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Would You Protect You?

5K views 43 replies 38 participants last post by  JeffM 
#1 ·
I sent my DH out for a shake at the end of my pregnancy when Mandi was 5 months old. He left and came back and Mandalay never uttered a woof. Now, 3 months later, I wonder if she would bark now. If someone were to come into my home in the middle of the night, I wonder if she would stay asleep or if she would wake up long enough to bark.

What would your dog(s) do?
 
#2 ·
In my experience, it's pretty normal to not utter a woof when a family member returns home. Our dogs don't typically bark at either of us when we get home, regardless of whether it's a time they'd normally expect us home, or an odd time of the day.

They seem to know who if it's one of us before we even open the door, whether by smell, recognizing the sound of our cars, I have no idea. But somehow they know and there generally isn't barking when a "pack" member returns.

When someone else comes to the house, they do bark. Doesn't matter if it's a stranger or a friend/family member that they know. That person isn't a part of our household, so it deserves barking.. usually as soon as the person turns off the road into the driveway. If someone showed up at the house in the middle of the night, they'd let us know before the person had even made it all the way down the driveway.
 
#3 ·
My husband goes out with his friends every Thursday night and comes home around 10:30-11pm a night and I'm already in bed. I sleep with the bedroom door open so Molly has free roam of the house. 9 times out of 10 she is barking as soon as she hears a car pull into the driveway, then quiets down once she realizes it's only my husband. I think Molly would definitely alert us if someone was in the house at night.
 
#4 ·
When we are home the dogs are pretty mellow to a point.
But if DH goes to play cards let me tell you every 5 minutes they are barking at something, Brady knows he has to protect mom when dad isn't home. Whe he does come home they bark once and then the rest of the night is peaceful
 
#5 ·
Our dogs sleep in our room with us. Coke would give a bark or two if he heard someone in the house. Kenya only barks when she's REALLY excited, or if Coke is barking, so she may or may not bark herself.

Both dogs allow anyone to enter the house. They will bark (more out of excitement). Once the person comes in, Kenya will go under my desk since she is shy. Coke will wiggle his butt and greet the person. I have various pet-sitters that stay in my home, plus family members and friends that stop over for various reasons when I'm not there. For me it would be a HUGE liability to have dogs that were over-protective of my home and yard. People who don't know my dogs would hear their bark, see them, and be terrified. Coke's bark is loud and VERY deep, menacing. Kenya's barks are short, like "yap yap yap yap yap yap!" and sound quite aggressive. If the barks and the look of a working line GSD are not enough to deter an intruder, then I guess I'd be screwed!
 
#6 ·
It wouldn't end well. Morgan doesn't let anyone in without my say so, even people she knows well.

We had a creature come in the yard last night. How did she and Otti know when they were taking a nap in the den while I watched TV? Dunno but they both had to go out, she took off like in a fur blur out the door. In the street lights, I could see she was chasing something - across the driveway - pinned it behind the trash barrel then dragged it out and gave it 5 or 6 shakes before I was able to get out the back door, grab the puppy and then grab her. I thought she killed it and completely freaked out when she came in the house drooling what later turned out to be mud. It snuck off before I could get back out there with the pupper - on leash and barking his little head off at the spot where Morgan tried to kill whatever it was.
 
#7 ·
Let me add to that - when DDH was still with us, Morgan would let him in the house. My last post made it sound like she wouldn't let in someone who lives here. WHen my parents stayed with us for a while, she'd let them in too.
 
#8 ·
During the day, I have found that Phoenix will let anyone into the house and greets all folks at our house as if they were a long lost friend. (delivery men included)

For the first three months of adopting Phoenix, I never heard him bark or growl. Not once. Even if there was a door bell ring on the tv.

Eventually, he began to bark, but only when it was dark outside or if he was playing with my brother's dog.

THEN last month, I went to go let him out around 4am one Saturday morning to go pee and before I even got the storm door open, he let out this deep growl I'd never heard out of him before. I check on each side to make sure there wasn't a critter (read: SKUNK) out there before I let him out. Next thing I know, he ran to the middle of the front yard, doing the rabid dog bark as if he were going to rip into something. When I looked out at the road, I notice a guy walking along the shoulder. (I live on a country road where folks rarely walk) Phoenix's response surprised me b/c even when I called him back, he kept up with the deep growl until the guy was a good distance away from the house. Made me rethink that Phoenix will never be a good guard dog.
 
#9 ·
Riddick, my 3 yr old GSD, is a protector. He is definately our guard and I have on many a times appreciated the fact that he can scare the **** out of people, at 125 lbs, he is rather intimidating. He is always on look out at our house, he has saved us from Shady people twice now. While he appears to be a big friendly giant, the minute you knock on our door you know just what is living inside and what fate awaits you if you enter with out our say so. We have a 13 week pup as well, and she is shaping up to be quit the protector as well.
 
#10 ·
Ours never bark when we return home--I sometimes come in and find the dogs all asleep and have to nudge them to get them awake to go outside!

Any visitor to the door elicits barks--if they know the person, it's a bark or two until they get in the door.

A stranger would never even make it to the steps of the front porch before Luca would be telling them to back off.

And we hate the mailman. Thank goodness we are able to drive off that danger every day!
 
#11 ·
Well Jesse is 10.75 months and hubby is a cop and comes home at strange hours. He doesn't bark for hubby, he seems to know the sound of the van and also hubby's walking and normal movement sounds. Now when it is a stranger Jesse does bark and looks scary.
 
#12 ·
Originally Posted By: Luca_stlAnd we hate the mailman. Thank goodness we are able to drive off that danger every day!


But I'm guessing the mailman isn't laughing though.
 
#13 ·
I'm guessing there's an orange card in the truck with Tracy's address and the words German Shepherd who hates me!
 
#14 ·
My guys DO bark when I come home. Not only do they bark if someone comes to the door but they will bark if someone crosses our property line. Not sure HOW they know but I have neighbors that walk along the side of the road daily. They have told me that the dogs NEVER bark unless they have to walk into my grass because of an approaching vehicle.
 
#16 ·
Originally Posted By: Luca_stlOurs never bark when we return home--I sometimes come in and find the dogs all asleep and have to nudge them to get them awake to go outside!
OMG I want to trade! Mine bark THE MOST for me than any intruder or person coming over! Kenya barks nonstop from the time I cut the engine till I'm inside the house (which can take a while since we had a "come to Jesus" meeting about her jumping all over me when I try to get through the door carrying expensive equipment, so now I stand there and look away until she at least SITS). Coke barks excitedly at me and then he does these long, deep howls like "OOOOWooooowwoooooooo!" and then smiles and wags his tail super fast. DH is jealous b/c Coke only does the howls for me.
 
#17 ·
Well I had never seen a glimmer of protectiveness from Katie at all. That is, up until last month. My dad stopped by one day, knocked on the door, and she got excited and came to the door. No bark, just excitment, jumping, wagging the tail, whining. Then the next night our neighbor stopped by, and knocked on the door quite loudly, and all of a sudden, she jumped up, barked a deep, loud, mean sounding bark, and stared at our neighbor through the window. After I opened the door and said hello, Katie came over and greeted her. But at first, she didn't know who it was, and was barking so loud like I had never heard before. Guess she just had that instinct come to her at that moment!
 
#18 ·
i like this one. yea tyson will let us know when someone is here. its funny when i know that someone is on there way, i leave the garage door open so that they can come in through the garage and usually they know that they can just walk in. when tyson hears that door open he barks so freakin loud u would think he was comeing through the door. haha the funniest part is when they open the door, hear him bark, and then close the door and jump back! lets just say i feel safer knowing i have another set of good ears and a loud mouth to back me up!
 
#19 ·
Your pup is still too young to be "protective" at 8 months, probably a lot of the barking is fear barking. This is good in one way, because they're starting to take notice of things other than themselves. But in another way, they bark at .... the wind, plastic bags, etc. LOL

Make sure you socialize, socialize, socialize for the next two years so she learns the difference between friends and strangers. Don't want to encourage barking at anything, she should know you're in charge and if you say it's a friend at the door, she should listen to you and stop barking. But keep her alert to noises and people approaching, using commands such as "Listen" "Who's that?"

Also, remember when they're barking and you don't "see" anything, trust the dog, they've heard or seen something and are trying to alert us. Sometimes they're a lot smarter than us. LOL
 
#20 ·
my dog midnight, not a gsd but a suspected lab and border collie mix, will not let non family in the house without authorization from me. It's odd. He doesn't bark when I come home.

He does bark when my mother or brother come over, but its a higher pitched "excited" bark but because I've always given them keys to my houses and they visit frequently he will let them walk right in and greet them with wiggly butts and kisses.

If I am at home and someone who isn't my mother or brother pulls into the driveway or even steps past the property line he lets loose with his really deep and intimidating "alert bark" and then paces the doors and generally is a territorial ass.

when my moms house was getting the roof replaced she stayed at my place a couple nights. she said when I wasn't there that midnight was more alert than when I was there and she didn't think he would have accepted any visitors inside without me there.

If I let someone inside he calms down right away and demands pets from the visitors after a few seconds of sniffing. He watches me very intently after someone comes inside and I think he's looking to make sure I'm not feeling nervous about this new person.

I haven't and hope never to test this theory but I think If someone came in my house and I didn't do my "dog introduction ritual" that he would respond in an aggressive manner. He also alerts on anything that is unusual, especially at night. When I was healing up from knee surgery a couple years back he was really taking his "guard duty" more seriously than usual.

my dog too hates the mail men, and in particular the UPS/Fedex/dhl guys.
 
#21 ·
Our german shepherd is 9 months and he growls and barks when someone comes in the door, but only when me and my boyfriend are doing something we don't really want to be caught doing


Although after he's barked at them he proceeds to love on them for a while. Maybe as a distraction? hehe

Good doggy!

He'll protect us from other dogs. One time our friend's shitsu was growling at our dog and I proceeded to pet him while he was still growling, and our dog confused that with the shitsu growling at me. He got right in the shitsu's face and barked at him, and stood between us for about 10 minutes.
 
#22 ·
Originally Posted By: DnP
Originally Posted By: Luca_stlAnd we hate the mailman. Thank goodness we are able to drive off that danger every day!


But I'm guessing the mailman isn't laughing though.
Our mailman has told the neighbors he is terrified of our dogs. They have a window on the stairs where they can see him approaching and leaving and let him know via the window he is not welcome. He has never actually met them face to face and I don't think he really wants to. (If they are out, they are in the fenced backyard which is quite a way from the mailbox).

Kaper is a protector, but the question I have is who is he protective of.
Before Chatham and I came along it was just DH and Kaper. Dh's house was a frequent party spot (you know, swinging bachelor) and it was not uncommon for people to come in when he was not there. Kaper never bothered anyone. He would not even bark if DH wasn't home. You just could not go into Dh's room when he was sleeping.
Since Chatham (who was a puppy) and I came along, it has gotten to the point where we have a sign on the door asking people to knock on the door before entering. If one of us is at the door with him and acknowledge the person, he is fine. If neither of us is there, he goes into a bark and hold (he had some police training) whether he knows them or not. I don't know if he would bite if they moved but no one has been brave enough. The oddest part is I took Chatham to my mothers one night and DH had some friends over for poker. He didn't bark at anyone even if they knocked.
So I don't really know if he would protect us if someone broke in but he is pretty convincing when he is barking.
 
#23 ·
Usually Lexie, my Rottweiler mix is the first one barking when somebody comes to the door. The others follow suit after that. Once I checked who it is, I tell them to be quiet and that usually works out..... well, except for Ms. Sophie because she LOVES to express herself Loudly and Emphatically


A few weeks ago I noticed a red car pulling into the drive-way. I don't open the door to people I don't know so I did not open when the person knocked. My dogs sounded off and I saw the guy step back immediately down the few stairs and stood at the bottom of the stairs for a while and then left (Was looking through the bedroom window where he could not see me).

A few days afterwards I read in the newspaper that there have been a series of home invasions where a red car pulls into the drive-way, the guy knocks on the door and then breaks into the home. Apparently, two teenagers were in one of the homes and they were hiding in their closets.

Anyway, I am very gratful for my doggies sounding the alarm and by that discouraging this guy from breaking in.

Elvi
 
#24 ·
Give her time. I didn't think Gunner would ever be protective, or even be a very good watchdog for that matter, when he was Mandi's age.
I woke up one day and my quiet, passive little guy was all grown up. It was triggered by a new neighbor that had moved in right next door. Gunner hated him. And since Gunner loved everybody (still does when he's introduced to them) I figured I'd better listen to his judgment and keep my guard up around that guy. Good thing I did - he turned out to be a real sleaze.

Now, no one would get into this house. If anyone approaches, even on foot, Gunner hears them before they're halfway up the drive and I honestly believe that half the neighborhood hears him! It works out quite well - seems to keep the Jehova's Witnesses away. I've seen more than a few of them turn around before they get near the door and leave.

I don't know exactly how protective he'd be if someone actually tried to break in, but he does all I really want him to do - he lets me know that something's going on.

Originally Posted By: Luca_stl
And we hate the mailman. Thank goodness we are able to drive off that danger every day!
Oh yes, the evil mailman! Gunner knows when it's about time for him to be coming and will perch himself on the couch, where he can see out the front window, and wait for him! It's really the highlight of Gunner's day.
 
#26 ·
Rocky is protective. If he hears another dog bark he will look out all the windows to make sure that nothing is going on in our yard. If he is in the yard, he will go as far as to walk to the end of the driveway and make sure the "stranger" keeps going, but he never leaves our property. He will alert us if anyone comes into the yard (even at 7 AM on a Saturday morning). He lets us know when someone pulls into the driveway. He does not like UPS/Fed Ex people and especially repair people. Once I tell him it is ok and to go lay down he will relax.

The only people he will let into the house without barking first besides us, is on other couple and their kids, my mom, and my meice/nephew. Anyone else he will bark at regardless if he knows them or not. One morning I was trying to get out of the house to go to work. I went to get my travel mug and the coffee was gone. I wa stumped for about 15 minutes till I got a call from our friends asking how my coffee was. Seems they were passing by on their way to work, ran out of coffee and decided they would get mine. Rocky never made a peep. (The little traitor, I was late for work that day LOL)

Every night between 10:30 and 10:45 Rocky will wake up from what ever the current sleeping place is and go wait in the foyer for my son to get home from work. I dont know how he knows when he will be there though. LOL And does not leave is post until he gets a good petting from my son.
 
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