BAD Reaction to Men!

[Chris & Boys]

My Fozzy Bear is 12 weeks old and absolutely wants nothing to do with men. When they walk by, he backs up and growls! If I am holding him he tries to climb onto my head. He appears to be terrified by them. Has anyone else had this happen?? What can I do to get him over this??

[Cam & Oski]

Fozzy will take his cues from you for most new/spooky to him situations. Since he appears to be spooked by men, it might help to have some of your dog friendly male friends come by the house (one at a time) or "randomly" meet you on walks. He'll see how happy & relaxed you are around them & they men = good times. After every interaction with a guy when Fozzy stays calm, give him a treat or even have the guy give him a treat (if the guy does it, it has to be something that Fozzy goes gaga for). You'll need to stay close to him so that he feels "safe" but don't pet/reassure him constantly otherwise it can reinforce the feeling that this is something bad that Mommy needs to protect me from & can conversely make him more anxious/positively reinforces him for fear instead of making something spooky normal. Hope this makes sense.

[Adina P]

How old was he when he was first introduced to a man (while you owned him)?
The reason I ask is that there is that critical development period between the ages of 8-12 weeks where a lot of things are learned including fears. Fears that can last. Did he show any sort of fear response or hesitancy or did some male accidentally frighten him?

I would start socializing him to men regularly. But keep in mind that 'socialization' is worthless and can make things worse if it is not a pleasant experience where puppy learns men are OK...even GREAT! So you'll need to do a little training with the men ahead of time on how to NOT intimidate puppy and essentially pretend he's not there until puppy is BEGGING for the man's attention. No towering over puppy. No leaning over puppy. No eye contact, no talking, no petting, nothing that could be perceived as threatening. Use lots of treats (treats that magically appear in a trail all the way to the man...treats that are worth $100,000,000 in doggy eyes. Pup should go at his own pace...even if it takes many of these short sessions for him to feel comfortable getting closer.

[Chris & Boys]

I got Fozzy at 7 weeks. He was in foster care with a family, mom, dad and two daughters, along with his 10 siblings and mom. I immediately started bringing him to work with me. I work at a construction supply business, so it is almost all men. One of the guys in the office (Doug) will come to my door every day and try to coax Fozzy to come. I have brought Fozzy to him, not making a big deal out of it. I have stood next to Doug, with treats for Fozzy. Doug has tried to give Fozzy treats. None of it really working. Fozzy gets excited to see him, but is afraid to come up to him. He is going closer than he used to. Doug always crouches down, so he is close to Fozzy's level. Doug has had dogs, so he is pretty good about dealing with him.

Every time a guy comes into my office or even walks by my office, he growls. So, should we just ignore the growling and barking?? Any idea for great treats that don't need to be refrigerated? He doesn't seem to go wild over many packaged treats.

[elyse]

This happened with my standard poodle and she never quite got over her fear of men. There was no rhyme or reason for her to be nervous around men and she loved my husband so much. But everytime my daughter would show her with our 4H club, if there was a man judge, she would back up and not let him touch her. Needless to say, we only won when there was a woman judge. I also noticed that when we did our therapy visits at the nursing home, she would back out of any room that there was a man. She dealt with it but was never quite comfortable around men. Good luck.