[jno207]

Hi everyone,

My 6 month old lab / shepherd puppy met his new doggy nanny this morning and I am not sure what to make of it and would like your opinion.

I met this woman on the street in my neighborhood during my walk with the puppy and she gave me her business card as she is an independent dog nanny and I mentioned I am looking for someone to walk him during the day. During this sidewalk chat, my puppy was fine with her as he is with everyone. She seems nice and knowledgable and for the same price as a 30-minute dog walk she will pick up my puppy and take him to the dog park for a couple of hours with about 5 other dogs.

I got a list of references from her and called three of them. All were working professionals who had used her for years for park visits and also boarding and had the best things to say about her, so I decided to move to the next step and have her come to the house.

So, now this is the weird thing. When she came over he seemed to not remember her at all, and started barking at her when she was coming up the stairs to our apartment, and continued to do so when she came in. He was growling, barking and very wary of her. She sat on the floor in the living room with him and as we talked and she was giving him his raw hide toy the puppy started to warm up to her and by the end of the hour she was over he seemed fine.

We are starting the day care this week with her and I dont think I have anything to worry about but I know dogs can have a "sixth sense" about someone and that makes me nervous. I hope that she is not going to really act or treat the dogs in a different way when I am not around. My boyfriend says I am overreacting the situation and that the puppy was fine with her after a few minutes and she is a normal person who obviously loves dogs.

My question is why would he bark at her and what does this mean? He never has reacted to any of our friends (even if he has never met them) coming over to the apartment before and this is what has me worried. Our dog is super friendly and slightly submissive with everyone he meets so this reaction was very atypical for him. Am I just overreacting? I would be very happy with any opinion or similar situations from anyone.

Thanks!

 

[InkedMarie]

Has your dog met the other five dogs that she'll have at the park? I personally would never want anyone other than my husband and I to take my dogs to a dog park but that's just me. Your dog might be fine but I do agree with the sixth sense. My sons first fiancee got peed on by Boone; we now think that was a good thing

 

[Nuclear_Glitter]

When I was very little, like 3-years-old we owned a dog who only parked at three people. All three were known to have something bad about them.

However, your dog may just be picking up the other dog's scents she has on her and maybe he is reacting to that.

Hard to say for sure though what it is or isn't.

 

[xxxxdogdragoness]

Has your dog met the other five dogs that she'll have at the park? I personally would never want anyone other than my husband and I to take my dogs to a dog park but that's just me. Your dog might be fine but I do agree with the sixth sense. My sons first fiancee got peed on by Boone; we now think that was a good thing

Trust 'pee mail' lol lol, we use this farrier who is a nice guy but IMO he's an ass hat with the horses (he yells at them & swears a lot) he set his equipment down & went back to his truck to answer a phone call, buddy walked up to his stuff & left a large amount of pee mail on it LMAO OH & his friend had a huge laugh, the farrier wasn't very happy about it :/ .

So he will leave pee mail on anyone's things, vechile that he doesn't like (mostly men,he has issues with most men they make him nervous I think). He doesn't do it to women's vechiles.

 

[CptJack]

How often do you have people over to your house?

(The other remarks here are good, just adding that if the setting is the only thing that changed, the issue may BE the setting.)

 

[Amaryllis]

Is there something odd about her he may never have encountered before, like weight, height, skin colour, perfume, etc.? Dogs will bark at things they find odd.

That said, my old dog did have a bad reaction to one person in 12 years. I saw that man on the front page of the paper 3 months later. He was being arrested for multiple violent rapes.

 

[Shell]

Could be that the dog senses something, but since he warmed up to her, it seems more likely it was just a strange sight, scent etc about her. Maybe just smelling the scent of other dogs or cats.

I'd have more of an issue with this:

and for the same price as a 30-minute dog walk she will pick up my puppy and take him to the dog park for a couple of hours with about 5 other dogs.

If you mean 5 other dogs that SHE will be watching, yikes. If you mean 5 other dogs total in the park with their own owners, that would probably be okay. If she's watching 5-6 dogs at a dog park, she has no way to safely control them or intervene should something happen. Most parks have a 2 dog per person limit and for good reason too.

 

[hamandeggs]

Yeah, I wouldn't really want my dog walker taking my dog in a group of six to the dog park. As Shell noted, 6 dogs is way too many for one person to keep an eye on, and most dog parks limit the number of dogs per person to two or three. Dog walkers bringing large groups of dogs is a pet peeve of many a dog park denizen! I feel much more comfortable with my dog going on a normal 30 minute walk.

I would not worry about the barking though. It probably had something to do with your body language, would be my guess. Most dogs can tell the difference between friends coming to the house and others because of your reaction, and your pup probably didn't know what to make of this new person who seemed to be neither friend nor foe. I used to live with a dog who was friendly as all get out with people who were our friends, but wanted to bite any maintenance guy or delivery man. I am 100% sure he was picking up on my hesitation about having an unknown person in the house.

 

[Lafiel]

I definitely wouldn't have a dog walker take your dog to a dog park, not unless they've already built up a relationship and you know that your dog will respond to the dog walker. Even then, with a bunch of other dogs to keep an eye on it just doesn't sound safe. Maybe it really depends on the dog park setting, but the ones I go to are along rivers, with cyclists and long trails and no fencing anywhere.

About the barking, I agree dogs bark when they sense something strange or something they don't like, but that something strange doesn't have to be something bad about the person. It could have just been that she was nervous introducing herself, or it could be that your body language said something to your dog.

For example my grandfather, who loves dogs and has had them his entire life, seems a little standoffish when it comes to our neighbour's dog. The Basset barked at him the first time he met my grandfather, we thought it was simply my grandfather's hat he often wore (at the time hats did seem to set the dog off), and maybe that's all it was at first, but now that the pattern of barking has set in when he sees my grandfather hat or no he barks. I have no idea why my grandfather just stands there instead of approaching the dog to get it to settle down, it's a large Basset, very beautiful markings, so maybe he's admiring it, or maybe intimidated by the size, or the loud barking, I don't know... but the fact remains that the dog does not fail to bark his head off at my grandfather, and proper introductions have never really been made since we just want to get the dog away from my grandfather as fast as possible due to the nonstop barking. Everyone else in the family he's happy to see. There was also a similar incident with a man and his German Shepard, the Basset loves other dogs and people but that guy (who is very friendly) and his dog (who is well mannered) he does not like and will actually snarl at.

 

[Crazy Daisy]

If you feel ok with the dog-sitter, I wouldn't worry too much about the puppy "knowing something you don't know" in this case. Last night my 6 month old pup decided to completely be afraid of a box fan I had just turned OFF. We have had it on for weeks, and it was on and she didn't care, but when I turned it off she went all crazy like she was terrified of it. Weird. I also agree with above, maybe she had a sound,smell or look that set off the dog, or maybe it was just one of those days. Sometimes our dog will bark at our next door neighbors, when 99% of the time she doesn't care and is used to them being out there. Hope you can figure it out so you are all comfortable.