flick wrote:
We have six dogs. Some are decidedly unfriendly to strangers, but always
friendly to family members from the get-go, even though they visit only once
or twice a year. This was also true of our Shar Peis, most of them were
VERY standoffish, or worse, to strangers.

One of our Plain Brown Dogs, who I must leash to let people in the gate,
likes our family. Ditto the Amazingly Shy Chow Mix. The Saint Bernard is
fine with family, initially cautious with other visitors.

So do dogs know when a person is a family member? From our experience, it
seems that they do.

How? The owner's body language? The family members' body language?
Commonality of scent? Has anybody studied this?

I believe that dogs recognize family by smell...

"Hey.... This chick smells kinda like SheWhoMustBeObeyed... Maybe 50%
congruence... So I still have to stare at her suspiciously around the
kitchen corner wall, but when she calls me by name and holds her hand
out I just have to weasel up to her and press my cheek into her palm."

We have six dogs. Some are decidedly unfriendly to strangers, but always
friendly to family members from the get-go, even though they visit only once
or twice a year. This was also true of our Shar Peis, most of them were
VERY standoffish, or worse, to strangers.

One of our Plain Brown Dogs, who I must leash to let people in the gate,
likes our family. Ditto the Amazingly Shy Chow Mix. The Saint Bernard is
fine with family, initially cautious with other visitors.

So do dogs know when a person is a family member? From our experience, it
seems that they do.

How? The owner's body language? The family members' body language?
Commonality of scent? Has anybody studied this?

flick 100785

"flick" wrote in message
...
We have six dogs. Some are decidedly unfriendly to strangers, but always
friendly to family members from the get-go, even though they visit only
once or twice a year. This was also true of our Shar Peis, most of them
were VERY standoffish, or worse, to strangers.

One of our Plain Brown Dogs, who I must leash to let people in the gate,
likes our family. Ditto the Amazingly Shy Chow Mix. The Saint Bernard is
fine with family, initially cautious with other visitors.

So do dogs know when a person is a family member? From our experience, it
seems that they do.

Yes. We got a dog while my brother was out of the country. He was a scaredy
dog. My brother returned and met the dog when he was about 8 months old.
The dog reacted much differently than he would to a stranger.

How? The owner's body language? The family members' body language?
Commonality of scent? Has anybody studied this?


We believed it was scent, but I don't really know.

"Kathleen" wrote

I believe that dogs recognize family by smell...

Also voice. After introducing people to Urger (and vice versa) who may turn
up in our yard unannounced I tell them to be sure to call his name and say
something like "It's me" as they enter. Depending on the degree of
familiarity he may still challenge them but he won't go after them like he
would a complete stranger.

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
flick wrote:
We have six dogs. Some are decidedly unfriendly to strangers, but
always
friendly to family members from the get-go, even though they visit only
once
or twice a year. This was also true of our Shar Peis, most of them were
VERY standoffish, or worse, to strangers.

One of our Plain Brown Dogs, who I must leash to let people in the gate,
likes our family. Ditto the Amazingly Shy Chow Mix. The Saint Bernard
is
fine with family, initially cautious with other visitors.

So do dogs know when a person is a family member? From our experience,
it
seems that they do.

How? The owner's body language? The family members' body language?
Commonality of scent? Has anybody studied this?

I believe that dogs recognize family by smell...

"Hey.... This chick smells kinda like SheWhoMustBeObeyed... Maybe 50%
congruence... So I still have to stare at her suspiciously around the
kitchen corner wall, but when she calls me by name and holds her hand
out I just have to weasel up to her and press my cheek into her palm."
==============
The Rottweiler I had before this one, did not like my sister-in-law and
brother; these two were not married to each other but to others. Both are
nice friendly people, so the only thing we did know was that both of them
were afraid of her. I assume she sensed their fear. Everyone else in the
family was accepted by her. They eventually relaxed and were ok with her
and she with them.
I do believe they know when the children are family and not to be harmed.
Once this same dog was lying on the floor in my dining room, and one of my
granddaughters, about age 4 at the time, was running around and tripped
suddenly over the dog and fell completely on top of her. Her head landed on
top of the dog's head. The dog never flinched an inch. She never growled
or even lifted her head up off the floor. I lifted the child up and the dog
remained on the floor as though it never happened. It was very unreal.
The Rottweiler I have now loves everyone and greets everyone at the door
with tail wagging. She must recognize family and friends coming before I
open the door.. Because when I was in a hotel room one night with her
sleeping on the floor on her mat, I heard some people talking outside the
room. Suddenly, I heard this ferocious low growling sound which then
changed into a huge bark and a leap to the door with a body slam. The
voices were no longer heard after a couple more of those. The incident did
make me feel safe in the hotel room that night.

"flick" wrote in message :

So do dogs know when a person is a family member? From our experience, it
seems that they do.

I agree that some dogs seem to know. My aunt back home has a lovely mutt.
Lovely to family, that is. He is an excellent guard dog, yet seems to know
when it's family coming, and whereas he's doing a good Cujo impersonation
with non-family, he'll try to lick you to death if you're family, even if
you are meeting him for the first time.

How? The owner's body language? The family members' body language?
Commonality of scent? Has anybody studied this?

This dog at least seems to know before we're within sight (of the dog or the
humans), so I'm guessing scent has something to do with it.

Suja