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I'm just curious to know how others would handle this.

I would not reprimand my dog for such reactions but would expect her to calm down once I took control of any situation. The scenario in the woods would be particularily precarious for dog or man/woman that came out of a path to surprisingly find a strange figure looming around.

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This man came over to the boys...they didn't know him. When I was leaving the store... he was talking to a little girl. I think that guy was a weirdo.

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...how others would handle this.

Open the car door.

One day I was sitting at the tables out in front of the store talking with some guys when my dog saw a woman who was minding her own business come meandering down the red line that seperates the store sidwalk from the parking lot. There were plenty of people around because we had been there for a while. My dog was fine when all of a sudden he alerted on this woman. I recognized her from 3 days before as the schitzo woman who was talking to herself while she was sitting by herself down at the Starbucks. I did not correct him but let him know that it was ok and everything was under control.

Carbon has had issues with a couple of people. I don't know what set him off, but one of them was a friend of mine! It was odd...I like the guy a lot, and have no idea what Carbon hated about him. I DO trust my dog's instinct about people. However, I think it can also be something as simple as a non-dog person stupidly making extended eye contact with the dog and walking towards us.

At any rate, Carbon went ballistic and I did eventually have to correct him so that I could mantain control of the situation. The upshot of it was that Carbon would sit at my side, but wouldn't stop growling.

That's fine, that's perfect, actually! I WANT Carbon to alert me if he thinks something's off, and I don't mind the initial display...but I still want him to be in my control. I still want him looking to me to see what the next move should be. I have no doubt in my mind that he would have bitten this guy if I hadn't insisted that he take his intensity down a notch. I don't want him thinking that it's okay to act insane and out of control, no matter who is coming up to me.

Here's my view on it: If a dog is intense--you respect the dog. If the owner can control that intensity and direct it if needed---you respect the dog AND the owner.

 Quote: amber morgan

That's fine, that's perfect, actually! I WANT Carbon to alert me if he thinks something's off, and I don't mind the initial display...but I still want him to be in my control. I still want him looking to me to see what the next move should be. I have no doubt in my mind that he would have bitten this guy if I hadn't insisted that he take his intensity down a notch. I don't want him thinking that it's okay to act insane and out of control, no matter who is coming up to me.

Here's my view on it: If a dog is intense--you respect the dog. If the owner can control that intensity and direct it if needed---you respect the dog AND the owner.

Beautiful explanation Amber!

Oscar did a similar thing to a good friend of MINE. Marked her pretty much from day one (once he hit maturity) as someone he wasn't cool with and to this day is just not comfortable with her around. I've never seen him react so negatively to someone I approved of, but I think I know why - she's a VERY domineering person and has a super forceful tone with animals - might work with a soft dog, but it made Oscar pretty grumpy. He even squeezed himself between us when I hugged her standing up at some point - without a doubt, he didn't want her too close to him, or ME!

In this type of situation, I do correct him when his hackles go up or he grumbles too long AFTER the initial warning - so long as I've approved them, a guest in my home should not need to be continually reminded of Oscar's displeasure - he can just hang out in another room. In the OPs situations - GOOD DOG!! No correction necessary - that dog was using her instincts and something felt "off", good of her to let her owner know. This is part of the reason why I like having an alert dog as well.

~Natalya

I've always trusted my dogs' judgment of character. Most reliable have been my GSDs versus other breeds I've had.

Even though Lear is only 14 months old today, he's learning to tune in to people. Cars pass by all the time with no reaction on his part, but sometimes he will focus on a car. When he does, I watch the car too.

My last GSD, Sierra, was completely and totally aloof with people. Never paid them ANY mind. On one of our jaunts in the car, she zeroed in on a guy in a car stopped next to us at the light. She fixed her eyes on him with complete attention, not friendly attention, until he was out of sight. She continued to look for him until she was certain the guy was gone. All very unusual behavior for her in the car.

I trust my dogs. With this instinctive behavior, I don't even go so far as to tell them it's "ok". To me that's a correction in a sense. I don't want to ever stifle that behavior. Instead I take on the attitude that we're a team, and we watch these people together. To me, that's the dog's job in the pack, just as it would be in the wild with wolf packs. Everyone is vigilant, not just the alpha.

I read on a site once that a lady was at the park playing fetch with her dog and letting the kids play on the swings when a man had come up with his dog. The little retriever he had with him was very excitable and wanted to play with the kids. Which the guy encouraged. Her GSD didn't seem to have any issues with them when they came into the park but at one point the pup got real close to the kids and jumped up on one of them. The guy came over close to control the pup. Her dog went insane and charged after them. The lady got control of the dog and apologized to the guy, thinking her dog was after the pup. Turned out two days later she and the kids were at the grocery store and one of the kids said, Look mommy the nice man from the park. She then proceeded to read a report on the guy. Apparently, he was a child molester that used the ploy of bringing a dog to the park (he didn't even own that pup) to lure kids into his confidence then molest them. When she thought back about it she realized that her dog wasn't going after the pup, he was actually going after the guy. I think that evil has an aura or a color dogs can see. We need to trust them.