New odd behavior

Question
LCK,
My dog has started barking at extremely thin men.  This is new behavior that started about 2 weeks ago.  At first I thought it was men on cell phones, however yesterday I noticed it was very thin men.  She does not bark at regular sized men or overweight men.  It is incredibly embarrassing when my little 12lb dog starts barking and I'm not sure what to do. I've tried redirecting and distracting however it does not work.

She has 2 half hour walks a day and goes to the dog park everyday.  We play tug and she will fetch 3 times (that seems to be her limit). Everybody at the dog park likes her and she receives attention from everybody. She plays well with other dogs, except for a tendency to herd black labs. Overall she is a great dog with this weird quirk.  What can I do about her new behavior?

Thanks

Answer
Hi, Mon,

Try praising her. This isn't to reward her for her barking but to calm her nerves. You have to start paying close attention to when she goes from being a happy-go-lucky doggie to tensing up, and try to nip the behavior in the bud before she starts expressing her anxiety vocally. Then simply praise her in a high, silly voice. Again, this isn't to reward her but to change her underlying emotional state. Here's a link: http://www.tiny.cc/praisetocorrect

You can also do the pushing exercise which over time tends to give a dog more confidence to handle certain scary stimuli that might be throwing her off balance now. Here's a link to that: http://www.tiny.cc/SwimUpstream

Another tactic is to carry treats with you. When she starts barking at a Thin Man, tell him she's scared of men (don't be specific) and ask if he'd help you out by showing her a treat, asking her to sit, and then rewarding her by letting her take the treat from his open palm. Some guys will say yes. However, this will only work if the "idea" of the treat overrides her fear at that particular moment. If it does, and she gets enough treats from enough thin men, she may actually start to show a 180-degree change in emotions when she sees one.

I hope this helps,

LCK