Currently posting late at night but I’ve been thinking about this encounter all day and to say i’m worried is an understatment. I’m really sorry if this is on the wrong forum, especially considering Messy isn’t a ‘puppy’ (3 going onto 4 y/o)
Background:
I’m 19 and just finished high school, my living situation dictates i can’t really find professional trainers for this. Messy is a blue heeler stumpy mix and is a medium sized dog (comes up to my knee), he’s had problems with barking and was weaned way to early in life. He’s a family dog, so other than knowing how to sit he doesnt have any extra training. Despite this, he’s exceptional on his walks, not barking or lagging to look at dogs or kids and simply watching them as we walk by. He’s never (to my knowledge) been approached by someone wanting to pat him while on the leash. He doesn’t take well to loud noises but he likes to meet people. He gets very excited and over active when new people appear. He responds very well to food. I’d say he’s a very nervous dog in general.
So what happened was while on his walk an elderly women approached wanting to pat him. This was fine, and because she had raised dogs in the past she did all the right things when approaching my dog, however by dog reacted really badly to her approaching him. He started to bark at her and growl, from what I remember he did not raise his hackles or curl his lips, but he did constantly look back at me to check on me and he was wagging his tail.
The women was fine with this, as I said she raised dogs before, but I want to do something about this behaviour- What if it was a kid? I don’t want it to turn into more aggressive behaviours in the future.
If anyone has any advice it’s much appreciated, I want him to be happy and healthy which involves making sure he’s properly socialized.
