My 10 month old lab use to love people. She has always been a scared dog of random things but never people. In the past month she has been very scared of people, maybe men more, but people in general. She barks and gets low. Definitely backing up and not like she is going to hurt them but wants to get away. I don't understand what changed. Even people she knows like my dad she barks at too. We went to the vet and he said it's likely always going to be issue and was very little help. Please let me know if you have any ideas? We are trying to watch what is triggering it. She also has started chewing on things more. Maybe it's a rebellious stage?
My first dog was very nervous with people she didnt know (she is great now) - and sometimes my one-year-old can be a bit nervy, too. The key is to make interactions with other people positive. Encourage friends and people not to give her eye contact, and not to try to touch her. Let her make the first move. Some dogs just really hate being stared at and even petted. Always have high-value treats with you, and keep giving a stream of small tasty titbits whenever anyone is around who makes her nervous. I am sorry your vet was not much help - I know from experience you can get past this, your dog just needs to learn that people mean good things happen (i.e. treats or praise), and that there is nothing to be afraid of.
I watched a dog training program over the weekend and this was the topic. A very nervous rescue dog that was frightened of all men. They had a bag of cookec chicke hanging on their front door and every man even the postman would throw a piece of chicken to the dog, they had male friends call, walk into the garden, walk past him on walks all threw chicken on the ground for him, after a time he associated all men with a wonderful chicken treat and improved enormously. You could do the same, arm your friends with a very tasty treat before they enter your home. No eye contact, just say the dogs name, throw the treat. Worth a try as it's all about positive association x
Our two are very different around strangers. Tilly likes new people better than us, and will immediately go up to almost anyone she does not know. Cooper is more circumspect. She is OK meeting people, but is likely to hang back and make sure they are alright. Last weekend I got to watch her in an unusual situation. I was walking both dogs off leash at our cabin. Cooper is a very visual dog, and picked up a person walking towards us about 200 yards away. He was in heavy clothing, and was walking slowly. Cooper went on full alert and sat, just watching him approach. A fairly big guy in dirty all black clothes. When he got fairly close, Tilly went over to greet him, and Cooper ran towards him and gave a couple of barks and went by. He was a mechanic at our local ski area and was walking home after the night shift. (He lived in our neighborhood, but I did not know him.) He was obviously a dog person and read both dogs correctly. After two passes Cooper was over getting her pets along with Tilly. It was interesting to watch Cooper, initially be concerned by his appearance, and then read all of his actions correctly. We worked very hard to socialize all of our dogs, with people and dogs that looked different from us, as well as our friends. It looks like it paid off.
