Victor’s dog is terrified of the gardener. There are no obvious reasons as to why this should be. What is Glynne’s take on the situation?

Question

Hi

I have a Ridgeback that is normally fairly highly strung. He is also a bit of a coward in that he will bark and carry on at passersby and other dogs the fence, but retreats if the gate is opened. Even with these faults he is a wonderful companion to our family.
Our problem is that he is terrified (an understatement) of our gardener since day one. No apparent reason as he has never been beaten by him. All other visitors are acceptable and he is friendly to them, but when the gardener arrives he runs away to the furtherest available point and is terrified. We have tried getting the gardener to rub and talk to him but no improvement. Please advise if there is anything we can do.
Victor Crouser.

Hi Victor
Your best bet is to keep your dog well away from that gardener and don’t try to reconcile the situation because you will exacerbate the problem.
Start taking your dog out for walks and check yourselves into a training school where he will be exposed to other dogs and many different people – all good for character and confidence building which he sorely needs.

As your dog is terrified of your gardener exclusively, I can assure you the man has frightened him in some way. I ‘m afraid I tend to believe your dog as they are such honest souls.
Furthermore, if it were my gardener I’d fire his sorry butt before he put one more footprint on my property!
Take good care.
Glynne