TL;DR – my dog Merlin is defensive towards my brother and is very aggressive towards him when he walks into the house, but avoidant when my brother is in the house. He is not aggressive towards anyone else in the household to this degree even though all of us live together full time. We need help on how to socialize him with my brother.
I have a dog (Merlin) who is a terrier mutt and is TERRIFIED of my brother and only my brother. The dog came from a very traumatic past (hoarding situation) and is fearful of new people, especially when they walk into our house. He has grown accustomed to myself and my parents since we live here, but somehow he has not reached that same level of comfort with my brother. This is to the point where if he comes into the house, Merlin with growl and bark and even try to bite at him. We have no idea why he hates specifically my brother so much, nor how to increase their comfort together.
For some additional context:
– once in the house, Merlin is fearful and avoidant of my brother—not defensive
– He only becomes defensive when my brother walks into the house (even if he leaves and walks in again a minute later, he still has the same fear)
– Toys/Treats have not helped him very much to create a positive interaction when my brother enters the house
– My brother lives in the house full time
– Due to being a terrier, Merlin also expresses herding behavior towards people which may explain the defensiveness
It is putting huge stress on the household to have them at odds for seemingly no reason. Our current theory is that Merlin had a traumatic past with someone who looked like my brother. We have tried to get help, but their tips weren’t the most effective (eg. Having my brother feed Merlin didn’t change much since he still shyed away).
Does anyone have any resources to help with this?
submitted by /u/Alone4220
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