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  1. #1
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    Question My lab is not warming up to other people:(

    I have a 2 year old yellow lab. She is extremely friendly with the immediate family (4 kids, 2 adults). However, she does not warm up to anyone other than those living in the house. If I take her on walks and other people (even kids) approach her she barks and barks. I had one of my son's friends over and his mother and I were sitting on the couch talking. My lab did not stop barking. She barked for 40 minutes! I get a little nervous that she may actually bite. I tried giving guests treats to give to her. She eats them and then continues to bark. I'm at a loss of what to do. I have taken her places outside of the house (but not enough) and she acts the same. She is fine with other dogs, just not people. I have had the lab since she was 6 weeks old. I do not know how she was treated before I got her, but I don't think there was any abuse.
    I'm very upset because with our family she is the most friendly and loving dog I have ever had. Outside of the house, she does not maintain this great personality. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Part of it could be her breeding as this is atypical of the breed, even when grossly under socialized. What were her parents like? Also, by getting the pup so early that may have compromised her socialization to some degree. Eight weeks is typical and if many states letting a pup go before then is against the law. I highly doubt this is stemming from any type of abuse at the breeder's. Even if you didn't really socialize her as a pup, as a Lab I would not expect this type of behavior. I would expect inappropriate behavior but more out of excitement versus what sounds like fear.For example, jumping, play-biting, etc.

    That said, what is her posture like as she is barking at strangers? What do you do when she behaves this way? How was she as a puppy and what did your socialization regime look like? Did you take her to any classes? Could it be that her barking is out of excitement or even frustration? How long has she been doing this?

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Me, I don't think the lack of warming up to strangers is a problem. Not all Labs retrieve, not all like to swim, not all love every stranger. Not all visitors like to be loved and licked to death when they enter a house with a Lab.

    Your girl's barking, IS a problem. I will echo all the questions from Labradorks.

    There could be many underlying factors and many ways to deal with this but one you could try yourself is Leslie McDevitt's book, "Control Unleashed." It's aimed at fearful, reactive and easily distracted dogs. My dog would be the latter and I suspect yours is the first one or two, maybe both. The "games" have helped us immensely. My dog is the lick 'em, love 'em to death type and I can control him and pre-empt his excitement at visitors with. Basically it's way to show the dog that YOU recognize a situation bothers the dog, you have your dog's back and you are in control of the situation.

    It might be a good idea to bring a behaviourist in to observe. We can't see your dog or you and how you interact. You might have a different cause inside your house than you do out on walks. Good luck. If she barks for 40 minutes when people visit your problem will solve itself; no one will want to visit.

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  6. #4
    Senior Dog Charlotte K.'s Avatar
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    I commend you for trying to get to the bottom of this behavior and improve life for you and your dog. You may have a more excitable dog, but training and exercise goes a long way to fixing problems. I also wonder about the timing of the feeding. You may have inadvertently trained her that if she barks at visitors, she will get treats. She gets her "paycheck" for barking, if the timing and method is wrong. You really do need the right person to evaluate her and suggest further training. I wonder if tricks could substitute for the barking?
    Last edited by Charlotte K.; 08-03-2015 at 01:07 AM.

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  8. #5
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    Anthony comes from good 'stock' but didn't leave his breeder until he was 7 months and he missed some basic stuff....getting in the car, going up stairs, meeting people. He is a fear barker and we have been working on it with his trainer. The good news is he's improving. Here's what she had us do: We started with having him meet people in the driveway and instructed the people to totally ignore him. He would stop barking, sniff them from the back and 'get over it'. There are times he doesn't stop and our trainer has instructed us to say 'enough!' We now have guests giving him treats with their eyes averted and he has stopped.

    He is not a confident dog unless he's home with us but we have kept a steady group of visitors and we have him in daycare twice a week.. Lots of dogs and people in and out. We are also working on small children, another thing he hasn't been exposed to and doesn't appear to feel comfortable around.

    He is just 22 months old and the more we expose him to different situations the more he improves. But I have to say having him bark for 40 minutes is not something I've experienced. I'd definitely get a trainer involved if you can.

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  10. #6
    Senior Dog voodoo's Avatar
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    my dog never barks unless it deems a threat like late night window browsing when Im in bed before I switch alarm on. I think its complicated. My chili loves joggers by the home. he gives them a bark or 2. one ups guy gets the bark, but fedex and ups dont. I grab my gun when I hear a fierce growl, only happened 2-3 times in last 3 months, always was when some1 in my driveway when i was in bed. just saying all dogs different.
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  11. #7
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    I thought about that after our guest left--that perhaps I rewarded her for the barking. I agree. It's time to get a trainer. Thank you for the response

  12. #8
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    Thank you so much. This was very insightful and the more I think about it, we really don't have enough visitors in and out of our house. I think our dog definitely missed opportunities to socialize with other individuals. I really like what the trainer did with you and plan to try that, along with getting a trainer! haha. Thank you though. This really gives me hope!

  13. #9
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    Thank you for your reply. When she is barking the fur stands up on her back. I'm not sure if this is common with labs or not. My husband took her to about 4 classes. They just practiced the basic commands of sitting, come, etc. Unfortunately, we stopped the classes because she got Kennel Cough from one of the dogs there. They didn't really get the chance to interact with other people though while being there. I'm planning to get a trainer.

  14. #10
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Kennel cough happens. Take the dog back to class. Keeping the dog out of class because of kc is like not letting your kid go back to school because it caught a cold. Training is more important. They'll get over being sick. And there is nothing wrong with crating the dog in a comfortable back room when guests are over. I hate having my dogs underfoot when people are over.

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