Guarding Ijnstinct - Page 2

Your questions confuse the heck out of me :) but if I understand them right I will answear.

1) From an Instinct theory perspective, barking at the door bell is really not part of guard instinct

 I would say it is. But is brought up or down through experience.

2) Aloofness let the stranger touch the dog but not over pally with the stranger

 Once again its brought up or down through experience. But yeah the more protective dogs will tend to not like to play with strangers, they will accept them but not look or act like they really enjoy it. :)

3)Outright aggressiveness at the stranger:>>>> Is this a part of guard instinct? Please clarify

Yes, but once again its brough up through experience :) Hope this helps.

Good morning Vikram,I beleive that all GSD's are different,having said that,it depends on the dogs sharpness level.Some dogs are more sharp than others.One will bark like crazy at the sound of someone at the door and the other one might just have the wait and see attitude which might even be that the particular dog is more confident.My 2 boys are different in personality,one will alert quickly and with heart and the other will wait and only react when there is a real threat there or if i react in a different way.Hope this helps

Speaking of being alert...last night, as we were sitting in the living room watching tv, we heard what sounded like someone trying to open the front door!  Our 8 mo old girl was all over it, ran right towards the door, barking and raising hell.  She stopped barking when we came over, but was sniffing and checking out all corners of the house for the next half hour.  She's very alert to strangers, barks at them sometimes (that's improving with correction and maturity however!), and doesn't let them out of her sight until it's physically impossible for her to see them.  She's been like that since she was a puppy.  Aloof and barking with hackles raised until corrected and allowed to sniff the person, but certainly in no mood to be petted by a stranger!  It's definitely instinctive...we certainly have not trained her to be protective of us!  It's one of the many qualities that attracted us to the breed.

Also, a couple of weeks ago, we had to bring Zoe to my bf's parents' house.  She's familiar with his dad, because she sees him everyday at work, but she's only met his mom a couple of times.  His mom doesn't understand that she's not friendly to strangers, and doesn't know why she's not "happy-go-lucky" like our lab mutt.  She kept trying to pet Zoe before she was ready to accept it, and (against our protests) started petting her on the head and just doing everything you're not supposed to do.  Zoe was not happy, and myself I'm not positive what happened even though I was right there, but Zoe either went to bite her, or more likely, started to bark because of this stranger's hand all over her head.  We put Zoe on her side to chastise (even though she wasn't entirely in the wrong, but still!), and now his mom thinks she's "vicious".  Well, I guess some people have to learn the hard way, by almost getting bit, that you don't pet a dog that's unfamiliar and staring at you with the whites of their eyes showing.  At least now she knows, and Zoe won't have to be subjected to that again when we bring her over to their house for get-togethers.

GSD's are naturally wary of strangers.  They have that natural protective instinct.  Its up to the owners to put limits on that protective instinct.  Yogi (1yr old) doesnt really give a fart if people are in the yard.  Now, Ozzy (2yr old) will back a person down until he knows that they are no threat and accepted by me.  Not biting the person, but will stop them in their tracks and bark at them.  Now,  when I have friends over that Ozzy dont know,  I will get his ball and throw it for him to retrieve.  I will tell my friends to stand still and when he comes back,  he will run up to them and sniff and check them out,  then brings me the ball.  At that point,  its all good.  Ozzy will let them pet him and throw the ball with him.  Each dog is different -- some are very aggressive,  some extremely laid back...and some in between.  But,  if you wanted a dog that will look after your property and family,  the GSD is the right breed for you.

Lets discuss the above behaviour versus

1) The Dog runs to the stranger at the door on the chiming of the door bell and simply sniffs & investigates

2) Just investigates the stranger for few seconds and then comes back to its master to play

3) Is it the age factor.? The barking is minimal WHY??

4) The dog does not perceive the threat at its master at all. BUT BUT BUT. the same dog when trained is an excellent protector. Means>>>> The protectionism was latent in the dog. He was aloof and suspicious of the strangers but never outright perceived the threat. But training the same dog if on leash the master shouted at an approaching threat the dog went into a "Defensive" cum protectionsist mode and attcked the source of threat and danger!!!!

Please give you opinion on this dog. His threshold are high?

regards

Okay my bitch barks her head off when she hears the bell. Goes crazy if a stranger walks into our home. She is fine with strangers as long as they keep their distance from me but she goes crazy if they come close to me. I really value and admire her instincts. She is dominant and always wants to be the alpha female.

Some are alittle more high strung then others.  They ALL have the same protective instinct......some just display it more then others.  Dogs will react naturally or how they are trained.

I'm not sure what the question is but I can tell you how mine behave.

They bark when they hear / see anyone they don't know near the house... they're supposed to.  They're warning me that someone's around.

Anyone I invite into the house, must be accepted by my dogs... anything else is ridiculous, they do not decide, I do!

I would be horrified if any dog of mine behaved they way Zoe did.   Zoe sounds more fearful that courageous to me.  That's dangerous.   I trust her behaviour was corrected?

I am perfectly happy for my dogs to be petted and fussed by strangers, especially children.  I admit mine are rather ignorant, as they are supposed to be  (aloof, not suspicious) with strangers but they like children.  Allowing people to approach and pet your dogs will not corrupt a good character.

If the dog is aloof with a slight bit of suspicion But there is NO barking. what is the signifcation? The same dog when trained to protect barks and attacks when perceived with threat

regards

In what circumstances please?