What to do when people try to provoke your dog?

Our dog is gorgeous and loveable, as you can see from the profile piccie. =) But some things get him annoyed and scare him, he's a rescue dog who was rehomed 3 times before he was even 1 1/2 old. He had a tough start.Where we are there are a load of idiots who think it's funny to provoke him by "barking" at him, shouting at him and so on, this gets him annoyed and he starts barking then we get dirty looks off passers by. What to do in this situation?

Is it possible to keep him inside while the idiots are around? You may also approach them in a nice way and tell them about the difficult life your dog has had and explain how their teasing is making it even harder for him to adjust.Its just possible they will stop annoying him.

I tell people to leave my dog alone and if they keep it up, remove the dog from the situation. Then try to keep morons away from him. Some people are so stupid when it comes to animals and like provoking them and that really p*sses me off! People need to learn not to do that and to approach animals carefully and not jam their hand quickly in the animal's face. Let animals approach you. A lot of bites would be prevented when people would just use common sense.

Don't leave him outside aloneLike the sign says -- make sure people know:Forget the dog -- Beware of owner!!People around here know that about me!

I know this is going to sound simplistic, but you'll need to train your dog to ignore those that would "bark" or shout at him. That is the only part of this situation you have control over. Does your dog sit and stay now? If not you'll need to train him to do that first. If he does already sit and stay, you'll begin by having someone "bark" softly at first while you control your dog. Don't let him respond. Lot's of encouragement, but be firm. Increase the volume and excitement level of the "bark" until he ignores that sound completely. Within a week or two this should be a non-issue for you and your dog. It's actually much easier than you might think. This type of obedience training not only reinforces your leadership role, but will help create an even stronger bond between you and your dog.

Call Animal Control or the police and report them for it. Where I live you can be fined for provoking a dog.

My dogs bark at any thing & every thing on the street. We are in the middle of a dead in street with lots of foot traffic. So many complaints about my dogs brought head of Animal control out. After standing for about 45 min. at my fence line my dogs did bark but they had reasons for their barking & did not just bark to bark, as some dog tend to do. I did not get a citation because they only barked when there was reason to. &, (I quote) ,"I see nothing wrong here, it is just like my yard. Dogs bark. They don't moo, nay or cluck, they bark, that is what dogs do."Of course most of the people on this street have dogs so the barking starts at one end of the street & is relayed all the way to the other end.With people that want to bark at them or throw things at them or yell at them, charge the fence & carry on, only keeps me from hiring someone to agitate them.Different situation I know cause I live out in the county & not in the city limits. But the basic rules apply to both city & county.Because of my vocal dogs my home has not been broken into like all the other houses on this street. (It is the border between two gangs.)

Gene got it right. Once your dog has learned to ignore those idiots they will lose interest and take themselves off to be a nuisance somewhere else. But, if they persist, you should report them.

Well...if my husband is with me...I don't worry. He's told kids (teenagers) who think it's funny to act like that around a dog to leave the dog alone. We had one woman who was nuts who kept trying to feed my dog a hotdog...and we had already said no. He finally lost it and yelled at her.Between the two of us, the "Hey...don't do that to my dog" approach usually works. At our old house, we got out the video camera and threatened to call the police. They scattered and I never saw them again.My dogs are taught the "leave it" command and will stop barking if we tell them to.

Walk away, he would.

An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth, id provoke them also! Though first it may be a better idea to reason with the dogs antagonisers before annoying them also.

i let my dog chase the provokers , normally laffing as they run away with teeth in there backside , it happens all to often with me and i really enjoy letting it loose rof the chase , silly gits should know that not all dogs are fluff balls , and some bite , i have yet to see police at my door , as i know neibours would say i have seen nothing