# Change in certain behavior - part of growing up or something else?



## EastBayer (Aug 17, 2012)

Milo just turned 7 months old. I noticed her behavior has changed somewhat along the trail we take our (almost) daily walks. In the past week, she started growling at certain people. One of the people she growled at is someone she has met several times before. First she growled when she saw him, then when he said, "Hi Milo!" and approached her, she started full on barking (like a ferocious bark, sounding angry). This is very unlike her. I had to hold her collar and apologized to the gentleman (who also has a dog that is Milo's friend!), then put her on leash and told her "shush" and "easy" and walked her away from him. The guys was very nice and just shrugged it off. Then during that walk, she barked again at an older man walking the trail (without dog) coming from the opposite direction. It was the same type of growly bark. He looked like just any other walker along the trail. I put her on leash again. Once I get her distracted, she is fine and I take her leash off when we gain some distance. She is never a barker at people during walks and she has done this maybe a couple more times after that incident.

The other thing seems selective in coming back to me when I call her. She used to always come, and now it is probably about 80%. I know she hears me but she ignores. It's not only when she's engaged in play with other dogs but also when she's just wandering around. I started carrying treats again on our walks and back to calling her to me every few minutes. Is this just part of maturing? I don't want people to be afraid of her (she never lunges when she barks, just more like a guard dog type of barking). And it is only a few times that she's done this but it is just not like her so I'm curious if your Vs have done the same thing.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

I would make sure dog is healthy, vet check...
If all OK...
I would stop the treats, dog doesn't need them for walking and besides, the dog thinks it must protect or guard. I would use a training collar, a prong collar and would almost guarantee never to have any problems. 


In reality, the dog could benefit from obedience training.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

I think pup is just growing up and is now talking to you and taking a more active role in the walks. Pup is now saying to you.... hey....look someone is coming...........is it friend or foe?.............tell ya what....i'll bark and act tough till I work it all out. 

To rectify.... ask the person if you can hang with them for a bit. Even if that means walking the way they are going for a bit. Or better still, just stand around for a few minutes chatting with you. Pup will settle, work out it's ok and the person or dog is cool and they will relax. Keep this up, pretty soon pup will get bored with you talking to everyone she barks at!!


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

Is Milo spayed? They usually come into their first heat later but it is certainly a possibility which may explain the moody behaviour (at least that is what my wife always told me  )


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Your pup now sees the trail as their territory and as stated by Ozkar it is now telling you hey we have company. 

The continued barking is caused by your pups young age. She is taking longer than you would expect of a dog to figure out that the person is not a threat. Do as Ozkar suggested and wait your pup out. It is not a bad thing that she is developing a guarding behaviour but you want to be able to stop her on command. 

For this you may benefit from training her the speak command. If you can train her how to speak on command with a command to stop the speaking you are onto a winner.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

So far Ive never had to use a prong collar to stop this kind of behavior. I have used a pinch collar to reinforce a command, and with Cash I used a dominant dog collar.

I would suggest you try any, or all of the tips given on this post and see what works best for you and your dog.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Wonderfully simple... and kind looking dominant dog collar... 8)

Leerburg, I believe. 

Prongs+dominant dog collar... Life is good 8)

Btw, Sammy wears no collar most of the time. That's because he was trained with the prongs for about 8 months consistently. 
A lifetime of freedom for 8 months of mild (human psychological mostly) discomfort.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

datacan said:


> Wonderfully simple... and kind looking dominant dog collar... 8)
> 
> Leerburg, I believe.
> 
> Prongs+dominant dog collar... Life is good 8)


Yes it is a Leerburg product.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

http://leerburg.com/746.htm

brilliant


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## EastBayer (Aug 17, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your feedback. No growling on the trail for a couple of days now including bumping into the same guy she growled at before. I agree that she thinks the trail is her territory now.  We're there almost daily. She has also been marking a lot, something she's never done before. Will look further into the different collars, too. Also, she is intact and we don't plan to spay her til 2 years old.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

You might also look for common items on the people she barks at. Were they wearing a certain type of hat? Did they have sunglasses on? Were they wearing shoes instead of boots? Were they carrying a package or umbrella? All of those things can surprise a 7 month old if she hasn't seen it before.


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