I have come to the conclusion that my sweet, playful, affectionate staffie--whose favorite pastimes are licking me, licking my wife, licking our 5-month old baby's feet, and playing with our 4 year-old niece--hates old people. A few weeks ago, an elderly neighbor came over, and the dog wouldn't stop growling and seemd to be on the verge of attack (same stiff stance she gets when a stray dog gets too close to my wife). I wasn't too worried--sometimes dogs just take a disliking to someone. A little while later, the dog was in the car and I stopped for gas. The dog started growling, so I looked where she was looking, and sure enough, there was a sweet little old lady waiting in a car parked beside us. Just yesterday, my wife's 80 year old grandmother came to visit for the first time. Same aggressive response, and we had to put the dog in the backyard.
The dog is excellent generally, well-socialized, well-trained, cgc-certified, etc., but she seems to think that old people are either prey or a threat. Does anyone have any insight? Do dogs typically take a dislike to an entire class of people?