Sally barked at a construction guy that was approahing my husband yesterday as he took her potty. He said that she did little half barks, and he put her behind him and she stopped barking while my husband talked to the worker.
She has done this kind of thing before, but not since September or October. Once she barked at a guy who came into the dog park without a dog, but then ignored him after I told her to quiet down and he went about his business. She has barked at people approaching the car twice, but will only do it if they come to "her" window and if the window is open. If the windows are closed she will not bark at people even if she is alone in the car, and will not bark if they come to my or my husband's window. She has also barked twice at people when we were out in the barn--once when I has her in the indoor arena at night and my friend's husband walked in, but then she quieted down after a minute or so. She also has barked at our farrier--a couple friends and I were in the barn office and she was on the retractable sniffing around the corner (I know, I know) and saw him coming from the back of the barn and barked at him. She has never "gone after" anyone, and will generally quiet down when I tell her.
I take her for walks many places where we have to pass strangers, many of whom are men, and she doesn't have an issue--she is even fine with the joggers who come towards us running. I take her into pet stores at least once a week and she never barks at anyone there. If someone she is leary of approaches her, she backs away but never ever growls, barks, snaps, etc. She doesn't usually even bark if someone comes to the door. We have had strange men come to the door--I hold her collar while talking to them and she never says a word.
Is this aggression? Is it something I should be worried about? Are we doing something wrong? How should we react when she does this?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if I'm over-reacting to this or not....[
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