Fearful Labrador

Question

Our labrador is one year old.

In the last four months or so it has become very fearful of men. We suspect that someone must have come onto our property whilst we were away and frightened her badly.

She (Maisie) is not scared of myself, or my husband or other women or children.

If male visitors arrive she will bark and then want to run away and hide until they are gone.

Should we be concerned about this behaviour and what should we do?

Answer

When dealing with your labs fear, care must be taken as when dogs are fearful they may feel that the only way to defend herself is by biting.

It seems that you will have to undertake some socializing training with your lab to get her used to men again.

If it is something that has just started happening it could well be what you say, that someone came onto your property and has frightened her. Poor thing!

Is it all men that she is afraid of (other than your husband)? Or have you noticed she is afraid when the male has certain characteristics, such as beard, glasses etc?

I would suggest, when next time you have a male visitor at the house, to get them to stand away from her, never staring directly at her as she may feel threatened, and throw her favourite treats at her, trying to inch closer slowly, so as not to scare her off.

We want her to realise that not all men are bad!

At any point if she looks scared you step inbetween her and your visitor, keeping your distance also) so that she can see you and feel safe.

Never get your visitors to approach her quickly if she is scared as she may bite!

Personally when dealing with a frightened dog, I would seek the help of a professional dog trainer.

We have never had this problem with tasha, she likes everyone too much and if anything we'd need to train her not to lick and kiss intruders!

If anyone else has any tips on dealing with a lab who is afraid of men please let us know how you dealt with it.