So Mogrann and her husband are here, and Rascal is being a butt head. He's barking non stop at them. It's like he's afraid of them, but that makes no sense.

He's fine if we're all sitting for a while, talking, but as soon as we get up, it's bark bark bark, backing away, like he's afraid.

He really has no reason to fear them. At first I thought that he'd settle, and in an hour or so he'd be okay, but here it is 11pm, they've been here for hours, and he's still acting like this.

I'm at a loss. I've never seen him behave this way.

I do have to point out, none of my other friends have dogs, or cats. Is it possible that it's because he smells Owen and the cats on Mogrann and her husband?

Some advice would be nice, because the barking is getting old fast.

Try to get something to occupy him or put him in a room with just them and you leave.. dogs are naturally trusting of humans and unless abused will lighten up but the cat smell would make him curious but not anxious

I disagree as he is looking to his pack leader for reassurance not to be isolated with strangers. That could end up with a bite or making the dog stay fearful

Perhaps something appearance wise is throwing him off. Things like short hair vs. long hair, glasses vs. no glasses, hat vs. no hat, facial hair vs. clean shaven.
We have one dog who acted this way with a particular friend, never anyone else.
This friend was black and very tall, not at all what he was accustomed to and this guy was in his house. I don't know, but it's a thought.
Have a good visit.

He's getting a bit better, much better than he was yesterday, but still barking every once in a while. It's definitely fear, and trepidation, but why, I don't know. This is definitely not my dog.

He'll come up, sniff the hand, lick, take treats, and get pets, and then suddenly back off and bark. It's strange.

I bet by tomorrow he'll be fine, as they're leaving. Sigh.

Quote:

---

Try to get something to occupy him or put him in a room with just them and you leave.. dogs are naturally trusting of humans and unless abused will lighten up but the cat smell would make him curious but not anxious

---

Timboslice, I didn't address your reply before, because it really wasn't worth me taking the time to respond to when I had long awaited guests over. I would like to address it now, because it worries me that you seem to think you have expertise on dogs. Your advice was flat out ridiculous.

You suggested that I put a fearful dog in a room with what he's afraid of? Do you want to provoke an attack, or give him a reason to be afraid?

Dogs are not naturally trusting of all humans, even if they've never been abused, which Rascal never was. It takes time with some dogs. Apparently Rascal is one of those dogs, and truth told, I should have seen this coming. He's afraid of so many things, cars, walks, anything he sees on a walk. But he's never had a problem with people. I'm blaming myself for this, because now that I look back on it all, there are things I should have done differently when my guests arrived. I should have introduced them differently, and that could have made all the difference.

But abuse, no. All dogs trusting humans, no. All dogs being curious about cats and not anxious, no Your post shows that you know nothing about dogs, and really shouldn't be answering questions in this forum. You may notice my status. I'm the pet expert on this site. If you're going to post on one of my questions about my pets, you better know more than me, and be able to back up what you say. You're not talking to someone that's never had a dog, so your bad advice really doesn't cut it with me.