Guarding Ijnstinct - Page 4

To

That's interesting.  I think it does have something to do with not being part of the family for some dogs... maybe others have more info?

Princess:  We put Zoe on her side because her attitude had changed from a protective state to a fearful aggressive state.  If she hadn't come close to biting the hand of my boyfriend's mom out of fear, we would not have put her on the ground.  To us, that is a serious offense, to bite or act aggressively when unnecessary or when we (the leaders) have stated that acceptance of the stranger is what is desired.  We only put her on her side when she make a serious infraction.  

The few times we have had to perform an "alpha roll" on her we felt were necessary, but never over done or hurtful, and we did not keep her down for more than a minute.  We only held her down physically for a few seconds, then let go and had her stay on her side until she calmed down.  So she has not associated the alpha roll with showing her protective instincts (which we encourage, like I said), but instead when she has seriously overstepped her bounds.  She was on a lead, but a simple prong collar jerk would not have given the proper disciplinary message.   Each to their own.

For minor things, like barking at strangers instead of just keeping an alert eye on them, she'll either get a lead jerk, a touch on the neck, a nudge on her flank, or sometimes a combination of all three.  She doesn't always bark at people on our walks either, or even people who walk by the house.  She only seems to bark when she's getting a bad "vibe" from the stranger.  Even then, it's more like a little "woof" under her breath.  She is a puppy, she is still learning, but she tests us like a teenager!

Hi everyone, just to say that I m wondering if my boy will ever learn to guard the house (or me!) or will he have to be taught? He s 2 yrs old now and has never even barked when the doorbell goes, or if theres anyone outside, we had a bike stolen from our garage in the middle of the night and he didnt wake us up ! His hearing is fine as he can hear a biscuit fall on the floor even when hes in another room! He comes from German showlines, and his pedigree suggests his parents and relations all have Sch. 1, 11, or 111, so I was really hoping he d be a bit more suspicious of strangers, when someone knocks at the door he rushes out to greet them and he ll let anyone in, even if I m by myself in the house at night which does worry me! I ve had Shepherds for 20 yrs but this is the first one to be like this, theyve all lived indoors as pets and been bought up the same so I dont know if he needs to be taught how to guard? Strangely, he does bark sometimes if he hears people outside our house talking, but he d lick them to bits if they came in! He does seem to be quite nervy tho, so perhaps he just lacks the courage, we got him at 8 wks of age and hes been well socialised so perhaps its just the way he was born! I was thinking of asking his breeder for advice but not the easiest guy to talk to as he s intimitating!  cheers, Lissa

Lissa, if you have a friend with a dog that barks and makes all the right noises at the right times... ask if you can borrow it.  Gabi learnt everything from Jack (both long gone now) and it worked a treat.

Hi missbeeb, cheers for the advice but forgot to mention in my post that we have an older Shepherd whos 8 yrs old! He barks when the doorbell rings, and is pretty watchful, but bit too friendly if anyone comes in as well. Guess I m not used to having no brave dog cos the Shepherd we lost with anal fissures at young age was brilliant in that way, but we lost him two Xmas ago and unfortunately the breeder who we got him off doesnt breed very much so we went to a large well known kennel with a very big website, and he had puppies whom he assured us would very courageous and steady temperments, but happy to be pets. I just assumed he would become braver when he grew up but still waiting! Apart from that hes a lovely dog, except that he seems huge, hes measuring 28ins. and is a big, rangy boy, but very handsome, you cant have it all I suppose! cheers, Lissa

Lissa,  Many many years ago when I was a kid, we had a Boxer, (Kim, German import) my brother got him from the Army, (which he was in at the time) they had been trying to train him as a War Dog... no joy!  Kim was as good a dog as anyone could ever wish for but... our CAT used to take his bone off of him!  Kim would just lie there blowing bubbles and drooling!  He was everyones friend.

One summers day, a strange man walked straight into our house (only Mum and I in) straight into the lounge... my Mum and I were struck dumb but that dog was out his bed and pinned the man to the wall growling all the while... that huge head and big black face were level with the man's face and Kim meant it!  My Mum asked him what he thought he was doing and he said he'd got the wrong house... you bet he'd got the wrong house!

I think we were more surprised at Kim than we were at our "visitor" but we never joked about him licking a burgler to death again... we'd seen the evidence!

Kim's pedigree name was Zois van Lunneberg or something like it.... ring any bells?

So....... you may have a Kim!

Lissa, my gsd  doesn't really guard either. no barking when anybody knocks on the door, and very friendly with other tenants in the yard. i never thought she would really guard anything. then i started biking with her and fluffy. the first night we went out, when we came back, i took some stuff upstairs in my backpack and told my girls, guard the bike. watch it! this was with  no  training to guard. when i came back out, a neighbor in the adjacent building was standing nervously on his steps while both my girls were barking and growling at him. they were not tied to the bike, but were laying down next to it, and intimidating the neighbor. i was really surprised, said good dogs, took the bike and went inside. they were both friendly to the man the next day. spunky does bark at cars pulling up if she is tied up but when loose she is very friendly, and tied up she is still friendly with people she knows belong in the yard. sometimes when i come home late at night my poodle goes off barking while i am climbing up the stairs, but not a peep out of spunky.

i think the mere presence of your boy should be a good deterrent against any troublemakers but i know it would be nice if he was more on guard for you.

My male doesn't bark in the house either. I don't have a door bell but is someone knocks he just runs to the door. He just stands silently watching, only once has he went nuts after seeing who it was. Usually he knows the person and wags his tail, he wants to be first to sniff and check them out.

 In the kennel he does bark some but not allot. He hates my neighbor so I know if they walk between the houses day or night. Occasionally he barks at their cats but mostly that is the females job. They each have different things that set them off, if both are barking it's a dog walking past on a extenda leash or by itself. They hate when a dog is on our grass but if it is walking with a "good" owner on the sidewalk only 1 dog will bark. I can tell by who, how and by intensity what is going on. I even have it down to ( the mail man is here) barks.

Vikram, is your question should you take a non barking dog seriously? Personally, I take any dog that stands at attention when you approach seriously, whether he is barking, or just standing stark still. A wag of the tail seems to make people feel all is safe, sometims you can get luck with that but a wagging tail isn't always a free pass.

thanks everyone for their replies, I m hoping that if he is ever put in real guarding situation he ll react differently and not be too soppy! He s never been tested in that way, thank God, he certainly looks the part and I think this is still a good deterrant, cos no one else knows he s a softie, I think he s happy for our old boy to do all the barking as he s happy to let him be top dog and just likes to play and have easy life! Misbeeb, darent tell you his pedigree but I m sure you d know it, the breeder gets on here quite a bit  but not the easiest of people to talk to! cheers, Lissa