Today ted met my cousins dog for the first time my cousins dog is a lab cross staff and very unfriendly she doesnt like people, dogs, cats anything! She as always been fine with family though, and she was fine with ted they played happily for over an hour until she got tierd shes 9now!

But my question is do dogs know who is family and who isnt, do familys have the same smell or something? Ted is the same, hes only a puppy but if a non family member come here he growls and his tail goees between his leg untill hes had a good smell but if family come hes fine tail wags and he shows of puppy style my brother came for the first time on saturday and as soon as he got in door ted was jumping up tail wagging i cant understand how they know!

Anyone any ideas ??

It is possible that families share a certain 'smell' I suppose, but it's also possible that they share mannerisms with you that your dog recognises, that you greet them differently, or that they act more relaxed when they come into your house.

Or you pup has been studying your family tree so as not to make a faux pas!

I have the opposite. Holly is usually fine with other people and will go for a cuddle etc. As soon as my brother appears - different story! Tail between legs, backing off etc. She does come round a little but my bro is so upset by this as he's known her since a pup and she still is wary of him (none of the rest are).

I think they do seem to know whose who and I think the bit about the mannerisms is probably very true!

I think they`re more likely picking up on how you interact with people - you might hug your mum, but probably not the window cleaner... Family will tend to be more `at home` around you than non-family, and the dog will see this as a sign they are acceptable. My sons have friends in and out all the time and I find my dogs are only a bit bristly with nervous visitors.

My dogs both went crazy for my brother when they met him for the first time (in my flat, not the family home). They are also dotty about my mum (but she does sneak them a lot of food ).

They tend to ignore people when appropriate and greet enthusiastically when it's the right people, I think they probably do follow my lead on whether to be mega friendly, or not. They get particularly friendly if I come into the house with a new person.

I agree, it's how you react to them that makes all the difference. Like when you hear stories of normally extremely placid dogs reacting to a stranger who they deem is posing a threat, because they feed off your body language.

Hmm I think they know. Sully usually reacts positively to my blood relatives, but treats my non blood relatives as he does strangers. If he was following my lead it would be *much* less clear cut