Abused dog

Question
Hi Lee,

I have recently rescued a dog from a group of guys who were abusing him. He is a 6month old black lab male mix. He is a completely sweet and loving dog towards any woman, but men he is so scared of. I have been trying to bring him to parks to get him around more men as I don't really have many guy friends. He growls and barks if they get to close and I'm afraid who would possibly even try and bite if a man tried to pet him or was just too close for comfort. Is there anything or anyways I can try and get him to learn that not all men are bad? He is a great dog with cats, dogs, kids. Its just men. Any ideas?

Answer
Hi, Jenna,

Thanks for the question.

Since he's only 6 mos. old I think this is pretty fixable, but you have to take it slow and easy.

The first thing I'd do is find (or even hire) several really nice, laid-back guys to go on longs walks with the two of you (one guy at a time) on a regular basis in as natural a setting as possible. The guys should not push things too fast with the dog, but just interact mostly with you, but they should take the leash the bigger part of the walks. I'd also recommend you have the guys stay away from wearing hats and sunglasses. Hats make your head seem bigger and sunglasses hide your eyes. It would also be helpful if your dog were only hand fed by a nice, laid-back guy on a daily basis.

That might not be practical, given your situation. So to give your pup the ability to adjust to different emotional pressures, I'd also recommend that YOU hand feed him all his meals using a pushing exercise, you play a game with him called "Eyes" (which makes direct eye contact feel less threatening), and that you play tug-of-war with him outdoors every day, always let him win, and praise him enthusiastically for winning.

Here are some links that will help:

http://www.tiny.cc/SwimUpstream (pushing exercise)

http://www.tiny.cc/MythofTug     

http://tiny.cc/TheEyesHaveIt

I think it's great that you want to help this doggie. Let me know if you have any other questions or problems.

LCK