[dogwalker]

I have an 11 month old german shepard, lab, collie[etc] cross.
We go for walks regularly and mostly she is fine.
There are kids in the neighbourhood that play with her while we are walking sometimes. She gets along with other dogs all the time no problem.
But some people she just doesn't seem to like around her.
As they walk by she will stop and bark excessively [not growling] and it scares people as she is a medium sized dog.
Today I took her over to a friends house [she had never met/been there before] and she was fine with my friend, and the brother. But when the mom came home she barked and half lunged at her. She didn't touch the mom just scared her. She has never bitten anyone before and everyone was surprised as she was gentle all night until the mom came home.
Why do u think she is acting like this?
Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?

[Curbside Prophet]

Originally Posted by dogwalker

Why do u think she is acting like this?
Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?

It could be fear...it could be excitement/arousal...it could be play...it could be many things. It's very hard to define the behavior without seeing it, the environment, and without knowing the dog's history.

There are a lot of things you can do to modify the behavior, but the first I would recommend is seeking the help of a certified trainer. They'd have the knowledge and ability to better pinpoint the behavior and the remedial protocol.

We could offer you suggestions, but they would be guesses, and they may likely only exacerbate the problem if we guess wrong. And where there's concern, there's little room to be wrong.

[SMoore]

I agree it would help you and the dog to talk to a professional about it. I had the same problem with my GSD as it turned out for me anyway to simply be a phase. She would bark and it would almost sound like a growl at certain people/animals.

I just started waiting for her to calm down and then took her over to meet the person she was so afraid of usually by giving them one of her jackpot treats and letting them ask her to sit and then offer it to her.

It usually worked then she didnt want to leave that person.

[dogwalker]

I have tried to find a pattern but cannot.
For example, men vs women, color of jacket, hood on, etc.
Its almost like she scared but protective as well.
Thank you for your suggestion.

[SMoore]

Also several people suggested to me that Pandora was going through a fear cycle. I'm not sure if it's usually around the same time or if it can vary depending on the dog but wouldn't hurt to look into it.

[TooneyDogs]

Watch the persons eyes, facial gestures, hand motions, body posture and chances are you'll find the why. I'm assuming you've already eliminated that it's not always men or always women. Also, note if they are wearing glasses, a floppy hat, carrying something...a stick/umbrella/briefcase/cane.