I am always suspicious of people that my dogs do not like. I know dogs can be trained to smell out all kinds of things, but do you think they can tell when a person in just a bad apple?

I'm curious to know your opinions on this.

Thanks!

I've had dogs that would bark at the growing grass... and I've had a couple that would only bark and act funny towards certain people.. which, as it turned out, these folks were less than savory sorts and I firmly believe that the dogs sensed something I could not. My cats are like that to a point and if they don't seem to care for someone who comes into my home, I waste no time escorting these folks right out the door.

mY DOG WAS ALWAYS RIGHT

I have had dogs in the past and I am looking to get another one but yes they were always right and thats the truth. They could tell a bad person from a good one and they always knew if some one were sick.

Interesting so far. I thought about adding cats too, but I figured I'd make a start with just dogs to not muddle things up too much.

Has anyone ever trusted someone first, then the dog reacted badly to them and then it turned out the dog was right?

Funny you should ask... a few years ago...someone who was supposedly by best friend in the world betrayed me in the worst kind of way....the cats and dogs I had at the time never liked her....

^^ See that's the kind of thing I'm wondering about.

Even when people act all gushy to my animals, if they don't like the person, I'm automatically suspicious of the person. I thought I was just being paranoid. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who trusts the other pack members.

Sometimes my dogs think that I am a bad person. My dogs are as dumb as a cow....which is slightly higher than the intelligence of concrete.

Most definitely! I have yet to have a dog, or any animal really, give me a inaccurate reading on people. I even had a horse who could read people. I went horseback riding one time with a guy I was seeing, Masada bucked him off!! In all the years I owned my horse I only got bucked off once & that was when my brother tried to drive up beside us in his rattling old pick up. 2 days later, I caught him cheating on me. Masada was right...DUMP HIM!

But I've seen that with dogs, cats & horses all my life. If they can sense when earthquakes are coming, sniff out drugs, & stuff like that how big of a stretch is it for them to "read" people? And besides, haven't ever met some people that "give you the creeps"? I know I have!

You guys have to be getting tired of my lame nursing home stories.. never the less, here's another!

We had a big friendly 140lb lab husky mix, Clyde. He loved everyone and was very well trained. The home I worked for was a group home for the disabled. We took Clyde in to visit for the very first time and kept him on a leash outside in the courtyard, just to be safe. Everything was going well and he visited with about 25 residents with no incidents until a fellow named Lester walked out. Lester was a wonderful man but had the worst seizures I've ever seen a person have, often several in a day. He appropriately sat down in a chair and held his hand out for Clyde to sniff. When Clyde saw him, he went nuts snarling and growling like I'd never seen before. His hair raised and it took all my strength to hold him back while an aide ushered Lester back inside. I had worked hard to properly socialize Clyde and he never acted like that before or after that incident. I truly believe Clyde picked up on the electrical imbalances in Lester's brain and knew there was something not quite right about him. Clyde went home and I took Lester out for ice cream that night, I think he forgave me for having a, "big mean doggie".

Yeh I deff think our pets can sniff out something negitive ahead of what we can about others. I've seen it with various dogs I've had over the years and the person that mentioned horses, Ive seen that with horses as well, for good and bad, horses are very psychic animals I think. I've seen how horses have reacted to certain people, for some they worked like a dream for others they just wouldn't co-operate.

My current and only dog who is a terrier is very receptive and extra sensitive, he's so acute. Like any dog owner you get to know your dogs kind of bark or growl/welcome to when the door goes or someone comes round don't you?

You can tell from your dogs welcome if it's a stranger or not. My dog reacts quite agressively to the postman, window cleaners and paperboy but that is common, outside of that we do tend to pay attention to how he reacts. So far I've never seen him react in a negitive manner towards friends or people we know. As for those we don't know I had to answer N/A as we have no idea about the background of these people that he has reacted negitively towards.

My dog didn't like no one .. so it was a bit difficult to base anything on his senses/instincts.

I've come to sort of know what my dog is thinking. I think he does the same for me too. He can definately sense certain things that are harder to see by the normal eye.

From my experience dogs can pick up on some human feelings quite well, they are simply better at reading human body language than most of us humans are! Remember, canine communication is mostly body language. Dogs often don't "like" people who aren't behaving in what they consider to be a *normal* manner. If a person is fearful for what the dog preceives as "no good reason" they may not like that person. If a person really doesn't like dogs this will usually come across to them as well. If a person behaves in a way that the dog thinks isn't *right* they may be suspicious. For example: delivery people who don't greet the home owner properly, who do something then just leave in what dogs feel is a "sketchy" manner. Bottom line: dogs are reading different clues than we human are, sometimes they are correct, sometimes they aren't. It's best to remember that canine psychology is different from our own, but it can offer us some information we may not be aware of.

I agree with Lilly, I'm more familar with a wolf's body-langauge, but it's the same for dogs. Wolves/dogs tend to be wary and dislike men more than women simply down to men having deeper voices, which relates to dominance and aggression - if you couple that deep voice with a guy talking loud (which they are apt to do!) then that is doubling the 'threat' to the animal. That's why at the wolf trust where I volunteer women tend to make better handlers than men, as they are perceived to be 'friendlier'; that said us guys can tell the wolf off better should the need arise! Body langauge is key in becoming part of our wolves' packs, the omega wolves will invariably challenge any newcomer, and they instantly pick up on any lack of confidence or self-esteem amongst us two-legs; I can think of one recent newcomer who was painfully shy and introvert even to human senses, the omega - Dakota - was all over him like rash to try and dominate him. I had the bonus of being introduced to them while they were in season (at the time they didn't have a male wolf with them), and the alpha - Duma - took a shine to me within a couple of minutes of saying hello...

The wolf/dog of course has a keener sense of smell, and can pick up on any number of scents, pheremones etc that humans give off inadvertantly; they can detect illness and injury, and of course fear.

One aspect that I have noticed is the change in dogs' attitude to and behaviour with me since I became a wolf-person. I've never had a dog for a companion, but I always liked dogs, yet more often than not if I met a dog while out somewhere it'd bark and growl at me; now its very unusual for a dog to react adversely towards me - so I've obviously changed my whole body langauge from being part of a wolf pack.

My dogs have never been wrong. Ifthey weren't bad apple, they were definately sick.There have been times when my dogs, as well as other people's have to put the show on, you know I the guardian you're not getting past me thing. But usually as soon as they have entered the house the dogs pile up and want lovin's. Then they are buds with whomever it was.

I forgot the other obvious limitations humans have in communicating with canids - immovable ears and no tail

Also, we humans can't smell very well at all! My dogs eagerly sniff stuff I can't even begin to detect...I wonder if they are aware that I can't sniff worth a darn? Oh well, I have hands and can open the dog cookie container...I'm still cool!

So wolves will like women and high-pitched male cockneys better because of the higher voice..btw have you heard a high-pitched cockney? very irritating.. "Awww right maate, yeeeh sure no problem mate"

They also like wolves, response to a deep voiced male. Interesting.

A friend of mine has a dog that absolutely hates me... I've no idea why... I certainly mean no harm to the dog or my friend. I've not seen her in a while and went to see her today and her dog went ballistic.. she had to put him outside while I was there.

I think dogs can not only sense the bad/evil in people but can sense trouble coming before us humans can...which probably explains why the became
''man's best friend''.

I'm not too sure of this one. Reason being, I went to visit another family the other day, and their two labradors came out and greeted me as if I was some long lost friend... went absolutely mental (EDIT: mental - meaning really happy to see me). However, on another occasion, when they first met my friend, they didn't take to him too well, growling at him and all sorts.
Now, I'm not sure if this has anything/alot to do with it, but I own 2 cats and my friend owns a dog. Is there some kind of scent that the other 2 dogs picked up with me that they liked and on my friend that they didn't like? I can understand why they may have been aggresive to the scent of another dog in their territory, but I wouldn't have necessarily thought they'd like the smell of cats... Maybe there's a good explanation for this, or it helps back your theory.

^^ That does make sense... I know my friend's dog has a deep seated hatred for anything feline. I can't walk through my house without at least one of my four cats coming in contact with me in some way. My friend's dog went beserk yesterday while I was there.

Sorry for the slang. When I said mental, I meant it in the sense that they were really happy to see me.
Yea, that's how I thought it would be. But in my case, the two labradors I'd only just met seemed to adore me (a cat owner) and strongly disliked my friend (a dog owner).

It makes sense either way... I understood what you meant in reference to your own post. Just in my case.. her dog has never been happy to see me unless he was going to get the chance to go for my jugular.. and it could very well be because he can smell my cats on me.

My dog was very protective, as is my cat... kind of strange but It seemed if she didn't like the person she'd stay in the room where I am.

I have had dogs in the past that reacted to certain people and wouldn't let him/her in my house. I found out later that they were up to no good. So yes, I trust my dog's instinct. If she doesn't like someone, then I keep my eye on them.

I totally agree about the movements and dogs being able to sense when things are 'off' with a person. There are dogs that can detect seizures and to me that kind of thing is amazing. I just wonder if they can detect anything that goes beyond that?

I know that they can do some fabulous things that aren't paranormal in the least, but they are nevertheless fascinating.

I had a doberman she was GREAT she would bark at people she did not know but that's normal.One day my uncle (sicko) came to visit my aunt who lived with us at the time she told us how he did not like animals but he only enjoyed sheep I asked why sheep she said when he was younger he would have sex with them. I hated my uncle for many reasons but that took the cake.....so any way he come's to visit my aunt and my doberman (Nakemia) bite him I feel she knew my uncles hate for the animal world. Nakemia and Max (her sister) also knew my father was very ill with lung cancer they would always jump up on him and sleep next to him but when his health got worse they would lay at his feet and cry.

Reminds me of a time when our dog gave one of his agressive welcomes when the door went. It was the man coming to fix the microwave. We shut the dog in the living room so not to bother the him. Funnily enough we soon noticed the distinct smell of alcohol coming from the man. He wanted to take our microwave away with him as he didn't have the right 'part', we asked for signed copy thing of the warrenty and were quite glad to let him go on his way. lol

My brother has two Dobermans and luckily they seem to love me to death But, all he has to say is "Guard!" and those two become totally different dogs...

Yeah same thing with my weiner dog. lol

I had a boxer before the little dog I have now and the boxer would freak out at certain people like that. I didnt know if it was because she sensed something in those people or if she was just being a weirdo. (That dog was a bit retarded. LOL)

AND on the other side of things, I've had dogs freak out at me too for no reason. And I get along with most people so I didn't understand why the dog would be that way with me. The only thing I could figure is that I am actually afraid of large dogs and it seems to be the large dogs that don't like me either. maybe they sense my fear?

I have no dog but it seems like cats have the same abilities (or some that reminds of the dogs abilities)
My father was to prove it a short versiation of the story:
My father own a small company, now one day a man wanted to buy stuff, so they got in to look what my father could do, as they came in my/our cat went crazy.
So my father did trust our cat and did no buissnes with this guy, as sweden has a "black list" wich reperesents wich people/companys you shouldent be doing buissnes with
and there was this guys name. saved us much cash, we later found out.

So I can only say thanks cat
(sorry for bad spelling)

I've often said, "Don't go with your what your head tells you because it is too 'logical', and don't go with your heart because it is too 'emotional, but always follow your gut because your instinct don't lie." I believe that animals are like instinct, especially dogs and this could be why dogs are referred to as man's best friend.

Dogs are very keen not only a person's true spirit and personality, but they are keen to a person's health. I'd say trust your dog, especially if your dog knows you, as it's owner to be the Alpha in your pack. If your dog over-rides your own agression, then you can pretty much rest assured that something isn't quite right with the one he/she is being aggressive toward.

Just my two-cents.

I always trust my hounds instincts about people, they are always spot on. I think dogs (and all animals in fact) have very highly developed extra sensory perception. To the extent that we cannot even begin to comprehend.

Voted "Keep Closer Eye"
"Senses Scared or Sick"
and "N/A"

I don't think it's limited to scared or sick and sometimes their sensors can just be plain off, but it's enough, and never hurts, to keep a closer eye once a possible red flag has been raised.
I don't keep any pets other than the wife an kids.

Anyone have experience with racist dogs?

Yes, I had a Huskey that barked more violently at blacks than whites walking down the street but, she didn't react any differently to them if they were visitors in our home.

My current dog loves almost everybody, although curiously, he distrusts the same people I do. I'm not sure who's giving who signals...

I trust animals more than I do people. So yes.