My fear aggresive little Dobie

[Cecile]

I have a 6 month old doberman named Cooper. He is a wonderful dog until he gets around strange men or larger women inside and outside of the home. He was adopted from a very small breeder who maintained only 5 dogs of her own and was very passionate about socialization and both of his parents very well rounded. So i'm thinking that i've made an error somewhere with socialization.
He will usually smell a person then suddenly decide he does not like them, back off and bark incesantly. I've taken to carrying a can of pennies to curb the barking (which does work), but i'm afraid of making him too timid which is inappropriate and not the standard of his breed. We have no problems withj children and he is very affectionate and learns easily. Any suggestions?

[lola3]

[CENTER][FONT=Georgia]Buy a squirt bottle and fill it with water (like the one that febreeze comes in). [/FONT][FONT=Georgia]When he freaks out or barks[/FONT][FONT=Georgia] squirt him. After a few you won't even have squirt him, you'll just point the bottle and he'll know he's doing something wrong (being anti social). I do this with my sister's pit bull and it works very well. And use 'uh uh' instead 'no'.

It might not help him be social but it could help the barking.
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[workingdog]

Using the pennies or the squirt bottle may be making him associate people with a bad experience. (meaning that, when he sees people, he's going to hear an unpleasantly loud noise or be squirted with water), which would definitely not be what you want. I would keep him on leash when introducing him to new people, and just have the person stand still (not trying to pet him or even pay any attention to him), and just let him smell the person and "get-to-know" them before they start petting him. If he starts trying to back away or bark, just give him a little jerk of the leash and say "no" or whatever negative feedback you like to give the dog. When he accepts the person, give him praise. He'll soon learn that it is unacceptable to be afraid/bark at new people. Hope this helps!

BTW, I don't know if you've done this before, but when he is fearful of someone, do not pet him and tell him its ok. That only reinforces the behaviour. :)