Is your dog a watch dog? :)

[Cookiebaker]

Rilla, our cockatiel, is our watch"bird"! She has a special whistle when a car pulls in our driveway, or someone walks up the front steps.

As for Malone, he lets us know someone is here by howling (not barking), but he's not very accurate. He'll startle us awake in the middle of the night if someone has come home at the neighbors across the street (which is quite a distance). He gets very excited over noises.

[robinh]

Max barks at everything and nothing. I think he likes to hear himself bark. He can usually get Molly and Kirby going, while Muffin runs to the closest human to hide.

Our watchdog is Carly. If she barks - go check it out! We know if she goes off it's serious. It might only be Dick coming home from work, but there is actually someone or something there.

[amoore]

My dogs, jojo and tiny barks and lets me know if someone drives up , or if they hear someone outside . I had a little Beagle schnauzer named snoopy ,that saved my life ,9yrs ago. Snoopy attacked an intruder that had a knife . The man left real quick , when snoopy came after him . It surprised me when she did that cause she always liked strangers or anyone she got around . I thought that she would just lick a burglar to death if there was ever one that broke into my home , but she showed me a different dog !

[lbaker]

My guys don't have watches Ripley (they don't even have pockets ) But yes, definately are cautious and alert when someone comes close to the house. My big 'ol Badger (remember Badger, Rip?) is the most mellow but even he has to make sure I'm comfortable if a stranger comes to the door. Especially if I'm home alone without my son or the boys. He & the others are in the same "alert mode" if it's just Jenny home. GOOD DOGS

[Pam]

Yes Ripley most certainly remembers Badger! He wanted me to tell all of the other doggies (and birdie!) here at PT that he is so happy he isn't the only one "on the job" keeping the house safe from intruders. Bella seems to only bark at critters in the yard, and often it is late at night or early in the morning. I am sure my neighbors enjoy knowing that there is a squirrel or chipmunk in our yard at 6:15 a.m. that Bella is protecting us from.

[Logan]

Honey is my only watchdog, Pam. She protects me from those big, bad golfers, and the guys on the lawnmowers, cutting the golf course!! She doesn't seem so upset with them when they hit a bad shot and the golf ball ends up in our yard, though! That makes her happy!

[Smilla]

Lefty is part GSD and all watchdog, it seems. We're working on "No Speak" and he's doing fairly well with it, unless it's a delivery person and/or very loud truck. I'm sure he barks with abandon at anything he can see out the window when we're not at home, though!

Sometimes he'll suddenly bark and it's so loud I'll nearly jump out of my seat!

[Christiansmommy]

Dale doesnt bark much at people (just things out of the ordinary)... Unless he is outside and sees them coming near his fenced in yard When people come in the house, he is very friendly with them...jumpy, but friendly. However, the other day, it was cold outside, so my hubby had his wool hat on and a big coat. He entered the house through the back door, which we very rarely do...and Dale was alone in the house, in the kitchen...so when Rob entered with this big hat and coat on...Dale barked his head off and his fur puffed up and everything!! He thought Rob was an intruder. Rob said that if he hadn't known Dale, he would have been intimidated. I think Rob scared him though, b/c soon after, he had a piddled on the floor...silly puppy!!!

Robyn

[GrShepherd]

of course my dogs are watchdogs and they can pri-otect me, if it needs.....

[ParNone]

Well my backyard will always be safe from cats and other critters,
with Murph and Maddie on the job and from human intruders
with Oz. Oz even barks at me, when I first come through
the fence, so nobody's going in my backyard unannounced.

Murph and Maddie on the other hand only concern themselves
with critters. My sister needed to get in my house, when I
wasn't going to be home, so I left her a key, hidden on the
patio. Murph and Maddie were sleeping on the patio and
didn't even budge, with her rummaging around looking for
the key and then letting herself into the house.

Inside the house, Murph would sleep through a tornado ripping
the roof off the house, so doubt a burgular breaking and entering
would be enough to wake him from the dead. Maddie use
to be a pretty good watchdog. When she barked it meant
something. She's a pretty heavy sleeper too, now that she's
getting up in years, so she's not very reliable anymore either.

Oz is pretty good though. He doesn't bark, but he lets me know
when something's up. My mom came to visit and she has a key.
I was in the back bedroom with the door shut, watching TV
with Murph and Maddie and Oz. Mom just let herself in. I had
no idea she was in the house, but all of a sudden Oz's body
posture got very alert, then he ran to the bedroom door, then
back to me. He did this a couple of times, until I finally decided
to see what was up. Murph and Maddie slept through the
whole thing.

All 3 are very good about not barking, just to be barking in the
house. So normal everyday noises, like people passing by or
the door bell ringing doesn't set them off. So if they were to
bark or in Oz's case have a behavior change, I pay attention.

Par...

[micki76]

Originally posted by ParNone
Murph and Maddie on the other hand only concern themselves
with critters. My sister needed to get in my house, when I
wasn't going to be home, so I left her a key, hidden on the
patio. Murph and Maddie were sleeping on the patio and
didn't even budge, with her rummaging around looking for
the key and then letting herself into the house.

My Westie used to sleep though the maintenance people coming in our apartment. I was home one day and the maintenance man came in and Stolly was asleep in the recliner (one of his favorite places to sleep). I told Jim not to worry about him, that he wasn’t too mean and he said that whenever he cam in to fix anything Stolly usually didn’t move from the recliner and only occasionally even lifted his head to look at him! Some watch dog he was!

[wolfsoul]

Leather is both a watch AND guard dog. She's the best there is!

Timber is an okay watch dog...But she has the wimpiest bark. She sounds like she's dieing sometimes lol. And as soon as someone walks up to the gate she jumps all over them and showers them with kisses. Except when it's my dad. For some reason she's really afraid of him. She has been since she was a puppy, and she never even really sees him. She runs away from him and barks. And she's never that way with anyone else.

[lizbud]

Buddy was an awesome watch dog. Salespeople knocking on the front door would often be seen walking on down the street
before I could even get to answer the knock. He had a very loud
deep bark. Smokey never barks. He does growl at some things
outside the widow that look suspicious to him, but a watch dog
he isn't.