Why does he hate Jehovah's Witnesses so much?

This is just becoming really weird. Strider never barks at people approaching the house. He's a service animal, loves everyone, had the poo socialized out of him, but turns into a crayzay beast when they're coming.

He's not cuing off me or anything, since they are totally invisible until I open the door the only way I know someone is coming is because he barks. This time he started barking when they were at the end of the driveway. When I open the door instead of standing next to me he tries to block/brace in front of me. He doesn't growl or anything aggressive, just that booming bark and trying to keep them from touching me.

The first time it was two men. The second was a young couple, and the third was two young ladies, all different people. And he reacted the same every time.

Yet, he loves the magazine salesmen, the Mormon missionaries, and the UPS man, etc. This is seriously bothering me, because I can't figure out why he is objecting so strongly to them. Outwardly they seem like nice enough people, and it's different people. The only thing they have in common is their religion, and I have a hard time believing my dog is a bigot.

As a note, the block/brace thing is one of his tasks, but he was taught to stand behind me and do it when we're in line somewhere in public, or standing in a crowd, not in front of me.

Any insights? BTW, he has never acted like this outside our house, or toward any other people. Just the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Do they all dress a certain way?

In suits, but so do the Mormons and he loves them. They even get a full body wiggle from him. Plus, he sees people in suits all the time when we're running around downtown and at church.

i was gonna say it could be clothes if they tend to be "uniform" dressers...

but that being said...Ruby HATES them too, she will generally keep out of the way when people come to visit but if she starts baying at the door i know not to open it...
jasper doesnt like them either but i dont know if hes just feeding off ruby...

and here theres no "uniform" but they do tend to send little old ladies because folks around here are less likley to turn away a little old lady.

Yeah, that's the weird thing is he goes off long before he ever sees them, so it wouldn't be their appearance anyway. Smell? Sound? weird.

Do YOU know who they are? Maybe you are subconsciously especially irritated by Jehovah's Witnesses, and he picks up on it?

I dunno, but it seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

If that was the case he would hate my mother in law a lot more. :rofl1: What I can't figure out is what about them sets him off when they are still 50 feet from our house and totally out of sight.

He is just warning you to not open the door that it's people coming that no one usually wants to talk to anyhow

Jehova's Witnesses... have been known to use coercive pressure when they go door to door. And I'm not anti-JW or anything, that's just really how they are.. that's how they think they're supposed to do it. Maybe Strider picks up on that.

lol Romy!!

They can be pretty intense, and I thought maybe they STARED at the house or something?

But when I read the post I read it as he barks before they're even in sight?

How far away, could he smell them?

Does he look out a window?

or are they not visible to him, and he just randomly barks and then 30 seconds later Bingo! Jehovah's Witness? Because if it's the latter that is just creepy and I have no suggestions lol.

dog senses don't have to be smell or sight... or any of our 5. Maybe JWs emit some kind of aura that Strider can sense at 50 feet or something.

It's the last choice, the creepy one. lol

Maybe it is some kind of vibe that puts him off. I do think people have different smells according to their emotions/intentions.

It's kind of controversial in SAR, but some people's dogs seem to be able to sift through all the smells of other hikers, hunters, SAR people/law enforcement, and go straight for the scent of the missing person. Some people think it's because a lost person puts off some sort of distress smell the dog learns to hone in on.

So maybe these guys have some intent/smell that puts him off. Weird. I have heard that male dogs can smell a female in season 5 miles away, so he should be able to smell them on our street.

Hmmm... JWs smell funny... or they wear distinctive footwear or something like that. Ya learn something new every day.

Consider yourself lucky ! I know they mean well ~ BUT !!! I use Ollie as an excuse as to why I don't invite people in ! I know he'd love them to death , but I tell them I don't trust my dog !

Actually the one time I had them knock on my door, as soon as I said no thank you and started shutting my door, they smiled politely and told me to have a nice day... and they left. But I do know that many JWs are very pushy.

He really is a Narnian llama, with magic powers. :rofl1: Maybe, the first time was the two guys and he freaked the crap out of them. They couldn't get away fast enough. Then they sent a young married couple, and two young girls after that. lol.

Weird.
I don't discount dogs having extra senses, Buster knows when people are coming home. He once told me my Dad was home, he reacted to the car driving past the house to go turn around at the end of the street. Weird thing is that my Dad was getting dropped home in a car Buster had never seen before.

He has also reacted like I'm coming home when in fact it would have been the exact time I went past our street on the bus, different bus than I normally caught at a different time.

Amazing stories. As much as we know about dogs, there is so much we don't know. They are truly a mystery sometimes in what they sense or know.