King is going with me to work most days now. He seems to enjoy it, and he's pretty laid back for the most part, with one major exception. There's one guy who sets him off. About half the time, he barks when this guy returns from the bathroom or kitchen, and growls at him, and stares at him. He gets in between us, and looks very upset. If the guy waves his arms around, or makes any odd motions, King continues to growl, but if he puts his hand out, and begins to rub King's neck and chin, the growling changes to what almost sounds like a cow mooing, and eventually it stops, and he will close his eyes. If this guy backs away, King moves closer to him and paws the air, growls or barks, wanting him to continue the rubbing! King looks very upset, but he's "loose", his hair's not up, and I felt his pulse once in the middle of one of these things, and it was barely faster than it normally is just walking around. If the guy has food, King doesn't make a peep, and sits nicely next to him, begging for food, and the guy can rub his head, pat him solidly on the back, and he's fine with it.
He seems to have three responses to people at work. The majority of people he's fine with, and never growls and it's obvious he enjoys them petting him, and has no problems with hugs or any other contact. This includes all the women at work. The next bunch he's fine with most of the time, but he occasionally barks or growls when they have their hands in their pockets, or, like one guy does, puts his hands behind his back a lot. This seems to annoy him greatly, as it has almost all the dogs I've owned.
And then there's the one guy, one of the smallest guys there, not much larger than the women there, so size has nothing to do with it. He does a similar thing with a friend of mine, growling and snarling at him, staring at him intensely, and making some terrible noises while being patted on the head. Eventually, he relaxes to the point he sometimes nods off! If my friend stops, the growling starts over again, and the paw comes up to let him know he's not supposed to stop. If he's ignored, he either "Woodpeckers" his arm or stomach, or just walks away, looking confused.
I'm not really worried about this, as he never snaps at anyone, and he's been doing a similar thing with my friend for at least 5 years or more, but it's the strangest thing I've seen out of King, who has always done a lot of weird stuff in the 10 and a half years I've had him.
Anyone have any idea what this is all about?
He seems to have three responses to people at work. The majority of people he's fine with, and never growls and it's obvious he enjoys them petting him, and has no problems with hugs or any other contact. This includes all the women at work. The next bunch he's fine with most of the time, but he occasionally barks or growls when they have their hands in their pockets, or, like one guy does, puts his hands behind his back a lot. This seems to annoy him greatly, as it has almost all the dogs I've owned.
And then there's the one guy, one of the smallest guys there, not much larger than the women there, so size has nothing to do with it. He does a similar thing with a friend of mine, growling and snarling at him, staring at him intensely, and making some terrible noises while being patted on the head. Eventually, he relaxes to the point he sometimes nods off! If my friend stops, the growling starts over again, and the paw comes up to let him know he's not supposed to stop. If he's ignored, he either "Woodpeckers" his arm or stomach, or just walks away, looking confused.
I'm not really worried about this, as he never snaps at anyone, and he's been doing a similar thing with my friend for at least 5 years or more, but it's the strangest thing I've seen out of King, who has always done a lot of weird stuff in the 10 and a half years I've had him.
Anyone have any idea what this is all about?