I think you could be right. I know exactly what you mean about GSPs getting over excited and I would imagine you would tense up in expectation of this and he's picked up on this. Is he the same with different handlers?
I knew someone with a little dog that used to chase horses/joggers/cyclists etc, she would always shout and panic and it made the dog worse, so she tried ignoring it and eventually the dog got the idea and stopped.

Hi

It does sound like Woody has become a bit fearful of men and situations that are not the norm, this could be due to undersocialisation as a puppy, although some dogs do go through stages where they become 'spooky' about things and they do come out of it OK, you just need to be so confident that it makes him feel confident too.

Firstly, try and be calm about it and think 'control', keep your lead slack. If you can feel or see it about to happen, then before he starts the bark, watch his tail, his stance etc., and you should be able to predict it, turn him away, walk in an arc, in the opposite direction, (make sure you are confident in the way you do this, be matter of fact and not reassuring), literally move him away from what he has tensed about, this will reduce his fear/stress levels, at the same time, use some really nice treats to get his attention, reward him on the move and then turn back around to continue forward again. Use your food under his nose and keep going.

If he goes into the 'heightened' bark phase, then whatever you do is not going to make much difference, you could try turning away then, but chances are he will keep 'looking' at whoever or whatever.

I can't stress the importance of you keeping calm and not tensing the lead, as he will look at you on how to react. I wonder what he is like off the lead, does he still spook?

If you can, i.e. with your trainer setting him up with friends, get them to help him, by avoiding eye contact, turning sideways on and throw treats towards them for him. Keep him at a place where he is not barking and feels safe and only move forward when he is relaxed and will move forward too, he will probably lean forward sniffing towards them and any movement will make him jump back, but just let him take his own pace, you want him to be silent but curious.

The more you push him, the more he will be anxious, so you need to be in control and make him feel he can rely on you. This also includes in the home situation, make sure you have clear structures in place and you control his daily routines, so he leaves all the responsible stuff to you and can relax!

It should get better, the more you can get him out and help him feel safe, the better.

Kate

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It generally happens off lead, but when he is on lead he pulls to get to the stranger to say hello.

He is intact but I've been advised to wait to neuter him until he is 12 to 18 months old for various reasons. We have decided that just before Christmas probably wouldn't be a good time as we have my family to stay over for a while and it wouldn't be a good time for him to convalesce and get used to being nut free.

He doesn't see an awful lot of men as I am with him most of the time (I work from home) and he doesn't get to see my husband until the evening for a few hours. He sees my dad once in a while but all the rest of my family are girls.

Do dogs all go through a stage of being a bit apprehensive when they start to mature and their hormones are raging as I have spoken to several people with dogs of this age and they seem to do the same thing?

I wouldnt worry about him being agresssive,we had one exactly the same he was worse when we were walking and someone stood still, all it is, is a dogs defence mechanism, monty would see someone he didnt know and back off all the time his tail was wagging but he was barking going forward,backing off, going forward again then backing off as if he wanted to go up and say hello but darnt. the barking is the defence thing making him look like hes aggressive so the threat (being the other person) wont hurt him.

This was what i was told by 2 seperate behaviourists.

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Thanks, I was getting a bit worried but that sounds exactly the way he is behaving - it seems to be when the person is a bit wary of dogs and doesn't interact in a friendly way. Just out of interest what is the best thing I can do in this situation as I have had to end up dragging him away his recall is generally good but in this situation he won't come back to me of his own accord.

GSP's aren't usually an aggressive breed just a bit over friendly if anything so I was worried that Oscar was going to be an exception. our last GSP George was never aggressive in any way but it was a long time ago and I can't remember if he was like this at this age.

Yes there was always something about the people monty used to do it to, particularly one man we used to meet he always stood still necer spoke and monty woild do his ime aggressive dont come near bark with the o.m.g ime a chicken backing off routine i learnt ages after monty decided he was a little strange that someone knew him in the village as being questioned for having children in his home(say no more) one man he used to behave like this with was someone we met several times and one time i looked back and saw him hit his dog across the back with a stick, after these experiences i never worried too much maybe its a good thing at how amazing dogs are sensing these sort of people, does make you feel very safe. All i used to do was call his name and usually he came to me still looking back barking or i used to go up to him and put him on the lead I wouldnt worry about it just trust your dogs instinct and walk away.

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