Barking at people

[Murphys Law]

Murphy has always been a bit of an odd ball but this behaviour has got me concerned.

He will run up to people, stop about 10 yards away, and bark at them. Today he did it to a young boy who was sat on his bike on the field and the boy was obviously scared.

He will also do this on a lead walk if he has to walk past somebody who is stood still, looking at him as he approaches. If people are walking towards him, or in the same direction we are walking, he doesn't give them a second glance. We were on the beach last year, plenty of people about and he wasn't phased at all. Until he came across a little group sat down. Again, he ran over and started barking at them.

It seems to me that somebody standing still makes him very anxious 

Now I don't think that he will ever bite somebody, but I can't be 100% sure about this. So I try to avoid areas that will be busy but this is not always possible.

Any advice.

[hoover]

We recall Ollie when we spot any potential issues like this ahead of us and get him on the lead either heading in a different direction or taking a wide berth.  Requires vigilance but quite doable mostly. He is now attuned to the fact that we will do this and often looks back to us  when he spots an issue ahead that he would usually react to so that we can recall easily.  On-lead walks are a bit harder, especially in narrow walk ways but I make the lead shorter, get him to walk to the side of me that the person is not on and keep him just behind me, striding purposefully so he has to pay attention to walking nicely rather than focussing on another person or dog he is likely to be wary of.

In the past we used to keep his attention with a tennis ball or treats until we had passed a trouble spot and that worked well too, as long as their interest in that is great enough to overcome their concern of what is troubling them.

[lescef]

I have a very similar problem with Bramble.  If a lone person is walking towards us on the beach or the hills she will bark at them. We need to be careful because of the dangerous dogs act and people's reactions.
It's almost like she's telling them off but  I'm sure a trainer would have a better explanation!
I try to distract and have tried to teach an alternative behaviour.  As soon as I spot someone I call her back, walk "close", then when the person has passed treat. I also sometimes get her back then throw treats in front of her for her to sniff out while the person passes.
Most times now she automatically turns and comes back when she sees someone ahead.
I'd really like to be able to sit  outside a cafe and have a drink but I haven't managed to stop that barking I'm afraid.
When we're walking the streets I give a wide berth and a 'walk on' command.

[Murphys Law]

Thanks for the replies.

What I don't get is that I walked my two in Liverpool city centre last week for 2 hours. It was very busy with shoppers but Murphy loved it. He wasn't fazed at all and was quite happy for a couple of police officers to make a fuss of him.

But a single child on a field and and he turns into a different dog.

[bizzylizzy]

Thanks for the replies.

What I don't get is that I walked my two in Liverpool city centre last week for 2 hours. It was very busy with shoppers but Murphy loved it. He wasn't fazed at all and was quite happy for a couple of police officers to make a fuss of him.

But a single child on a field and and he turns into a different dog.

I reckon I could put up with some bad behaviour if I could walk Humphrey through a city centre for two minutes, let alone two hours!!! Its not the noise or the bustle but the excitement of which delicious smell to bolt at first!!! 
Don‘t have any ideas about the barking problem though, it‘s a strange one. I could only hazard a guess in that Murphy expects people to move and in doing so he recognizes that they‘re people, if you follow me.  People standing still maybe seem more threatening , in a similar way that we‘d perhaps be more suspicious of people loitering slowly on a street corner rather than if they were obviously going somewhere. Its a bit of a long shot but, according to Patricial McConnell in The Other End of the Leash, dogs recognize humans by their silouettes, even a familiar person who suddenly dons a cape and brimmed hat can floor them, so its maybe feasible  that a person sitting on a bike or leaning against a bench etc might have the same effect because the silouette is different (?). I suppose shadows or light could possibly come into play aswell. Ofcourse I could be completely barking up the wrong tree  , but it was just a thought.....

[karenl]

Yes my dog amber does this too ,she always has and she is now eight !
She does it less now but we have just learnt when and who she is about to bark at and
Just try and distract her by calling her to us or giving her a treat or throw a ball in the
Opposite direction this works with amber !
It's just another one of her funny little ways !!

[Jazz]

Jasmine does this too. She can happily walk past people in busy areas, yesterday she lay quietly on the floor of the pub during lunch, but some people do seem to warrant a good telling off. She will walk past someone quite happily then once they are a few yards away she will turn and run back barking at them. She has never bitten in this situation (I have a thread about her biting incident) but it is a worry.

It's the unpredictability that's difficult. Joggers and people on bikes are top of her naughty list and I can anticipate these (usually) and distract her with a treat, but sometimes it's a completely random person just walking along minding their own business.