Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11
  1. #1
    Puppy
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Il
    Posts
    1
    Thanked: 0

    Why did my neighbor's dog bark at me?

    So I met my neighbor who lives a few blocks down the block. He has a 4 month old lab who finally met my 1 year old toy poodle. He was fine playing with my puppy at first, then a few minutes later as I was chatting with his owner, the puppy just started barking at me for no apparent reason. I felt really bad because as dog owners/lovers we know puppies display that type of behavior towards people who they sense are bad. I might have looked unusual to him because I'm a bigger girl, with dark skin and an afro. I am the only black person on the block. Could it be that he was just barking at me because I looked different? I couldn't gauge the emotion of the bark...whether it was attention seeking or aggressive. I know his owner moved him towards me and he did jump on me as if he was being playful. I'm super confused.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Central NJ
    Posts
    2,603
    Thanked: 2277
    There’s no way to know without actually witnessing it, but it could very easily be that you looked unusual to him in some way. Mine used to bark at us (who they live with!) if we wore a hat or something else they weren’t used to.

    There is an black Obedience judge (from Canada) who routinely offers when he judges to let people bring their dogs up and see him beforehand in case their dogs haven’t had much experience being around people of other skin colors, so I guess it can be an issue for some dogs. My dog could care less about the color of his skin, but was a bit intimidated by him being probably at least 6’4 and skinny (I am 5’ and chubby, LOL).
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

    Hidden Content

  3. #3
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,342
    Thanked: 729
    I am going to say its a 4 month old puppy looking for play and attention. Its highly abnormal for a 4 month old puppy to have any other motives and you said he jumped up and wanted to play with you

  4. #4
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    When Dan was younger...but past the point where he was scared of little kids...there were twin toddler girls that just frightened him no end. They honestly looked like Kewpie dolls...cute little girls...but a bit different and, oh boy, there were two of them. We stopped running into them but they made him nervous for about a year. For a long time, he wasn't good with hoods...our next door neighbor got barked at on the first hood sighting of the cooler weather, and then after that he was OK. Till the next year. That faded.

    I've run into dogs who didn't like sunglasses or hats or big puffy winter coats.

    Skin color didn't seem to matter but I have heard of dogs who register lighter/darker skin as confusing.

    I'd say you scared the pup a bit but it sounds like he got over it. At any rate, aggressive isn't usually a term applicable to a pup that age...age-appropriate fear or fear phase is more like it.

    One thing I ask owners to not do is force a hesitant dog to come over to me....it wants to be petted, great....if not, it can keep its comfortable distance.

    Just remembered...with my last dog, a friends daughter came to visit and when she stooped down to pet Baffle, he started barking at her. Her braid fell forward of her shoulder and scared him...it was also the thickest and healthiest braid I'd ever seen in my life. (I'd kill for hair like that.) I thought perhaps Baffle thought it was something alive.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    10,985
    Thanked: 6722
    First thing I thought of was that a 4 month old puppy would probably not distinguish people as good vs bad.

    I am embarrassed to say I had one dog, Potion, who always reacted to people of color. I would profusely apologize, it was so upsetting as she was otherwise such a sweet girl.

    Continue to socialize with all kinds of people in all kinds of clothing.
    Hidden Content
    Kissing Bandit

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    8,135
    Thanked: 5108
    I agree with all above. It could have been, "Hey, I'm here, pay attention to me." And it could have been he hasn't seen a dark skinned person yet. Your afro might really pique his interest, at least I find hats sure do. Anything that makes the head look different.
    Hidden Content

    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
    Oxtongue Rapids Park. Oct. 2019 Hidden Content

  7. #7
    Best Friend Retriever silverfz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Land of Holes
    Posts
    618
    Thanked: 182
    Gigi has similar response to braided haired women. I will immediately do a correction by grabbing her neck and nailing her to the ground. Again she is over a year and handles presure of a good correction. She is 80 lbs and very strong. She can easily kick out but it's a submission thing.
    I am dark brown and she is brown so we kind of matching and confuse other dogs who probably see a matching a human and dog .


    Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Senior Dog SamsonsMom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    1,605
    Thanked: 1334
    I have a six month old lab boy that hasn't been around kids (just one vacation on the outer banks with my niece and nephews at 4 months old). Early this week we were out in the front yard and two kids from across the street wanted to pet Asher. As they ran over, Asher ran to me with body language that we was scared. He proceeded to bark at the kids. It dawned on me that he's not used to small people. After a few minutes, he was okay. Reminds me that I need to do a better job socializing him. He's great with adults - well, gets overly excited, wiggles, and jumps. Samson is 4 yrs old. He doesn't seem to enjoy the company of my young niece. She is 9. The boys are 11 and 13 and Samson loves the boys. I've never been able to figure out why he doesn't want my niece around him. It's very obvious. My mom and I just smile over his looks when she is loving on him. He's a gentle boy but his eyes tell me the truth when she is around. We would never tell my niece, it would break her heart. She loves the big guy. :-)

  9. #9
    House Broken jenfarm's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Cypress, TX
    Posts
    124
    Thanked: 33
    Like others have said, you could have just looked different to him. But since you said he seemed fine at first and was playing and then started barking makes me think it was just puppy barking for attention or something. Chutes does that. He'll be totally fine doing his thing and next thing we knew he's barking his face off because nobody is paying attention to him. We're trying to ignore it and hope he'll grow out of it... It's frustrating.
    Josh & Jenna. Texas.
    Parents of: Farmer's Deschutes Cinder Cone Red "Chutes" the Labrador. (And the cat, Stewie. Hidden Content )

    Instagram: @jenfarm_ & @farmer_bram

    Hidden Content

  10. #10
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    AR
    Posts
    7
    Thanked: 0
    I had a dog bark at me and I think it is because I had my sunglasses on. When I removed them, the pup was ok! The eyes are a window to the soul. The dog could have not seen a person with a different complexion or different hair texture. The pup could have thought that you look interesting. The could have been speaking to you, the pup sounds friendly.If the dog was growling, that behavior signifies aggression to me. I met a sweet baby and she was in love with me! Dogs are not born being racist towards someone. If some of them have some sort of aggression towards people of different ethnicities, it is taught by someone unfortunately. I am thinking about getting a "Labbie".

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •