sarahgibes
New Member
Hi there dobe world. I am a first time dobe owner so I always have so many questions and concerns since they aren’t like any other dog.
Maia has been growing into such a wonderful girl, she’s almost 6 months now, but her behavior toward strangers is starting to concern me.
we live in an apartment complex so there are always lots of different people in and out, walking in the hallway next to us, coming in the door while we’re coming out, in the parking lot, etc. she barks and growls and get very defensive EVERY time. She also started growling and barking at kids. I don’t think she does it as much (to adults) when we are somewhere other than our apartments like at the store or the park, she’ll just avoid people but if they come to close she’ll start growling and sometimes bark. I’ve tried bringing a few friends over and she will again, bark and growl, after a few minutes she’ll tolerate the stranger in the house but every once in a while if they make a movement or hand gesture she’ll start barking at them again. The other day my 2 year old niece (who Maia has known since the day we got her) tried to gently pet Maia and she snarled at her, and it’s just been freaking me out how shes been reacting to strangers, and we’ve socialized her so much! We take her everywhere with us since she was 7 weeks, we’ve always encouraged people to pet her, give her treats, but all of a sudden she’s kinda changed.
**SO MY QUESTION ISSS** will she grow out of this behavior? Is there something I’m doing wrong? Is there something I can do to make her more friendly? Or am I just going to have a very stand off dog ?
Thank you!!
Maia has been growing into such a wonderful girl, she’s almost 6 months now, but her behavior toward strangers is starting to concern me.
we live in an apartment complex so there are always lots of different people in and out, walking in the hallway next to us, coming in the door while we’re coming out, in the parking lot, etc. she barks and growls and get very defensive EVERY time. She also started growling and barking at kids. I don’t think she does it as much (to adults) when we are somewhere other than our apartments like at the store or the park, she’ll just avoid people but if they come to close she’ll start growling and sometimes bark. I’ve tried bringing a few friends over and she will again, bark and growl, after a few minutes she’ll tolerate the stranger in the house but every once in a while if they make a movement or hand gesture she’ll start barking at them again. The other day my 2 year old niece (who Maia has known since the day we got her) tried to gently pet Maia and she snarled at her, and it’s just been freaking me out how shes been reacting to strangers, and we’ve socialized her so much! We take her everywhere with us since she was 7 weeks, we’ve always encouraged people to pet her, give her treats, but all of a sudden she’s kinda changed.
**SO MY QUESTION ISSS** will she grow out of this behavior? Is there something I’m doing wrong? Is there something I can do to make her more friendly? Or am I just going to have a very stand off dog ?
Thank you!!