Need Some Suggestions for Callie

I finally have a few well earned days off. Thinking of taking Callie with me to run errands for an afternoon. Need to drop something off at work. Then behind the store is the shelter we adopted him from. Thought we'd stop by and say hello and maybe see if they have any charity resources for his knees. Then of course a quick stop at the McDonalds drive through...mmm cheeseburger.

The store is quiet on weekdays. We'll just be in there briefly and it's a warehouse so there's lots of space to keep a distance from people. My mistake on a previous outing was going in a store with narrow aisles and blind corners. We want lots of space and visibility. He seems to be okay if it doesn't seem like he has to protect me. Any other suggestions to make things easier?

As always the problem is male strangers. Women and kids can get down and even hug and kiss him and he's a very happy boy. A male stranger even at a distance sometimes and he gives the Cujo growl...add that to his appearance and we'll clear the store.

My Brownie was like this. I couldn't take him places. It wasn't worth it. I took him into the PetSmart once, and a male employee came around the corner to ask if we needed anything and for his efforts, he got viciously growled and barked at. Was totally embarrassing. My boy was a 60 lb skinny Labby guy, but when a dog isn't playing, a dog isn't playing. TBH, I'd just leave him home. My Jade is fine with adults, but hates kids. Extremely rare that you find kids in PetSmart, but I'd not risk it.

Then another question...we've taken Callie many times to best buddie's house. He has a Ridgeback, a Pug and a husband. When we are at his house Callie is quiet as a lamb. He follows me everywhere including the bathroom. After the Pug finishes her bad butt routine she and Callie play happily.

But I guess it's a question of "THIS IS MY HOUSE AND YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON TO BE HERE"..."YOU WANT TO TO TALK TO MY MOMMY? YOU GO THROUGH ME.

He's just high strung like that. My last dog was too. I dislike it. I made sure Nigredo didn't turn out like that. After I give the go ahead for someone to enter, the dog needs to respect them as they respect me. Dogs run nothing and this ISN'T their house, we're just kind enough to let them live here. If dog can't stay quiet and respectful, dog is confined.

Absolutely no barking at indoor guests (be they human or not) will be tolerated. If dog continues to bark while in indoor confinement, dog is placed in outdoor confinement until visitor leaves. Because we never have overnight visitors (they rarely stay more than a few hours) this is what we do.

Nigredo is a "shadow dog" too, but he knows better than to act salty towards visitors. I've had to let repairmen in here alone a few times where I needed to show them where etc., and I feel better when my big dog is right near me rather than needing to be confined because he will bite without provocation or make the job unsafe or incredibly noisy.

Jade is like Brownie was and is placed outside in an outdoor enclosure for the duration of the visit. She barks the entire time as well.

Thank you, I felt embarrassed the other day. When we are at that friend's house Callie is a total lamb, head down, even when buddie's partner comes in there is no reaction except he wags his stump.

But they came to our house the other day. We were meeting to go to a street fair and they just peeked into the front porch.
Dumb dog, he greeted them with "GRRRRRORRRR". Not like their dogs who just bark at everything. His growl means if you are foolish enough to open that door it's going to hurt.

Doesn't he recognize them? Then again he's greeted hubby like that too sometimes. Maybe he can't see as high as the screen? I dunno...

Oh, he recognizes them all right. I had a home school teacher come here when I was ill in high school. Brownie was fine with her if he greeted her OUTSIDE, but his hackles went up and he was very uncomfortable with her INSIDE. He'd growl at her and sit extremely close to her (almost like a "one false move" type thing). He LOVED women, but I deemed his behavior unsafe, so I had to put him up while she was here.

He simply didn't like her INSIDE the house. Too bad, see? Dogs don't run anything. A repairman came here and Brownie nearly brought the door down trying to get at him. Had he gotten loose, that man would have been badly bitten. It is very embarrassing as you said, and it happened to me a lot with him.

We could be sitting on a bench and a male jogger go by and he'd lunge at him snarling for no real reason. I always had to be super vigilant around men. Now, I'm no fan of men and don't want them bothering me (perhaps this had something to do with his behavior) but I'm not a fan of unprovoked biting either. Had a cat named Goo Goo who'd growl at visitors, as well. He'd bite HARD (put holes in them) if they tried to pet him.

I'd just pull Brownie back and apologize if it happened. He never used a muzzle or anything and he lived to be over 15 without biting anybody so we managed, but I made sure my next dog wasn't like that. I really enjoy taking the dog places, and it's so embarrassing and whatnot if he can't behave. And my Jade is like your Sophie, just old and halfway neurotic lol.

EDIT: Both dogs have barked at family members from a distance before, but once they reach the door it stops.