Agression towards Men!

**borzoimom** · 02-14-2007, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by critter crazy

I appreciate your insight. we are just going to be very careful about male strangers coming to the home. Knowing someone is coming is the easier part, as we can do the walk thing to make things asier. He has met males outside of the home, and done very well. The problem is Unexpected visitors< not that we get many of those, but they are bound to show up! Hopefully nothing mroe than a door to door salseman!

If Rocky were actually " man aggressive"- it would show up alllll the time.. It could even be that like Hottie, who defends "his van" and mom is not there- but if I open the door he is fine- if its defending the house without introduction could be the trigger. I really do not see that case either really. You said you were coming up behind him as he entered- Rocky put himself between you and him not knowing,.
A saint is a huge dog- and not prone to aggression normally- .. I am glad you are going to try the walks- then he has no question you allowed this person to enter the house..

**Laura's Babies** · 02-14-2007, 05:30 PM

When my daughter Rie got adopted by her dog Sparkey, he was scared to death of men and cowarded everytime once came around him. She was sure some male has abused him so he was afraid of all men.

Try to have those first time meetings with them men, TREAT time! Have the MEN give the dog several treats while talking to him.. It's worth a try!

**K9soul** · 02-14-2007, 07:34 PM

Fear/suspicion towards men is not really an uncommon thing, and it isn't always due to abuse. Tasha is very fearful and suspicious of any man she's not really familiar with and she has never been abused by a man. When I got Raven, she was a bit more shy and backed away from bigger men at first, but I socialized the heck out of her and she's fine now with all people. As my vet stated when we talked about it, men are often bigger, deeper voiced, and just a more "threatening" presence to a dog than women often are. Women are just usually not as threatening, they often have a smaller stature, softer voices, and body language that is more reassuring and inviting to a dog when meeting a stranger. Tasha warms up to women much, MUCH faster than to men. I'd have FIL ignore him totally when he comes over for now. No eye contact, no talking to him, not even offering his hand. When he sits down to relax and if Rocky approaches him then, he can probably nonchalantly greet him then after that, while he's in that less threatening/relaxed position. Of course none of us are there to actually witness the behavior so a consultation with a behaviorist if you find this concerning would be a good idea. Just my 2 cents.

**critter crazy** · 03-02-2007, 03:10 PM

Well Rocky is doing great! Since the incident he has met many men, outside and has done just fine, he does seem a little leary at first, but does warm up quite quickly. Unfortunately my FIL has yet to come back over to see how Rocky reacts to him, I think he is a little scared!(cant realy blame him) But things are going good, and I feel so much better!

**Lori Jordan** · 03-02-2007, 03:14 PM

Sorry to hear this,It is odd to hear a St Bernard Biting,I'm glad things have gotten better,He could have moved fast and startled Rocky?

**critter crazy** · 03-02-2007, 03:24 PM

I think that he could have moved fast, and startled rocky, just not sure. Rocky is the protective type, especially of me. I am just glad to see preogress! Yesterday for instance, we went out on a walk, and noticed that my Neighbor, and two of his buddies were out side, so we walked over, explained the situation to them, and one at a time, they walked over, Rocky sniffed them, looked back at me, and then went in for pets! He was such a good boy! You could tell he was unsure at first, but after i told him it was okay, he was okay. Once it warms up more, we will begin to go to the local park, so he can interact with more people.