I think I have mentioned on here before that Lucy has a fear of strange men, well men she doesn't know. Well, this came up again during class last night. We were in mid run of the course and one of the lady's husbands came by to watch the last half of class. Lucy stopped her run, and ran to the gate and started howling at him. Of course Lucy's trainer, Lori picked up on the fact that afraid of men. She asked about it, and I informed her that it was just men that she didn't know. I think it is just men she doesn't know who are entering her safe space because when we are out in public or in environments that she doesn't consider to be her own she has no problem. Because she would no longer pay attention and would continue to bark at this poor man I gave him a treat to give to her. Once she took it, she was fine. All was well and she went on her way and finished the second half of class with no problems. I just don't get why or how she has gotten this fear of new men entering her space.

That's exactly, EXACTLY what Darmok did in her semi-final agility run, only it wasnt a man or a woman--it was a Portugese Water Spaniel that had a weird haircut---the owner and the dog came in through a side door (we did our training in January in an enclosed arena) but people and dogs had come and gone through that door all evening.  As soon as she saw that dog with the shaved back half, she totally froze for a second, then stiffened up and howled and barked and ran around like a crazy dog.  It took a LONG time for me to calm her down.