human fear

So...
I got an intresting text message from my dog sitter on wednesday morning. I had dropped Romeo off at the sitters and then gone to see a friend who has two small dogs that are very dog aggressive so Romeo could not come. The text told me that my sitters room mate had come home around 9pm with her new boy friend, and while it rather normal for Romeo to snuff and bark if some one suddenly comes into the house if he is not exspecting it, when they are in the home he turns into a butter ball.
WELL
that was not the case it appeares. When this new boyfriend came in Romeo quote " Romeo barked his head off at this guy, he just wouldnt calm down. he had all his hair on end and stayed really far away from him"
I dont think it helped that my sitters room mate kept him and Romeo awake all night with their ' nightly activities' so to speak, meaning that Romeo was stirring all night.
In the morning, Romeo refused to go near the boy, growled everytime the boy tried to approch him and barked at him every so often.

Now, i wasnt there, this is just what the sitter and their room mate told me (i happen to be good friends with the room mate too)
They seemed to think it was kind of funny. I was horrified.
I do not accept Romeo showing any aggression to people, but that is not what worried me the most. this has been the FIRST and ONLY time Romeo has reacted to some one this way... and it makes me think, for Romeo to act so scared and react so defensively.... what is up with this guy that the room mate is dating? I'm sure i will run into him sooner or latter... but if the dog is like "get away from me" then... i wonder if i want to meet him at all, or if its good for romeo to be there when he is.

If it where me, I would find a new sitter, I distrust people anyway, but for my dog to do it with no reason too I would be a little concerned Xx

its not the sitter, romeo loves his sitter and their room mate, its this new boyfriend of the room mate. i will meet him with romeo next time i think and check this out, other wise i dont think its safe for the 'guy' and romeo to be there together. i dont want him stressed

Chances are they have maybe exaggerated it to you though. If he is a bit nervous of someone he maybe just didn't like the way the guy acted when he came in. You'll know much better when you get to see it yourself, I wouldn't stress myself though personally.

To be honest, if it's out-of-character for a dog to show aggression to people (which it is in this case), I'd be wary of the person. I'm not gonna say dogs are psychic, but everyone knows dogs can pick up on things we aren't really focused enough to pick up on, which is why dogs can go from friendly to fighting in the blink of an eye. So maybe it's something else, maybe the guy's harmless, but something definitely upset Romeo.

yeah, they could be overthinging it, he might have just shyed away... but it still concirned me. yeah, i think dogs judge character well, i love that romeo adores my friends and ignores strangers on the street unless i ok it, and even then he doesnt go up to everyone, but he's always relaxed.

Tara wrote:To be honest, if it's out-of-character for a dog to show aggression to people (which it is in this case), I'd be wary of the person. I'm not gonna say dogs are psychic, but everyone knows dogs can pick up on things we aren't really focused enough to pick up on, which is why dogs can go from friendly to fighting in the blink of an eye. So maybe it's something else, maybe the guy's harmless, but something definitely upset Romeo.

My thoughts exactly! Trust the dog!

Maybe the guy had a hat or coverd face abd romeo didnt like it or maybe he just senced something he didnt like about the guy. Xx

Lexi did a staffy grumble to my uncle once and he nearly phoned the police for me having an aggro dog who attacked his son. So pinch of salt.

Maybe the guy was just pure evil and the dog picked that up that he felt theaten by him. Maybe it a warning to your sitters house mate stay clear of this guy.

i would look for a new sitter, im one of those if you plant a seed it will grow and i ca not settle. If romeo is not known for this then what were he or they doing for him to act this way.........?

Tara wrote:To be honest, if it's out-of-character for a dog to show aggression to people (which it is in this case), I'd be wary of the person. I'm not gonna say dogs are psychic, but everyone knows dogs can pick up on things we aren't really focused enough to pick up on, which is why dogs can go from friendly to fighting in the blink of an eye. So maybe it's something else, maybe the guy's harmless, but something definitely upset Romeo.

I agree totally, sometimes they just know... butkus does it to my next door neighbour, who happens to be a drug dealer to schoolkids and is clinginging on to his freedom by the skin of his teeth. I always trust a dogs instinct more than my own.

Then again i would take it with a pinch of sat unless you were there, Whos to say the fella didnt come in with his arms in the air, or maybe Romeo was having a mad 5 minutes and his playfulness was mistaken. Staffies can come across as agressive when they go hyper...

personally i would see what hes like around this guy with you there, if hes genuinely like that then id err on the side of caution, however it could be exaggeration.

Most likely an over reaction on story telling for a start.

Though also as they found it funny instead of trying to correct the behavior they are just reinforcing this bad behavior.

Being away from his owner he is already going to be a little upset and defensive anyway. Meeting another man who he don't know its quite a normal reaction I suppose, though the sitter should have been making it clear that's not how we greed new people and then showing your boy look it's ok this man wont hurt you let the new guy give him a treat for sitting ect.

Some people are not good with dogs and don't know how to behave around them and this can cause issues, maybe the new guy looked at him the wrong way, maybe the new guy was nervous, that's all it takes.

Taryn wrote:
I dont think it helped that my sitters room mate kept him and Romeo awake all night with their ' nightly activities' so to speak, meaning that Romeo was stirring all night.
In the morning, Romeo refused to go near the boy, growled everytime the boy tried to approch him and barked at him every so often.

He possibly thought that the guy was hurting the room mate and being protective

Ledger gets completely on edge when my neighbours argue and when my brother shouts at the tv while watching football he has jumped up and barked at him. They are definitely good judges of character though I would trust his instinct when you meet the room mates bf

It could be that this guy had just been playing with another dog and Romeo could smell the dog on him ??
Maybe the guy was just giving off some strange vibes that Romeo has picked up on ??

I guess we will never know for sure what it was about him.

I got to speak to my sitter with out their room mate around to hear. apparently romeo growled and barked at him and the guy was all "oh its ok, i love dog and they love me blah blah blah" he kept trying to approch romeo and pat him even though Romeo was warning him off.
Oh how stupid can you get.
My sitter got the same feeling from the guy that he was weird. Its awkward since the room mate, and the sitter, they happen to be two of my best friends and i spend alotta time at their place. The room mate is now trying to convince me to meet her new man... i'm not feeling it. if my dog doesnt like him... doubt i will... i barely like the people my dog does like.

Dogs are a great judge of character

If my dogs out of the blue reacted like that to someone I'd be thinkin this person is a bit shifty and not to be trusted !

thats how i feel as well