Interesting discussion with a local dog walker (lovely woman, really friendly with a gathering of 8 or 9 friendly dogs that flow in and out of her van). I said that Frankie was permanently on the lead because he bit a woman but I thought it might have been that she and Frankie had stopped and looked at each other. She said “I know” and said she’d met the woman who had stopped and stared at her dogs, too, and emulated a slightly-sat-down-and-leaning-forward motion. “And I think she may have run off when Frankie bit her”. She said “I know”, and that the woman had run off from her dogs, too. She also said that the woman seems to walk in circles around the valley, and that she’d seen her that morning, too.
A couple of weeks ago Frankie started barking immediately he saw the woman again even though she was a good 30 yards away. He clearly knew she’s a wrongun because he’d bitten her before.
Getting visitors to ignore him does seem to be working, and knowing that about the woman makes me a bit more hopeful. He does still bark at neighbours, although somewhat less so. One neighbour keeps coming round and looking at Frankie who keeps barking. I keep telling him to just ignore Frankie but he doesn’t seem to take any notice and Frankie keeps barking.