Man-phobic Poodle greets a man!

[Wicket]

While we were at the park a couple days ago, my Poodle and I walked by an older man and his dog. Our dogs greeted each other, doing the usual bum sniff and play bow, which is an achievement in itself. For reasons I don't know, my Poodle was never taught proper dog manners. If any dogs sniffed her bum, she'd snap at them. When our chi-poo came around, she didn't really know how to initiate play either. She just barked and lunged at my chi-poo, wagging her tail. With encouragement and help from my chi-poo, she now seems to know to address other dogs better.

Anyway, the two dogs were doing play bows, barking, and chasing each other. His dog jumped on the stone that the man was sitting on and my Poodle followed to investigate. She sat right next to him and he reached out to pet her. Before my Poodle would shy away and growl at men--even those not in her territory---and until she trusted them, there would an "adjustment period" as we called it. With this man, she warmed up to instantly, enjoying his petting. We parted ways when his wife arrived.

I'm shocked this happened. To be honest, I haven't done at training, more management. I've kicked out the men I know she doesn't trust and kept exposing her the ones she liked. If she saw a strange man on the street and put her tail down, growling low, we'd walk away to a safer place.

[Fundog]

Has she ever met another man with a dog before? I know that my Annie generally will automatically trust any man who is accompanied by a dog, or whom she smells dog on. That does seem to make a difference.

Regardless, well done, for paying attention to your dogs, watching who they trust and reinforcing encounters with the ones they do.