Growling at step-dad at beach?

Some people on here know of Serenity's issues. She does well with the family she lives with at the house so I'm wondering if what she did yesterday, should I be concerned at all?

Yesterday I took Serenity to the beach. When around water she can be a bit more funny about people, I really have no idea why this is but the main time I am more on edge around her is when we go to swimming spots because of how I've seen her act at times around people but giving her credit, she has also behaved a lot around people when around water. Note; I don't stay around where people are when she plays in water, it's if I've had to walk past some one to get somewhere/we've left a swimming hole because some one has come down or when I last took her to the beach and people would randomly walk past.

Yesterday Serenity and I were at the beach. Rob (my step-dad) was going to come down and meet me. I saw him approaching so I stood there and Serenity was standing in front of me. No big deal till I noticed she was stiff and when Rob was a few feet away she growled at him for a moment. After that moment he talked to her, she relaxed and played with him.

I would like to add she does like him but she is also a tad wary of him in general.

I don't know if this should concern me at all or leave it at, possibly being around water caused this.

Is it a possibility she didn't recognize him at first?

Could she have recognised him but still growled?

Could being around water caused this? We've seen him walking down the street towards us because and she had no problem with him.

Thanks!

If she relaxed as soon as he spoke then I would guess she didnt recognize him, dogs like to rely on their ears and nose more than their eyes. My dog, who is aggressive towards strangers, frequently fails to recognize my brothers and my dad. If he sees them out of the window he flips out like they are strangers. Once one of my brothers came into the yard when i was out with tucker and he was going nuts, even after my brother spoke. It wasnt until i let tucker sniff him that he went wiggly. So i think the context made a big difference too (tucker only ever saw my brother enter through the front door, not coming across the lawn, so he couldnt connect the dots). Sometimes he does recognize them though.

But it is possible she knew who it was but growled anyways, especially since you say she is more on edge around water.

Like Maxy said, if she relaxed quickly, she likely didn't recognize him, or was just a bit confused/startled by the way he was approaching.

Is Serenity a rescue? If so, it might be possible that she had some bad experiences with people near water...either kids or someone pulling on her while she swims, someone throwing her into water she didn't want to be in, or just was hit or abused while in a body of water.

If she really likes water and gets excited, it's also possible the stimulation from the water lowers her threshold.

Most likely a slight confusion, happens a lot with my dog too

Several months after we got Sally DH was applying for a new position at work. He works in a factory and never dressed up for work, or anything else really, but did dress up for this interview. He got home after dark and the TV was on and the lights were off and when he walked in Sally freaked--she jumped up barking like crazy. He started talking to her and she was immediately like, "Oh, dad, it's you! Hi!" :rofl1: