Barking at People

[MidwesternGal]

We have a 1 year old Lab that just adores everyone, she would lick you to death and crawl in your lap (even though she is WAAAY to big to do so, she still tries).

BUT. . . when she sees people near our apartment building that she isn't well acquainted with, she barks bloody murder at them, scaring them to death!!! Obviously, it's a territory issue, but what do I do about it? I tell her no, and she usually stops pretty fast, but still, the fur on her back is up and her bark is scary (she is a Lab, black, and about 55 lbs). So kinda scary to people who don't realize she's just startled/surprised/wondering what the heck they are doing in HER hallway, stairwell, etc.

I always tell her "no," but I want to stop the problem before it starts. . . suggestions??

And no, we don't have this problem when we go for walks, take her out around the town, etc. That's why I'm pretty sure it's a territory issue at our building. She just thinks she owns the place!!

Thanks for any advice!!

[kanga1622]

I don't have any advice but I wanted to say that we're going through the same thing. Our dog loves to meet people and other dogs when we go on walks but he hates people to walk on HIS sidewalk on the south side of our house. Of course, he is an 8 lb toy poodle so he doesn't scare people. I am constantly telling him no and often will make him go into another room where there aren't windows facing south to try to get him to realize that he cannot bark at people walking by. He's getting better but it's been a slow process.

ETA: The funniest part of this entire process is that if the people he didn't know knocked on our door and came into our house he wouldn't bark at them - he'd want to lick them and have them pet him. :rolleyes:

[red_fern]

We have two labs and they both like to bark at people and animals that they can see out any window in our house. They're getting better at barking at the deer, squirrels, and other animals. We're still working on people.

We've been teaching them to "bark quiet". We don't mind that they bark. They're nice as a warning if someone unexpected were to come up our driveway. When they bark loudly we tell them "no". Then they'll bark less and not as loud. We praise them and most of the time they don't go back to barking loudly. We're hoping that in time they'll learn to "bark quiet" from the beginning!