Too Protective?

[geckogirly]

Ok, so here's the deal...Newt always barked at my Dad when he came in the door, even if he just saw him. We did the whole treat thing, remove hat, don't look directly at, speak softly thing...none with much luck.

Here's the thing...if Dad is home by himself with the dogs, Newt won't bark at him at all when he comes and goes. If it's just him and my Mom, he barks a little, but not much. When I am home, he goes nuts.

So, I really feel it's him being protective. Especially since I recently went on vacation and Newt was with my parents for 5 days without me. They said he barely barked at all.

The moment I was home, Newt started barking like crazy again, and always trying to be between me and my Dad.

So, what can I do since I think he's obviously being protective of me? The treats, etc. don't work when I'm there, and like I said, he barks very little if I'm not around.

I've tried, good boy, that's enough...but he doesn't seemed convinced I know what I'm talking about. Also tried going and hugging Dad and reassuring Newt at the same time...that doesn't work either.

It's just annoying because anytime my Dad enters the house this goes on for 5 mins (even if he was just there!).

Especially crazy note is that after he's calmed down (i.e., Dad's relaxing on the couch), Newt will cuddle up next to him and beg for attention.

Anyone else experience this? What can I do to stop it. It really annoys Dad (and anyone in hearing of it), but Dad's been a little more accepting of him since we have realized he really is in 'protect Andrea' mode...so Dad just says, 'he's doing his job'.

Sorry this is long, I just need Newt to accept people if I give him an ok, so advice on how to do that would be great. Thanks for reading!

-Andrea

[yassy]

First off,I am not a dog trainer so,I am not sure if this works.

When your father visit your house,your dog goes barking.You can allow 2-3 barks because you may not want to eliminate all barking.Then,you can say "Thank you.Quiet" and wait til they stop barking.If people did not move,just stand there with no attention given,I would imagine dog gets bark a lot first but then get bored/tired of barking for nothing and eventually would stop barking.

As soon as they stop barking,give them special treat and praise them.Find the treat they like and give that treat only for that situation nothing else.That makes the treat value sky high so,more powerful to use as motivator,I think.

Good luck.

[MattNW]

It's hard to tell if it's protectiveness or resource guarding on the internet. The reason I'm mentioning resource guarding is because it happens mostly when you are there. If he were being protective he would eventually see that your dad isn't a physical threat and stop. Since he does it every time your dad comes in it makes me think he doesn't want your dad around you. If there is any threat involved however I'd suggest talking to a trainer or behaviorist who can see the dog in person and make an evaluation based on observation.