomfortable if you do these things to her.
2007-01-25 04:51:11 · answer #3 · answered by Misa M 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sasha can sense your mother's feelings about her and is speaking up for herself. If Sasha won't stop after you tell her no in a firm voice several times, then she must leave the room, if she is crate trained put her in her crate. After awhile let her come out again and try, if the barking continues, remove her from the room again. You are probably going to have to make repeated trips in and out of the room with Sasha, but make sure Sasha realizes her leaving the room and the company of others is not a treat, not a punishment, but more of a consequence of "if I don't shut up I have to leave and be by myself" type of thing. Sasha has to understand that you are the boss and if you want her to stop barking she has to whether she wants to or not. It is probably going to take awhile, but I'm sure she'll catch on. There's nothing that your mom can do about it, Sasha has already identified your mother as someone she will bark at forever (with my dog it was the UPS guy), she needs to learn to stop when you tell her to.
Good luck!
2007-01-25 04:58:52 · answer #4 · answered by herzoo64 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They have several different options for bark collars. I would suggest trying a citronella collar. It releases a burst or citronella scent every time the dog barks. This is especially helpful if you have more than one barking animal because when the scent is dispersed it will affect all the dogs surrounding. They do not like the smell and eventually will associate barking with the smell....and hopefully will stop. Good luck!
2016-05-23 22:36:39 · answer #5 · answered by Marjorie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could be a multitude of things that are causing this. It could be your mother's perfume or even scent (yes, we all have a scent) that could be setting your dog off. Or, if your dog was owned by someone prior to you, then someone who had some features similar to your mother's could have abused the dog and she remembers it. Also, like someone else said, the dog could be smelling fear and uneasiness from your mother and she's reacting to it.
Sorry, but until you find out the exact reason, there's not a whole lot of suggestions I can give on how to stop your dog's behavior.
2007-01-25 04:52:46 · answer #6 · answered by M.A.X. 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sorry thats funny.
The dog is sensing something is not right with your mom. Dislike of dogs, fear or something else that just getting its hair up.
The best way to deal with the situation is they will have to spend alot of time together and actually grow to like each other... if your mom is sending out odd vibes the dog will sense it.
2007-01-25 05:02:24 · answer #7 · answered by aaking 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your mom must be having a very bad thought against your dog. It's not what she says or does. It's her thoughts (energy). Your dog is scared of her. Tell your mom to meditate and get rid of negative thoughts before she comes to your house.
2007-01-25 04:45:05 · answer #8 · answered by spot 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dogs sense when owners are uneasy or scared, your demeanor might be changing when your mom is around and your dog is picking up on that and he might be trying to protect you from your mom.
2007-01-25 04:47:41 · answer #9 · answered by 400lbtwins 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your mom has done something to this dog. I've seen this happen numerous times with not-so-nice family members who aren't nice to the dog.
2007-01-25 05:28:47 · answer #10 · answered by J.M 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋