Our year old bc has always been a bit 'worried' by men - not all though, and a couple of weeks ago my dad fell over a rug towards her. Since then every time she sees him she growls and barks at him until we remove her (not him). Once he is sitting down she will go up to him and demand attention by pawing, etc and sits and lets him stroke her constantly. Any suggestions how to stop this - it is like she is telling him off -any help would be appreciated as my dad gets really upset as he loves dogs.

Thanks

Shame man. I can imagine your dad getting upset. Our Spaniel used to do it with my dad and it was very upsetting. Eventually my dad took on almost all the duties of looking after the her like, feeding, taking for walks, playing outside etc, and eventually the dog stopped growling at him. I think that she just learnt that my father was looking after her and she grew to trust him. Good luck and I hope it all works out :)

Hi Lindy,
It seems that, unintentionally, your dad gave your dog a real scare. :( Especially if she's not confident with men anyway.

One way round this is to get your dad doing all the nice things with your dog - feeding, walking etc. Another is for your dad (and all of you) to completely ignore her 'bad' behaviour and only acknowledge her presence when she's quiet. When your dad walks past her he could try dropping a titbit onto the floor, without slowing down or looking at her so that she starts to think that him moving towards her could be a good thing.

Hope one of these ideas helps.
:)