[RaicickKida]

Guys i think my dog is psychic...there have been two instances when i havent felt comfortable when walkin him.

1. One instance this dude walked up on me a little too close while i was walkin him and kano went into this protective mode and started barking and growling at the guy.

2. Similar situation but this tima the guy was walkin by and again he was too close to us and kano did the same thing.

Hes friendly to ppl im warm to and not so friendly when im uncomfortable

[FotoCihasWewb]

He's not psychic. Dogs can read your body language like you can a book. He knew you were uncomfortable and reacted in fear.

You need to have your dog evaluated, that behavior is not acceptable for this breed. If the men did not physically attack either of your you are only spreading the fear of these dogs. It's possibly the MEN were scared, and that on top of your reaction could have sent him over the edge. I know I used to be horrified of bulldogs, and I tell you if any of the times when I passed them nearly shaking in my shoes from fear they snarled, lunged and barked at me, it would have set my opinion of them.

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------

A good bulldog would not take advantage of a human's fear. The first one I really met didn't. I was trembling, and stiff, moving away from her, I sat down she curled up on me and gave sloppy kisses. She didn't attack. Same with the male (I made a memorial for him) I fostered. The first real bulldog I spent a lot of time with.

[RaicickKida]

They were not afraid at all, well at least they didnt approach me like they were. but i have read that apbt's sometimes have protective instincts thats why i posted this.

[antonyandruleit]

My girl knows when something is not right. About a year ago we were walking in a forest preserve and Sophie stoped dead in her tracks. She wouldn't move no matter what I did. There was nothing around that I could see but she would not budge. She truned around and draged me away. Once we got out of the forest preserve she was fine. I found out the next day that a women had been assulted in the very forest preserve the day I was there. I always wondered if she knew there was someone in the woods.
What ever the case, I listen to her. If she gives me her warning signs I listen.

[RaicickKida]

wow thats amazing...thats why imgoing to always keep a dog lol. ive always had a dog so i think id go crazy if i didnt have one around
@ poisoned i was joking about the psychic part lol cuz clearly dogs arent psychic.

[FotoCihasWewb]

How well do YOU read human body language? Was his heart beat up? Were his hands sweating? Was his breathing shallow? I know a lot of punks who are scared of these dogs make a point to go at them like they are tough, but it doesn't fool the dogs.

Regardless, unless the man was engaging you physically, the dog shouldn't react like that. Start NILIF training so in those situations you can say "leave it" and you dog ignores the person... It's bad for the breed.

I know you were joking about the psychic part lol but a lot of people seem to let their dogs get away with bad behavior because they 'sensed something'. My dog 'sensed something' with a five year old once. Dog is dead now.

[RaicickKida]

im sorry to hear that. and ill start that training too. thx for the advice.
to answer your question the person seemed real self assured and confident till Kano barked then he started walkin the other way

[DoctorGordanBens]

I'm with Poison. The dog was reading your anxiety. Your feelings were picked up by the dog & made the dog anxious as well, thus the dog's aggressive reaction. Barking & growling doesn't always mean the dog is being "protective." It could be the dog was fearful & was trying to "scare away" this man you were leery of. The aggressive reaction is called a "threat display" & is part of what is generally called defensive aggression. If it is something that has not been trained for, the dog is considered to have weak nerves. So please take care while walking your dog. We do not need any accidents.

Good luck.

[RaicickKida]

o trust me there wont be any accidents. im more than careful he's never off his lead or anything like that.and by no means is he an out of control dog but i was taught from a young age that you never walk up to a dof that you dont know or that doesnt know you and idk if ppl get that teaching so ill do what poisoned said and start teaching the leave it command

[DoctorGordanBens]

Sounds good.

And NO, people don't get that teaching, nor do their kids. I had a Chow who was a defensive biter & you would not believe how many people would insist on trying to pet him. I once had my dog sitting at the vet's office waiting for our appt. when a couple of young kids burst through the door followed by their haggard mother. One of them ran straight up to my Chow wanting to hug the "teddy bear." If I hadn't held his mouth shut I have no doubt that kid would have received a nasty bite to the face. He knew the "out" & "look at me" commands, but we were backed into a corner with nowhere to go. I purposely chose the back of the waiting room b/c I knew he was a defensive biter. But trouble still found us. So beware.

[FotoCihasWewb]

I've had that happen with the HA bulldog I had. Kids would literally come out of nowhere and hug her. She was okay sometimes, others I had to save the child's faces. And then comes the mom bringing up the rear "Oh I sorray... They just love dogs."
Yeah, well my dog doesn't just love them.

Even worse now that I have an openly fear aggressive GSD pup - who is in training now to help it.

[DoctorGordanBens]

Yeah, that was the excuse the mother gave me "He just LOVES dogs." I'm like "whatever." Whatever happened to the days when parents managed their kids instead of the other way around?

[Aeaefee]

Yeah, that was the excuse the mother gave me "He just LOVES dogs." I'm like "whatever." Whatever happened to the days when parents managed their kids instead of the other way around?

Good question. My dogs tolerate kids, but don't. I'm tired of having people's kids run up to your dog and practically assault them.

I think there's a fine line between letting you know something is off, lik Sophie did, and growling at someone

[Pateeffelty]

Something similar happened to me with Uma.
On one occasion she warned me that there was a homeless person sleeping in the garbage bags by my apartment, I didn't even see him.
On the second occasion, I was coming home from NJ with her late at night, and we were backed up in the traffic on the Goethals Bridge. Happened to be DWI checkpoint. I had two glasses of wine 3 hours earlier, and the officer ordered to pull me over. As soon as he approached the car, and I opened the window to present my driver's license, Uma started barking at the officer, she didn't charge, just stood her ground and barked, before I could even warn the officer I had the dog in the car, well he found out right that moment. I guess she read that I was a bit nervous.
Otherwise, Uma is very friendly to people, she would rather lick the owners of the dogs than interact with their pets.

[DoctorGordanBens]

... I'm tired of having people's kids run up to your dog and practically assault them...

Me too. And had my Chow bit the kid I would have been the one at fault & my dog labeled vicious when the whole thing could have been avoided with a little stern parenting.

My gosh, when I was young I was taught to never go up to a strange dog, let alone run up to one. But kids do it all the time today.

Heck, I remember one time I got around a St. Bernard who was eating & got nipped in the face. You what my mom said? "I told you not to go around that dog while he was eating!" Then she cleaned the wounds & that was that. Nowadays if a kid does something stupid & gets bit there's lawsuits & clamoring for the dog to be put down, etc.

Things have really changed ...

[RaicickKida]

i have kids all the time who will try and run up to Kano thankfully he lyks kids... i politely tell them to stay back because he doesnt know them.

[exeftWabreava]

Thankfully I haven't had these things happen yet with Odie, most people see Odie and run the other way. But thankfully this is a very dog friendly area. And the only kids I've dealt with were the ones whose parents owned pit bulls as well. So they were raised not to just walk up first, they always ask if they can pet him. Odie has a favorite lady at the park who never owned a dog and loves Odie and doesn't care he's an apbt. She hugs on him and he just stands there for her.

[gactanync]

I wouldn't encourage my APBT to respond to a stranger like that if he didn't actually threaten you. It's one thing for the dog to take notice of how you feel and maybe become more aware, or put himself between you and the stranger... but barking and growling are over-reacting for the situation, and like ABK said it is a sign of weak nerves.

My first ever APBT barked and growled at a drunk guy at a concert who stumbled too close... but was fine with all the other drunk people. The next day, he tried to take down a glass door to get at my father and continued to growl at him every time he saw him. I had had the dog a week, and I contacted the rescue he came from and let them know that the dog needed to be evaluated further. The rescuer told me she had never had a problem like that with him, but put him to sleep by my recommendation. APBTs should NOT exhibit that sort of behaviour, it's just not what the breed was created for.

At the local park here in California, people's children are always very well behaved with my dogs.. they always approach us and ask if they can pet the dogs first, and then pet them politely. I've never had a problem. What I HAVE had a problem with, is people who think my dogs want to play with theirs, and just let their dogs off lead.. bad idea folks! lol

[Seasmillets]

I was out walking my APBT tonight and we stopped to take a break and a man in a hooded jacket was across the street and didn't see us, he suddenly crossed the street and came towards us and my dog barked. Should I be worried about ''weak nerves''?

[gactanync]

"my dog barked" isn't helpful.. it's the dog's body language and tone of bark that matter.

There's a "hey, I'm over here person! come see me!" bark
A "Look! Another person! Just thought I should let you know" bark
A "Hey person! Don't come any closer because I am defending my person!" bark
A "Hey person, you stay away from me! I am really scared of you, but I am trying to be tough so you'll leave me alone!" bark...

and more, of course.

They all have different body language that goes along with them, and it's important to know your dog's body language and know what bark your dog is giving.