Major Problem... Dog Hates Roommate

[Biscottypuppy]

Ok, so here is the issue. I have two dogs, brother and sister. They both listen very well and are very calm and relaxed dogs. When I moved from my mother's house, the dogs came with me. Everything was fine until my roommate moved in. We started noticing the female would sometimes shake when my roommate was around. She was fine with my boyfriend and I and acted no differently with us, she just seemed to be terrified of my roommate on random occasions. He has never been rough with her or aggressive with her, she is simply just terrified of him. The issues with her have only gotten worse. She gets into these little frenzies and when she does, she yalps when he simply walks by her, sometimes she will squat along with the yalping. She even bit him when he tried to grab her and bring her outside during one of these fits where she ran a trail of number 2 through the house. Sometimes, when he goes to pet her, she wees/poops right where she is sitting. The male loves my roommate and relaxes with him all day, has no issues with him what so ever. My roommate treats both dogs exactly alike and he has taken many approaches to attempting to bond with my little girl. He started using a soft voice, using the "baby talk" my mother and I have always used with her, he stays calm around her, tries not to be so boisterous, gives her treats... I just really don't know what to do anymore. I love this dog and I have thought about taking her back to my mother's, but these two have been together their whole lives, they're 5 years old and have never been apart. I really don't want to have to do it, but if this continues I won't have a choice If you have advice PLEASE HELP!!!

[ladybug1802]

First of all - you are right - your dog sounds absolutely terrified of your roommate so he should not be making any attempts to approach her at all....no petting, no talking, no eye contact, nothing at all. You say he tried to grab her and put her outside....he should absolutely not do this.

Are you absolutely sure he has done nothing to make her fear him, been rough with her, shouted at her...even when you are not there?

Others will hopefully be around soon to give better advice on what to do, but you should ask your roommate to totally ignore her. It sounds like he is constantly approaching her, trying to get her to let him pet her, but with her being so fearful of him you need to let her just 'be' and get used to the fact that he is not a threat. If she approaches him, ask him to ignore her the first few times....then he can maybe stroke her on her chest or under her chin. But he should make no eye contact whatsoever. I have a dog who is fearful of strangers and will snap if they cross the line.....eye contact os a very confrontational thing for dogs, so when he looks at her ask him to look at her for a second, then look away - make sure he doesnt stare.

[Newfiesmum]

Personally, I would suspect that he has done something to her, even accidentally. I agree with what Ladybug says, he must not approach her. He may think he is being reassuring but she does not understand this at all. He could try throwing a treat for her when she is calm, but still not approaching or going anywhere near her. It could be the tone of his voice that she doesn't like, but either way he needs to leave her be altogether and wait until she is ready to approach him.

[Nettle]

Can you tell us more about "these little frenzies"? Might she be epileptic?