# My welcome home The video Jen posted of the lion and the people made me think of this... So I was out of town for a night - in Philly Monday and Tuesday. I got home around 1am last night. When I drove up the dogs FREAKED OUT. They were giving their most intimidating warning barks to get me [who they thought was an… ## Thread In Behavior · started by brada1878 · 11 replies - **Category:** [Behavior](https://nihonken.org/community/c/behavior) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-07-23T15:36:52.000Z The video Jen posted of the lion and the people made me think of this... So I was out of town for a night - in Philly Monday and Tuesday. I got home around 1am last night. When I drove up the dogs FREAKED OUT. They were giving their most intimidating warning barks to get me [who they thought was an intruder] to go away. I opened the door and walked in and all of the dog, except Lani, instantly knew who I was and got crazy giving my kissed and jumping all around. Lani didn't - she continued to bark aggressively at me for a few minutes. Her eyes where fully dilated and she was clearly scared out of her mind. I got down on the ground and touched her chin, she then realized she recognized my smell, but it still took several minutes for her to let me pet her and love on her. This happened once before with Kona when we boarded him for 2 night, when we picked him up he had no idea who Jen and I were... it took him till we got him to the car before he figured out what was going on. Lani and Kona are the most timid of our pack, they are very cautious and guarding. So what's up with that? Has anyone else experienced their dog having no idea who they are after being away? Do you think this is an age thing? I'm interested to hear all of your thoughts and experiences. ---- ## glacier · 2008-07-23T16:05:41.000Z Sasha barks whenever someone knocks at the door. but once, it happened that she was barking when I unlocked the door, and lunged at me, still barking. after a few seconds she realized it was me and stopped. only cause I can think of is that I was wearing new jeans for the first time that didn't have my scent strong on them yet. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-07-23T16:21:45.000Z Hachi just started greeting at the door, before she would bark warning barks from under the bed for the first month or so. Who knows... ## StaticNfuzz · 2008-07-23T16:56:40.000Z Brad what you describe is something trainers refer to a generalization. Dog do not always associate Item A. you with here and now/present, with item B. you way back when you dropped them off or left. This is particularly the case if you are associated with separate places. Many dogs tend to go by scent first hearing next and then sight. When they are excited or alarmed they don't always put it all together. I tend to see this behavior in the less secure dogs or inexperienced dogs. This is where it is helpful to teach dogs by cue such as a particular sound and a scent article to get things to calm down. Sort of like a secret password that you and the dog only know. It helps a lot in distance work. Testing it out in different locations, wearing different hats or glasses etc can be helpful too. I had what you describe happen too with a doberman I had many years ago that I picked up from a family. When they came to visit the dog, she would not allow them up the steps to our house. She had no idea who they were. It took some convincing for her to associate them (the past) in relation to the present as they stood on our property. Apparently it is not uncommon. Snf ## LoveMyMylie · 2008-07-23T19:36:00.000Z I had a shitzu-poodle mix named Peanut as a family pet when I was growing up. She use to do something similar, whether we left the house for an hour or a few days. She'd bark hysterically, growling, etc. She'd occasionally nip at us & snap her jaws, but never actually bit. She'd be fine after about 30 seconds, then she'd realize who we were, get all excited & pee on the floor. My parents didn't really understand how to handle this behavior and wound up keeping her in the bathroom whenever we left the house. She eventually stopped with attack mode, but never stopped peeing out of excitement. She was a cutie, but never too terribly intelligent. I personally don't let Mylie roam free in the house, she's in "her room" which I feel is more inviting to her than a locked bathroom, and she doesn't even drag her lazy butt out of bed until I walk up to her. Not much of a guard dog, but much easier to deal with. I have socialized her well with many people, so she takes very well to strangers. She doesn't bark, only sniffs new people suspiciously, looks at me for the "ok" then makes a new friend. It's all said and done now, but if I were in your situation my first instinct would have been to try talking to Lani? Seeing if she recognized your voice, or called her by name? She was probably pretty worked up from "the intruder" and didn't feel comfortable being loved until she calmed down. ## sujewel · 2008-07-23T20:39:24.000Z Keigo can sense me from down the block. I mentioned before that Mika is more visual, so once she sees me, she knows it's me. For Mika, it's interesting how she associates things - opposite of what SNF was saying (which made total sense), but I attribute it to Mika's visual nature. For instance. Mika is dog aggressive....but not to labs. She thinks all labs are her best friend from puppyhood, Willow. She Woo Woo's every lab we come across!!! Of course, sometimes she gets lazy and only lets out one Woo, which sounds like Grrrr and thus scares the owners. Also, neither MIka or Keigo are insecure. Keigo might be more guarded with strangers, but he's a confident puppy. I honestly believe that Keigo's behavior towards strangers is my fault. I'm a typical NYer, I don't want to be bothered and I couldn't care less about other people cooing at my dogs. I prefer they just leave me alone and not ask me a bunch of questions. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-07-23T21:36:39.000Z Hmm - well it sounds like its normal then, I just had never experienced it and it seems kinda strange. Especially since Jen said Lani was moping round the whole time I was gone and whining at the stairs for me to come down. Snf - Thanx, that really does make more sense. Its kinda interesting. ---- ## _dlroberts · 2008-07-23T22:55:46.000Z Brad, how often have you entered the house when all of the pups were out free? Could it be that she's used to you entering from that door while she's confined and therefore wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation? Also, I assume you were on an airplane and therefore had all sorts of weird scents on you. That could have confused her too. Poor Lani. ## StaticNfuzz · 2008-07-24T00:36:57.000Z Dave you have a good points. Dogs really do get used to routine and maybe she was off kilter because of the pack dynamics and unusual scents. The "surprise" arrival probably spooked her. **** Brad maybe some one on one work with Lani would help her out. Say Jen takes her for a walk in the wild blue and you come in from a distance (from out of view). Also maybe take her to the grocery store with you and one of you waits in the parking lot while the other goes in to shop...as you come out sometime later give a cue or big greeting with treats. (Come up from behind the parked cars or from an odd direction.) Change up routines so she comes to expect the unexpected. Dogs do go through some fear periods, usually one major one occurs at around 4 months and again around 12 months of of age. It is recommended that socialization and proofing with unusual events and places be ongoing way beyond the first four months to smooth out the kinks along the way. Like humans, behavior is always in the process of flexing and changing... canines can pick up quirks over time also. Snf ## baanton · 2008-07-24T10:25:15.000Z Josephine also will growl her warning growl, and even bark when closer to the perceived threat even when it's someone she knows well but doesn't immediately recognize. This has even included my husband, me, our adult children, etc. Seems like it occurs most when she's in an intensive guarding mode. Then of course when the person comes close enough for her to see or smell that it is one of her beloved, its all wags and kisses and loving enthusiasm! I've seen this happen most often at the farm. I think perhaps the woods and open fields may provide opportunity for her to see or hear someone before she smells. Also, I think her guarding instinct is greater, maybe due to the proximity and scents of other animals? Not sure, but definitely I know the best thing is to speak and move in a familiar way until the scent recognition takes over. My husband sometimes makes a "game" of sneaking up or moving in an unfamiliar manner from time to time just to see what behavior is elicited before that instant of recognition. My husband knows how to do this from the deer hunting he's done (staying upwind, or is it downwind, so the animal does not smell him)... Our previous dog used to exhibit this behavior, too. I think it's great reassurance to you of the guarding job your dog will do for you. The obvious thing is to learn to recognize and appropriately react to real danger, instead of "shushing" the dog up any time this occurs (obviously not related to the barking and guarding concerning you). With our previous dog, we had him on a tie-out in the back yard one winter evening after dark. He started barking up a storm, and we brought him in the house to "pacify" a crabby neighbor who used to complain to Animal Control at the slightest bark from him or any other dog on the block. Surprise, surprise--- turns out another neighbor two doors down had their house burglarized while out to dinner, and the theives carried the goodies out their back door and through some other neighbors yard to the waiting car. Had we been more alert to Joe's warnings and less sensitive to our complainers I think the police could have arrived in time to catch them red-handed - they made several trips in and out of the house, ransacked, etc. so they were there for some time! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-07-24T15:15:00.000Z Dave - I think you make a great point, and I think you are right on... I didn't smell like I normally do, I had on a suit [which is extremely rare] and I am usually leaving with Jen and returning with Jen [I am always here]. ---- Patrice - I think you are totally right as well - we mos def need to do some extra work with Lani. Lani is kinda a project for us right now due to her fear issues. We got her at 6 months and with Akita they REALLY need to be socialized a lot before 6 months. We think she didn't get much socialization at the breeder's place and that the breeder coddled her a lot which reinforced her fears. A fearful Akita is troubling. ---- Bev - With the Kai-Ken I think this type of thing should be expected, so I was not as thrown off with Kona's reaction as I was Lani. Kai-Ken just seem to be more reactive and therefore bark at little things [or nothing at all]. You are dead-on tho, Josephine [being a Kai] should be an amazing watchdog! Kai-Ken are top-notch guard/alarm dogs and protectors. I also agree that its really hard to know when to reinforce the barking and guarding behaviors. With our dogs we have learned they have different barks for different types of threats. Some times they have a very hectic bark - very fast and mixed with a growl at each breath - this is the bark we react to. The other is just the "warning" bark or "alarm" bark that basically tells the rest of the pack to "come and check this out"... those are the barks that I want to stop - if possible. Kona does this type of bark ALL THE TIME... I fear that it heightens Lani's insecurities and may cause more issues down the road. :o\ ---- ## diggah · 2008-07-24T15:16:34.000Z Sometimes it's a visual cue that we don't think about. Often when Moach gets upset by somebody he should know I'll ask them to take off their hat and he'll be fine. Patricia McConnell taught me that trick in her book "the other end of the leash". --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)