Perhaps you’ve been in this situation. You’re bringing a new friend into your home for the first time. Your dog has always been super friendly to everyone, so you’re not worried at all. She’ll have no problem with a new human entering her abode. So, you bring your new friend inside when — much to your surprise! — your little angel turns into a barking, snarling Kujo! Your loving and happy-go-lucky pup, for whatever reason, does not like this new person. Perhaps guiltily you wonder: Is this a sign? Is there something my dog is trying to tell me?
What gives? Why does your dog seem to love everybody—until they meet a particular person? There are many reasons why dogs respond well to certain people, and, well, not so great to others.
Something Smells Fishy Here
It turns out dogs prioritize the scent of humans above other smells. When a person’s pheromones smell different than what a dog expects, they may become nervous, frightened, or aggressive. They simply don’t know what to make of your new friend! A dog can also pick up when a person is uncomfortable or anxious, which can trigger a negative response from your dog.
Perfumes, colognes, and other body-altering scents can also affect your dog’s perception of someone. If your dog catches a whiff of your friend’s new perfume and it’s just not sitting right with them, it may cause a different reaction than expected.
When your dog meets your friend and he’s staring directly at them, he may unintentionally be sending an “intimidating” signal to your dog. Dogs interpret body language differently than we do. Direct eye contact, for example, can be threatening and signal a “show-down.”
Your Friend Sounds Like Darth Vader
Dogs do pay close attention to a person’s tone of voice, and it has an effect on their perception of what you’re trying to communicate to them. It’s been found that the reward center in dog’s brains get activated when hearing a higher pitched voice, and they naturally associate higher-pitched sounds as non-threatening, friendly, and even exciting. It doesn’t mean your friend needs to talk like a chipmunk, but an upbeat, friendly voice sound more welcoming than an angry, authoritative voice.
Your Dog Hates Baseball Hats
Sometimes dogs will react negatively to a person if there is a physical attribute that bothers them. It could be as random as someone wearing a hat, a shirt color, if they’re sporting a beard or wearing glasses, and so on. A new person wearing something they haven’t seen before may be unsettling to them. If that’s the case, it’s important to socialize your dog and expose them to new sights, smells, and places to reduce general anxiety.
Your Dog Has Dealt with Past Abuse
This a key thing to keep in mind when inviting new people into your dog’s life, or when you’re meeting new dogs who own a difficult past. Dogs don’t forget their traumatic experiences, and people who may look similar to those in their abusive past may understandably cause a fearful or nervous reaction.
How to Help Your Dog Meet New People
Before you bring over someone new, you can prep them on how to keep things non-threatening and stress-free for your dog. Initially, have them act nonchalant and keep them from starting a staring contest with your dog. Let your dog decide, on their own terms, whether they would like to come up to your friend for attention or pets. If your friend keeps it friendly, laid-back, and non-threatening, hopefully your dog will warm up to them over time.
Have additional tips on helping dogs around new people, or have any stories about your dog acting different around a friend? Feel free to share in the comments below.
If your dog appears to dislike someone, it's not necessarily because they're a bad person. Instead, it's more likely there's something about that person that makes your dog uncomfortable. However, dogs are highly intuitive and sensitive creatures.
Dogs can tell if someone is being rude or unhelpful, and if they notice some behavior they do not like, they might not warm up to a person very easily. This is especially true if a new person is rude to the dog's owner, which feels like a personal slight to your canine companion.
If your dog is nibbling on just one family member, it's likely they're feeling fearful or anxious because they don't trust or have a negative association with that person. Or maybe they're just trying to guard their precious resources, like food or a toy.
Dogs can sense and respond to the emotions and attitudes of their owners. While it's challenging for a dog to understand the concept of dislike, they can pick up on cues such as body language, tone of voice, and overall behavior.
Dogs are sensitive animals that may experience fear or anxiety due to a multitude of factors. Loud noises, unfamiliar surroundings, or bad prior experiences can all cause anxiety in dogs. If your dog avoids you, it might be due to a fear of anything in their environment, such as humans or other dogs.
Aggression toward family members may be due to: fear and anxiety; conflict (i.e., uncertainty or unpredictability as to how the human might respond); defensive responses (as when the pet perceives that it might be punished); possessive behavior (resource holding potential), redirected aggression; or rarely social ...
They can tell apart kind and dangerous people. It's almost like they have a sixth sense for detecting bad people. Studies show that dogs have a great understanding of human behavior. Research at Kyoto University in Japan found that dogs can recognize trustworthy and untrustworthy people just by looking at them.
Dogs' favorite people are associated with the most positive experiences, especially experiences of love, shelter, and comfort. They love someone who can make a bad situation better or spend time with them doing something they enjoy. In a dog's mind, this person equals fun, safety, affection, and other good things.
Genetic predisposition - Some dogs are genetically predisposed to be anxious and may be more likely to generalize fear of one person to fear of many. Physical disorders - Illnesses which cause pain on contact and illnesses that affect the animal's perception may cause the dog to associate this pain with people.
Some dogs have sniffed out medical issues that even doctors weren't aware of. Dogs can pick up on tiny changes in the human body, from a small shift in our hormones to the release of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, released by cancer cells.
Smelling faint scents and forming associations is one way dogs might not like a person. Research also shows that dogs can smell different human emotions through changes to chemosignals, such as adrenaline, sweat and body odor. And when it comes to their humans, they can determine if fear produced sweat.
Behaviors that may indicate an awareness of death include reclusiveness, lack of interest in activities, lack of appetite, and seeking attention from their owners.
Will my dog know that they're being put to sleep? Not really. Dogs have a keen sense of what's going on, and they usually understand that it's the end. But once we give the first injection, they become semi-to-nonconscious, and so they don't really know what's happening at the time it happens.
“Dogs' [attitude is] very much 'love the one you're with,'” Nichols says. “They are often equally happy with any human they are familiar with.” Dogs can also “switch” favorite humans throughout their lives.
If so, your dog may have trust issues or even feel afraid of humans. Additionally, just like some humans, your dog may enjoy their personal space. Not everyone enjoys a lot of physical closeness. Animals and humans alike have different attitudes toward petting, physical proximity and cuddling.
A sudden change in his surroundings could cause him to suddenly avoid you or even make him depressed. Did you move, introduce a new person or pet, or make drastic changes to your home? Just the presence of strange noises can cause anxiety in some dogs.
Give your partner special treats (your dog's favorite) and let them offer it to them. Make sure your partner respects your dog's territory, toys, and space. If your dog does not want to be approached or is in their crate, for example, leave them alone. Dogs will approach people when they are ready.
It's easy to label a dog with trust issues as having a history of abuse or neglect; surprisingly often, though, it's most likely a fear of the unknown and the stress of being in unfamiliar surroundings and being around unfamiliar people.
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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