My dog doesn't like adult men?

Question

My 10 month old min pin is weird about men. Some details: 

We got him at 8 weeks old. We have 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls. He's fine with my husband, the boys, any friends the boys bring over to play... He loves all women with no problem, family and visitors. 

But he doesn't like grown/older men. Even my brother in law who is 15 and 6 foot tall is fine, he likes him. But he gets all freaked out and acts strange when older men come over. My dad, my father in law, my brother in law in his 40's... 

He shakes like he's afraid and he runs in and out of the room and barks at them over and over the whole time they are here. We've tried ignoring him, it makes no difference. We tried having my dad give him treats but he won't touch anything if it was in a man's hand no matter how much he loves it until the item is at least a few feet away. The only thing I can do is gate the dog up in another room until our guests leave. 

When he was a much smaller puppy, my dad held him and he was fine but now that he's older, he just is so weird about men. I don't understand why. He's never had a bad experience where he was hurt or anything. 

What can I do to break this bad habit and get him to chill out when we have man visitors at our house?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

If you research a little about min pins you will find this is not uncommon and although to your knowledge he has had no fright or being in hurt something has triggered this response..l have one female who is not a real fan of men but she never barks or anything like that as she is a show dog but she just looks down her nose at men except the ones she seems to like,she is just choosy l guess.Now in your situation your min pin has got you bluffed and is ruling her area around her which belongs to you not him so you will have to train him out of this sharp barking aggression the dog is doing as it really is a dominance issue and nothing else and certainly not fear aggression as far as l can see.
You will have to impose your dominance over the dog and you do this by stopping any barking if someone comes to your door by teaching the dog this is your house not his and it is unacceptable behaviour.You have to be the so called pack leader and teach your min pin that space near the front door is yours not his and barking or any other unacceptable behaviour has to stop so start by preventing him from doing any barking at the front door by not allowing the dog near the door or your space,the same with the barking in the House at men he does not like assert your dominance over the dog not the other way around.

yeehaneeha · Answer

I would get some adult guys to come over that would be patient enough to work with your dog. Just have them ignore him and throw him some treats on the ground. Once he starts taking the treats, have them toss the treat closer and closer. Eventually have them put the treat like on their foot and then on their leg and then offer treats. It's going to take a long time and you have to be consistent. How is he with guys outside of your house? Guys are just intimidating because they are bigger and have deeper voices. Good luck!

Truth Hurts, Doesn&#39;t It? · Answer

If it's fear based then any type of NEGATIVE association (like a muzzle or shock collar) would increase that fear and make it worse - maybe even to the point of biting.

What you need to do is find a behaviorist that deals with fear based problems. They will help you get to the bottom of why your dog acts that way and will be able to give you tips on how to deal with it properly.

gmk8803 · Answer

they do say dogs are a good judge of a person but maybe you might want to try one of those collars that shocks them when they bark too much or try a muzzle. he would get the hint soon enough

Trending News

My dog doesn't like adult men?

4 Answers