Jack Russell scared of men

[Jane]

I found a small Jack Russell in the traffic six weeks ago. No microchip . No owner despite being on Lors lost dogs and Twitter. She had mange on her ears, now treated and cured. She had a bad fight and was bitten by my son’s dog. She is fine now after vet attention. She went into heat and now has been spayed.
More positively she is now housetrained, she has great recall off a lead, she is great with our grandchildren, loves me, likes my dog, likes some women.However she does not like men and this is my problem. Despite using treats she still barks and growls at my husband particularly when he comes into the house and she is tense sitting near him. He loves dogs and finds this hard understandably. She got into the car with him today ( she loves the car) but will not walk without me. She growls at my son and son in law also. I know she is afraid . Any advice is welcome.

[jake n bailey]

Hi Jane I have a Jack Russell as well,they are a lovely little dog to own.
My dog was found straying as well when she was a pup,but still can be
nervous around some people.
What I would try in your situation is to let your husband/son take over feeding,walking etc,if possible and you take a step back.
Another idea is to buy a squeaky tennis ball or toy (they love anything
that squeaks) and get them to play in the garden with her.
Reward her with treats every time she brings it back to them.Dont rush her as it will take time for her to trust them.
If any man visits the house,have the squeaky ball handy for them to throw for her.I find by squeaking the ball,they forget what they were growling at and all attention is on that ball!
They do tend to bond with one person,as my own dog would be the same with me.
Hope this is of some help to you,let us know how she gets on

[Jane]

Thanks for the advice. My husband does feed her but as yet she will not walk with him alone. Although today she raced after him down the beach where he was with the other dogs and stayed with him until I caught up. However my 5 year old grandson was with my husband and Pip loves him. My husband throws balls for her and she runs off with them and then runs after our other dog who brings back the ball immediately. This is forming a bond with my husband although she will not deliberately give him the ball.
I neglected to say that the vet says she is older than2 but not more than 5 so she has probably been through a lot before she came to us. I also had another rescue Jack Russell who loved me too much but she wasn’t afraid of men so it was much easier.
Every day we go 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I don’t think she relaxes until I am with her. So it is no wonder she gets stressed. My other dog is snoring on the sofa while Pip is alert until I sit down beside her in the evening.The other dog loves my husband.

[Author]

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