My dog snapped at my cousin

[Atwater27]

First of all, I've had short people, tall people, skinny people, fat people, dark people, just about any kind of person come visit me at my house. Tonight my gay guy cousin decides to come over as he is realy good friends with my girl. When he stepped through the door, I think everything is cool cause Smeegles is smelling him like she does all my guests and then she starts growling so I yell at her no and she continues so I tell her to go outside. I decide to let Spooky in at the same time I let Smeegles outside, and he does his usual thing where he runs up to the person and says hi by headbutting them but then he does something that I've never seen him do, he starts growling at him and jumping up at him at the same time.

Now I'm worried that he my dogs might forget what my friends smell like and do the same thing the next time they come over. My cousin DID say that he does not like dogs, butI didn't see him do anything but stick his hand with his palms facing him to let them smell him first.

Could you guys help me out and tell me if this is a handling issue or something. This is something I deffinitely don't want happening again as I never thought of my dogs being aggresive towards humans at all.

[PittieLover]

I'm not an expert or anything, but it could be the energy that you have around your cousin? I don't know if you like him or not, but dogs pick up on things that we don't see. Also, it might be that they just don't like him or they know (somehow??) that he doesn't like them... I dunno... But if your dogs normally are good around other people and just this one incident that just happened - I would just keep a close eye on them and I don't think I would worry too much about it. Remember they aren't not human aggressive - they are taught this. And another thing - if you see this kind of behavior it's crucial to not get really excited because that will make the dog even act out more. It's how you deal with the situation at hand. If you get all excited that will make them even more upset or confused and make the whole situation worse. Hope this helps some...

[Aceman]

First of all, I've had short people, tall people, skinny people, fat people, dark people, just about any kind of person come visit me at my house. Tonight my gay guy cousin decides to come over as he is realy good friends with my girl. When he stepped through the door, I think everything is cool cause Smeegles is smelling him like she does all my guests and then she starts growling so I yell at her no and she continues so I tell her to go outside. I decide to let Spooky in at the same time I let Smeegles outside, and he does his usual thing where he runs up to the person and says hi by headbutting them but then he does something that I've never seen him do, he starts growling at him and jumping up at him at the same time.

Now I'm worried that he my dogs might forget what my friends smell like and do the same thing the next time they come over. My cousin DID say that he does not like dogs, butI didn't see him do anything but stick his hand with his palms facing him to let them smell him first.

Could you guys help me out and tell me if this is a handling issue or something. This is something I deffinitely don't want happening again as I never thought of my dogs being aggresive towards humans at all.Just a question, but was your cousin on drugs, or intoxicated by any chance??? I,ve heard dogs can sence this. Was this the first time your dog has met your cousin?? Maybe he could sence that he doesn,t like dogs. I believe there scences are far superior to ours. For example , when I took my dog to the vet for altering the other day, I asked the vet assistant if he behaved well. she told me he was a perfect gentleman except for when 1 girl who worked there went near his cage,, he would bark at her, everybody else at the vet he was perfectly fine with. This makes me wonder, did she do anything to him while he was there, or could he just sence something off her, maybe she just didn,t like him,,lol, who knows.????

[Atwater27]

No, me and my cousin is cool. I'm just about his only guy cousin that accepts him. He is also sober, but I had a few drinks watching the fight. He also didn'tact like he didn't like the dogs. He actually acted better than some of the people I brought over.

When it happenned I yelled at Smeegles no and put her outside and I did the same thing for Spooky. I don't believe that he doesn't like dogs the way he acted. Now he says that he doesn't like dogs that growls at him so I don't know.

[XxKonnectionsxX]

First of all, I've had short people, tall people, skinny people, fat people, dark people, just about any kind of person come visit me at my house. Tonight my gay guy cousin decides to come over as he is realy good friends with my girl. When he stepped through the door, I think everything is cool cause Smeegles is smelling him like she does all my guests and then she starts growling so I yell at her no and she continues so I tell her to go outside. I decide to let Spooky in at the same time I let Smeegles outside, and he does his usual thing where he runs up to the person and says hi by headbutting them but then he does something that I've never seen him do, he starts growling at him and jumping up at him at the same time.

Now I'm worried that he my dogs might forget what my friends smell like and do the same thing the next time they come over. My cousin DID say that he does not like dogs, butI didn't see him do anything but stick his hand with his palms facing him to let them smell him first.

Could you guys help me out and tell me if this is a handling issue or something. This is something I deffinitely don't want happening again as I never thought of my dogs being aggresive towards humans at all.
Maybe its because your cousin is GAY! Just MAYBE they don't like gay men, or people because they know that type of lifestyle is NOT RIGHT!!.... LOL I just thought I would put that in there for laughs.

On a serious note, maybe The fact that your cousin does not like dogs is probably the cause of them growling at him. Who knows, I would watch how they act or react to him to really narrow down what the issue could be. Good luck.

[Attila]

Not the dog in this case. He doesn't like dogs. Your dog is socialized. In my oppinion get rid if the problem, your gay cousin.

1. he doesn't like dogs.
2. he is gay
3. You probably don't like gay
4. gay boy probably showed fear.
5. scientificly gays give of odd phermones and have hormonal oddities related to not being secure in their gender and the petuitary gland compensates for the oddity.
6. the dog can read all of them

I don't mean to offend any of ya'll that are gay but a dog unless around that sort all the time can't read that sort of character. Also dogs will act aggressive towards people that give off an evil sense about them. Drugs, drunks, murderers etc all give off bad vibes to a dog. Their movements, smells, tone of voice and demenor all play effect in this. If one person sets your dog off and hundreds others don't it is the person not the dog. If your dog is good around people and one sets it off remove the problem. I don't blame the dog.

[Riptora]

It's probably a combination of the guy's fear of dogs and a handling issue.

What exactly do you mean when you say your dog greets visitors by head butting? That's an unusual behavior that is probably related to handling. I would not ever allow my dogs to head butt my guests, just as I would not allow my dogs to shove their faces in people's croches, it's horrible "manners" and disrespectful of your friend's personal space.

People who don't like dogs get bit a lot. They are nervous which makes the dogs nervous and they are nervous around dogs because they don't know crap about dogs. Which is a bad scene 9 times out of 10. This has nothing to do with being gay or what he looks like, dogs don't care what you look like or who you are humping.

[maryellen1]

did your dog actually snap at your cousin?? first off, if your dogs are showing this behavior when certain people come over, i would suggest having them on leash and in your control on leash when the person walks in. then, i would reprimand immediately if they did any growling or snapping at anyone, and then put them away, not tell them to go outside.. if your dog had connected and actually bit your cousin it would have been worse. do your dogs have any manners at all? i would put both of them on NILIF, nothing in life is free www.k9deb.com (http://www.k9deb.com), which means they get nothing unless they do something for you... a structured obedience and house manners regimen is good for all dogs. i would also consult a behaviorist, to find out why your dogs are doing this .. i would also talk to your cousin, and ask him to answer you honestly, does he like dogs?? my 3 dogs have people that come over that hate dogs, yet none of mine have ever snapped at them. if any of my dogs did that they would have a Come to Jesus moment at that time, and then i would consult a trainer as to why..

this breed should not be randomly snapping and growling at anyone coming into YOUR home, you pay the mortgage, you pay the bills, you put food on the table. unless they are going out and working and bringing home money for all this YOU run the house, not them..

if your cousin is truly afraid of them, ask him why.. this might help in the long run in finding out why your 2 dogs growled and one snapped at him.

[Hoyden]

I am on the fence here.

On one hand: I trust my dog's instincts. Both of my dogs are exceptionally well socialized, BUT there have been a few people that my dogs just simply did not like. And for good reason. The only person that Birdie has growled or barked at was a man from a shady pitbull rescue. She has yet to react to another person the way she reacted to him, Petey didn't like him either, he bristled, but didn't bark or growl at him.

Petey hated the CT Water Authority guy when we lived in Bethany. The worker claimed Petey was rascist and didn't like black people, then that Petey didn't like blacks with dread-locks. His supervisor thought Petey was great, because Petey didn't bark or growl. So he sent a different black guy over to do the water reading and Petey liked him too. The supervisor told me a year later that the guy Petey barked and growled at came up dirty on a drug test and they fired him. He was later arrested in a big drug bust in New Haven.

On the other hand: If your cousin is afraid of dogs, they may have sensed that. Seeing a big dog bouncing towards him probably increased his heart rate and made his sweat a little. He may have also been a little uncomfortable because of his sexual preferences and your other family member's reactions to him. The dogs would have sensed this and reacted to it. However, their response to your cousin, was not appropriate at all.

I agree with MaryEllen that your dogs should learn how to properly greet people and you should try to find out what prompted this response. If it happened once, it could happen again.

On that note, I spent MONTHS and went to great lengths trying to find out WHY Birdie reacted to that guy the way she did.

I put her through some SERIOUS training after she growled and barked at him in June. When she met him again in September, she was unusually alloof towards him, she bristled once and I corrected her, but she didn't growl at him. I just accepted that she didn't like him, but did not allow her to be badly behaved or show her dislike.

Later I found out WHY she didn't like him and I found out that other dogs had reacted to him the same way. I should have listened to the dogs.

[14rock]

Keep this thread clean of blatantly anti-gay remarks or it will be closed. Thank you.

[Boss' Mom]

I agree with most of what was said, aside from the gay remarks. Sorry, but that sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. I'm kinda confused, though. I always thought dogs could sense when people didn't like them and etc. However, one of my best friends is terrified of dogs, but Boss has never growled at or acted any differently around her than he does with anyone else. Also, I HATE these two people that live above me, but Boss doesn't seem to pick up on that, he doesn't bark at them or growl or anything...he just wags his tail like he always does. So, I'm starting to question whether or not dogs actually DO sense these kinds of things. It seems strange to me that Boss is not suspicious of anyone that I'm suspicious of, and he doesn't react any differently when he encounters people that don't like him, or that are afraid of him. Hmmm:confused:


To the OP, if this is the ONLY person the dogs have ever reacted to this way, I wouldn't be seriously concerned. Best thing to do is always keep an eye on them and make sure they greet visitors appropriately.

[Atwater27]

Thanks for all your help guys.

I think I know what might have happenned. I don't think it was because my cousine is gay or anything as I have some serious doubts about some of my friends that I feel are 'closet cases' that have come over. I also don't think it had anything to do with anyone being intoxicated because I like to drink up on the weekend every now and then. People has come over scared as hell from my dogs before too and nothing has ever happenned.

I think it might have been because My cousin called to tell me he was in the front. Usually, someone will ring the doorbell or knock and it will let the dogs know that someone is coming. This time I greeted my cousin outside and walked back in with him and it might have caught Smeegles by surprise. I think Spooky might have been just taking his lead.

[maryellen1]

that is no excuse, i am sorry.. it shouldnt matter which door the person walked in thru, the dogs should not be growling or snapping at the person. i have 3 doors in my house, and if anyone and i came in any door none of my dogs should snap and growl. they will bark, but its a hello hey you bark, not a vicious bark. i would strongly suggest you get to the root of the problem with both your dogs, as this could lead to a bite incident,which will be worse then a growl and a snap.

[Suki]

I seriously doubt it has anything to do with ones' sexual preference. A dog can not disguish or decipher this. That being said,

I do agree that a dog can sense, actually it's a smell (chemical odor) humans emit when they are fearful, that your dog picked up. Another factor could be that your dog smelled something on your cousin that he did not like i.e. another animal, etc. What ever it was, knowing this, perhaps the next time, move your dog to another room, or keep him out side until the visit is over.
A girl I ride with is very fearful of my female, and my dog senses this. Every time Lisa comes over, my dog seems to react differently around her, so I crate her now. IMO, it's best to error on the side of caution. It's difficult to say why dogs behave differently around certain people, but, knowing that they can and do, as a responsible owner, restrain your dog accordinally to avoid any possible accidents. Now you know=red flag for your cousins' visits, so, heads up to you.

[catcher T]

whats the age of this dog?

[cemoreno]

My dog has only reacted to a person once in this manner and he ran for the hills. I was outside walking her and this big tongan type guy comes out of no where and she just started barking and lunging at him on the end of her leash. I'm glad she was there. I don't like ppl. my dogs don't like!

[LuvinBullies]

The worst thing you can do is be apprehensive about how your dogs will act around people now. Your dogs get almost ALL their cues from you, their master, and if you feel if the least bit uneasy the next time company comes over, it's almost a guarantee your dog will pick up on it and you will be reinforcing the previous behavior without even knowing it.
What probably happened was your cousin was slightly afraid of your dog (or like you said he caught your dog by surprise) and he picked up on it, or perhaps your cousin was TOO confident in his demeanor, another attitude some dogs don't like. The second dog sensed the tension in the room coming from you and directed it at the first thing seeming "out of place" that could be making you uneasy. Simple as that.
What you should do the next time you have company is take good stock on how YOU feel at the time, and if you are cool as a cucumber, see how things go, but if you are even the slightest bit concerned i'd go ahead and crate them or put them somewhere else when they arrive.
With my own dogs I usually put them in the bedroom when company first comes through the front door, then later when everyone is settled in and relaxed I let the dogs out to say hello. Never had a problem that way, but there have been various moments of tension when company first arrives through the door, only because certain people get a bit overwhelmed being greeted by 4 large dogs.
Hope this helps!!!!!