Anatresia
01-22-2006, 10:51 AM
We had a family party last night- Paul's aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents- lots of people. Rigby's met them all at least twice, so she should bark bark bark a bit and then relax, right?
Well, she decided that she hated the one branch of the family- the one she's met the least. Every time the uncle or male cousin came near her, she would bark like crazy. With the cousin, she would bark then climb on his lap, bark right in his face and sit down- on him, looking around like she was a princess. She was perfectly normal with the female cousin- snuggling up on her and asking for "neck kisses". Rigby was okay with the mother until the end of the night, when she got the association between the mean man and the mom- then she barked a lot at the mom, too!
If anyone went to pet Butters, she would hop over and bark her head off, getting in their faces. Her tail was wagging the whole time and she didn't try to bite, but the barking was enough to drive us mad. She just bounced around, barking, like she does with the squirrels.
The uncle thought it would be funny to antagonize her, so he kept yelling and making barking noises, while walking towards her and she did NOT back down- she didn't bite, but she did not back down. I couldn't say anything to him because he's the one family member that I think doesn't like me, and he was actually being nice to me last night, so I didn't want to ruin it, but I thought he was being a jerk to her and was secretly glad she hated him so much.
During all of this, I just kept calling her to me and talking calmly to her- not reassuring baby talk, just "This is so and so. you don't need to bark at them" which is what a behaviorist told me to do with her. That would calm her- until they went near Butters or came too close to her again.
What is up with this behavior?
Well, she decided that she hated the one branch of the family- the one she's met the least. Every time the uncle or male cousin came near her, she would bark like crazy. With the cousin, she would bark then climb on his lap, bark right in his face and sit down- on him, looking around like she was a princess. She was perfectly normal with the female cousin- snuggling up on her and asking for "neck kisses". Rigby was okay with the mother until the end of the night, when she got the association between the mean man and the mom- then she barked a lot at the mom, too!
If anyone went to pet Butters, she would hop over and bark her head off, getting in their faces. Her tail was wagging the whole time and she didn't try to bite, but the barking was enough to drive us mad. She just bounced around, barking, like she does with the squirrels.
The uncle thought it would be funny to antagonize her, so he kept yelling and making barking noises, while walking towards her and she did NOT back down- she didn't bite, but she did not back down. I couldn't say anything to him because he's the one family member that I think doesn't like me, and he was actually being nice to me last night, so I didn't want to ruin it, but I thought he was being a jerk to her and was secretly glad she hated him so much.
During all of this, I just kept calling her to me and talking calmly to her- not reassuring baby talk, just "This is so and so. you don't need to bark at them" which is what a behaviorist told me to do with her. That would calm her- until they went near Butters or came too close to her again.
What is up with this behavior?