Help please! Issues with men

[RoxMonster]

Not me-my dog.

You probably know by my posts we just adopted a 1.5 year old black lab mix from the shelter four days ago. We don't know anything about her background. She was super friendly at the shelter around all the people and when we have taken her out in public--twice to PetSmart and once to Vet--she has been friendly to everyone, kissed their hands, etc.

We had some people over for NYE last night. Suffice it to say, we should not have had a gathering only three days after adopting a dog. That was stupid on our part. But she had been so good around strangers, we weren't that worried. She was absolutely fine around the girls--would kiss them, let them pet her, etc. But she was TERRIFIED of the men and after awhile, acted aggressively.

She started by just barking at them incessantly (three total, but just two came first and the third not til later). We tried having them get down on their knees, giving her treats, etc. At one point H put her on her leash and she was OK with the guy she hated the most. Seemed unsure but laid her head on his lap, took a treat from him, etc. But off the leash, she went frantic. She began running around the room terrified, tried to crawl up my arm to get away, and eventually, when he stuck his hand out toward her, she snapped at him. Didn't bite, but snapped. Needless to say, we sent all our guests home. She was perfectly fine once everyone left and is her normal self today.

So I'm at a loss. Do you think we need a behavior therapist? Talk to the vet to rule out medical issues (though I doubt it's that if it's only toward men in our home). I want to be able to eventually have my parents meet her and have friends over, but I don't want to put her through that again. I know she was just acting out of fear and absolutely terrified and only snapped as a last resort because she felt cornered. I just want to help her so she doesn't get traumatized if we have someone at the house (which we won't be doing for a while now)

[mrsfarmer]

We have a dog with an aversion to women. We gave her bonding time with us and then had people visit, but only 1 or 2 at a time so that she could get used to hem. She still has the aversion, but it has gotten better.

[Deleted]

How is she with your husband? It may be too many changes in such a short time has her very stressed out. I would give it a week or two and let her decompress and get used to the change and her new routine. Then I would slowly re-introduce strangers again to see how she reacts.

[awick14]

Jan 2, 2013 8:50:26 GMT -5 doglove said:

How is she with your husband? It may be too many changes in such a short time has her very stressed out. I would give it a week or two and let her decompress and get used to the change and her new routine. Then I would slowly re-introduce strangers again to see how she reacts.

There is a possibility that she could have been abused by a male before she got to the shelter. If this is the case she may not like any male until she gets used to them.

I agree with taking things slow with her. Giving her time should help.

[patches31709]

I would give it a few weeks, then I would invite one male friend over. Keep the dog on a leash. The friend can't look at her, talk to her or anything, but give him some really high value treats and just have him randomly toss treats to her. She needs to associate men with awesome things. And don't do it for long, just a few minutes every few days.

[RoxMonster]

She is absolutely awesome with my husband and loves him. She is also OK with men in public like at the pet store. I think it must just be she is protective of our home. She barks at the mailman, anyone who walks by, cars driving by, etc. She has no training and we know this; just unsure of what type of training to do. I am worried a class with other dogs and people will scare her too much, but she needs socialization and don't know if she'd get that with private lessons. Thoughts?

[awick14]

Maybe take her to the dog park at an odd time. ( not so many dogs there)

[patches31709]

Our dog came to us with similar issues. I'm not sure where you are and what the weather is like, but can you start by taking her for walks in a park people tend to walk dogs in? Our dog is very leash reactive to other dogs and people, so we would go to the park and I would walk closer and closer to other people walking dogs, praising for good, calm behavior. If he reacted at all I would say "eh eh", give the leash a slight tug, and quickly turn him around.

Where is she when she sees people walking by? A window? Can it be covered?

[RoxMonster]

It is very cold here, which is why I try to take her out at least three times daily to run around in our yard but hate having her outside for too long.

In the home, she will sometimes just hear something laying down and then start barking or run to a window. We have a LOT of windows and she will go to all of them. or the front door.