We went to a grass area behind a local gym and arts center, where we have been going to practice for a long time. The difference this morning was that there was a construction crew at the end of the parking lot, working on preparing for repaving. One construction worker walked through our training area on the way back to his work. Gunny was sitting next to me and I saw him "lock on" with his eyes...then start to rumble. I turned him away just before he started to bark. He did the same thing with another person that walked through our area. When we got home, I had him out of the car when the mailman walked by. He sniffed him...then started to bark!
I am trying to figure out what, in these situations, set him off. The commonality I came up with is that he was sitting next to me, rather than walking forward. Also, these were individual people walking by one at a time. Obviously we need a lot more work in this area.
I have two planned ways to work on this: We will go to the park, where there is lots of room, and let people walk by, staying far enough back from them that he is comfortable. We will also go to the pet supply store where we shop, and practice having people give him treats. I need him to learn what or who is a threat and who is not.
Below is a photo of Gunny sitting in front of our set-up, relaxed and happy, and not problem with people going by.
