Dog hates everyone

[LinZ]

My dog Nikki seems to dislike everyone...she is not people-friendly, and that is not good when there's a 3-year-old running around begging to play with the "woof".

Granted, if you can have time with her and let her get to know you (takes a while), she'll warm up to you...she used to bark nonstop at my aunt, but now she likes to jump on her lap and throw herself. And she doesn't soon forget the people she makes friends with.

But what I mean to say is that if I were to walk her in a busy neighborhood, she would bark at and snap at everyone. But see, I live out in the suburbs where there aren't any sidewalks. I also have a huge yard so she does her toilet business there...so she has no real contact with others.

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Do you guys think that our solitude makes her a little bit edgy toward others? Would trying to introduce Nikki to more people be a bad thing?

She can be dominating when she wants to be...she once chased my 12-year-old cousin halfway across the house baring her teeth and barking before he had to take sanctuary in a locked bathroom.

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LinZ - wonders if Nikki's previous owners may have abused her

[Nancy (Spuddie' s Mum)]

I would definitely enroll her into some obedience classes ASAP. That way she will learn to socialize with other dogs and people, will bond with you, and also learn basic commands, sit, stay, down, long down, heal, etc., etc. Having a dog with no "manners" that is all ready showing some agressive attitude really needs to get in check as soon as possible or you may end up in serious trouble.

I used to have a Huskey years ago that was just a wild dog so I enrolled her in the CKC Companion Dog basic obedience course. If she had passed she would have got the Companion Dog Certificate which would have enalbled her to carry on with other registered courses. It did her a world of good and the main thing I remember from the class was the instructor telling us that training the pet was the easy part, it was training the humans how to train and be consistant while properly reacting to the animal. It was lots of fun going to the class once a week and I met lots of other folks with similar dog problems and it was great!! My dog didn't pass the class, unfortunatley she ran out of the ring when she had to heal without a leash, it was just too much for her to not go wag her tail at the other dogs watching her go though the moves all by herslef. LOL It really didn't matter though that she didn't get her Certificate because she was a much better dog after learning all the basics (and we were a much happier family for it too).

[LinZ]

Sorry to bring this topic back...but I think I may have underestimated my dog's nice side.

A couple of days ago, my boyfriend came for a visit and the dog was in the garage barking nonstop at the sound of his voice. But when I came back in the house from walking her, she gave my boyfriend a few sniffs and dove in his lap and cuddled with him for about an hour. ^-^

That amazed me because I know she's not really crazy about strangers, especially guys. But perhaps she was intimidated by my boyfriend (he's a little over six feet tall), and didn't want to start anything.

But nonetheless, I don't think I'd trust Nikki around kids. I think that if you give her a treat she'll know you're a friend.

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LinZ