Help, a new behavior has surfaced

tianna's picture

I am looking for help because my (usually well behaved with all people and kids) dog did something out of character today. Snow is new to him, but we were outside playing in the snow and there was a family right next to us and the kids were sledding down the hill. Well Inuki (my german shepherd/whippet mix) charged at the sledders and barked then ran away. I could see he was extremely nervous about the family, even though they paid no mind and were very friendly to him, his hair on his back stood up when the woman came to pet him, and his tail between his legs, then he charged another sledder barking and pretending he was going to bite/nip. I dont know what his intentions were, but he seemed fearful/nervous/aggressive, and I have never seen this side of him surface. He has always loved kids, strangers, and everyone, at least since I had adopted him. I am in fear that this behavior could worsen unless I can find some help. He only has acted strange around this family, but they always ignore him and so they do nothing to provoke him, and the kids are very good with Inuki. I am so confused as to why he would act this way.

Comments

Aidan's picture

Calm-O-Meter

Hi Tianna, this is possibly another job for the Calm-O-Meter. In this situation, start training on-leash and use the Calm-O-Meter method to reinforce calmer behaviors.

Another approach is to use targeting. I've found it very effective to teach dogs to target, then have them target the thing that they are nervous about in a controlled setting. This could mean having Inuki on-leash and having the sledders offer a target stick for Inuki to target.

The reason that it works (my opinion, not a tested scientific fact) is that it gets the animal "thinking" rather than "reacting". I've had some dramatic results using this approach.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com