Hi Our 8 and half month old black lab male Leo, seems to be getting worse with barking and we aren't too sure how to tackle this behaviour. He found his bark pretty early on, and used it to bark at us for attention, and when put in his crate for time outs for other bad behaviours, he would bark and howl at us. He is a generally vocal dog, and regularly cries for no reason at all. We've heard all manner of yelping / crying / howling, and he does seem to invent a new whine every week to see if it will get our attention! As he's got older he has began barking at people coming to the door, entering the house etc (not necessarily a bad thing), and males who approach me when I'm out with him. I suspect this might be both in response to his territory and 'defending' me. He does not bark at any females, and does seem to pick and choose who he barks at... for instance, I walk past a man in the park, no bark, but a man approaches us to say hello in the vets- major outburst of barking. Most frustrating is with my Dad who Leo has known since the day we brought him home, and he LOVES him. He usually focuses his attention soley on my Dad when he visits, climbs on him, and licks him to death, and awaits my Dad to throw tennis balls and run around the garden with him. More recently he will bark for 5 mins then warm to him and be his best friend but now it's getting to a point where my Dad walks in the room and the dog looks terrified, tail between legs, cowering, barking and growling at him. He will sort of approach with a slight wag of the tail, then as soon as he gets too near he recoils and barks again, sometimes teeth bared. I understand new people more, which is also annoying as his barking is getting out of control anyway, but sad to see him barking at someone he is usually pretty close too. My dad is concerned he looks like hes about to bite. Could this be a phase? My dad hasn't done anything to scare him particularly, and he's usually a confident dog who adores everyone and wants to play with everyone /children/dogs/things! He does not bark at my boyfriend. Can anyone help?
