Hello, So I have a 9 month old lab who is well socialized. She loves people and other dogs. However about a month ago she has started barking at people and other dogs when she is outside, but it is not always every time. For example we could be on a walk and she will see a birdbath in someone's yard and start barking, sometimes will growl, and could have the hair up on her back. She will also sometimes do this when she sees another person or someone else walking their dog. Other times I will pick her up from doggie daycare and let her go to the bathroom before getting in the car. She could watch another car park, the person get out of the car, but as soon as they get closer and start walking on the sidewalk the barking/howling, sometimes growling with her hair up ensues. However if I bring her up to greet the person she is barking at she is very happy with her tail wagging and loves to be pet/get attention. I am no expert but she is not showing any signs of aggression such as being very rigid and still, does not act like she is afraid, no teeth are showing, and has never tried to nip or bite any person or dog. As I said previously she is well socialized and is the dog the daycare uses when evaluating to see if new dogs are well suited to group play and we have been told that she is polite, and adapts well to other dogs play styles. Since this is my wife and I's first dog we are not sure if this is behavior we should be concerned about or if it is typical behavior for a puppy of her age. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Hi @Kara Opel Has the vet checked your dog recently? If health wise okay, then you do need to do something about the behaviour. It's not good for the dog's health to be feeling anxious when she goes out. I would teach your dog the LAT protocol. You can find an entire thread on this forum. There is an excellent video therein. https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/
Hi Michael, She has not recently been checked out. She hasn't been acting unusual healthwise from what we can see. As for her being anxious outside she is normally very happy to be outside and we can't get her outside enough. She just occasionally will bark at things like people, a birdbath in someone's yard, another dog. Again she's very well socialized with both people and other dogs. I have been reading up on the dog's "second fear phase" and it sounds like this might be why she is doing this. However I will check out thread you listed and read up on it. Thank you very much!!
@Kara Opel you might want to read my response, here, because the same would apply to your pup: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/social-pup-suddenly-terrified.25983/#post-386246 There is something called Sudden Environmental Contrast or SEC for short - which basically means that the dog will react when there is something they perceive as 'different' in the environment. That is why you could walk through town with people everywhere and the dog doesn't care at all, but if you are in a rural environment with no people around and one suddenly appears - the dog barks. The issue often isn't with the stimulus itself (man/child/dog), it's with the sudden appearance of it and the dog not expecting it. This is just a trait of canine reactivity... So: As I say in that link above, I would not just dismiss this as a second fear period which will pass - because my experience is that this doesn't happen. Instead, you are 'seeing what you have', in the dog at this age. What I'd suggest is some general anxiety reduction measures in an ongoing way: An Adaptil diffuser in your house and an Adaptil collar on the dog (replaced every month). Put the dog on Zylkene (natural but effective anti-anxiety product). Try a Thundershirt and see if that helps. And read up on Look At That, to use it any time you notice your dog showing signs of worry or fear: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/ Try to observe your dog closely and to use that at the point you notice any worry at all, don't wait to the point that she is barking or reacting. Hope that helps
