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MegNPiper
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27-04-2008, 04:23 PM

Encourage her to be protective?

Piper is now about 6 months old and when we first got her she didn't seem to be all that protective. Lately there have been two instances where she has behaved protectively.

On the first we were walking in the yard looking for a good place to go potty when a strange man approached us. I was home alone with her and something about him felt scary to me. Piper must have picked up on my feelings because, though she is normally very friendly, she immediately began to bark (in a mean sense, which I had not heard from her before). He wanted to pet her but she wouldn't even have him in the yard. I was relieved when he left.

The second happened early this morning when the paper was delivered, the deliverer managed to hit the door and make a loud thump. Piper and I both sat bolt upright, and then she growled really deep and barked that mean bark again. I realized what had made the sound and relaxed, but Piper was still on guard.

My question is should I praise this behavior when it happens? On one hand I want her to know the difference between a friend and a stranger and be alert to danger, on the other I'm afraid that if I praise her she'll get the wrong idea and behave that way towards everyone. I'm not sure why she's behaving like this lately, we can only guess at her breed and background before we adopted her at 12 weeks. Could these be factors? Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Meg n Piper
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Muddiwarx
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27-04-2008, 04:51 PM
I don't encourage any sort of guarding/ protective behaviour in my dogs - in this day and age it can mean the death sentance if they try to look after their families - tis my job to look after my dogs not the other way round!
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majuka
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27-04-2008, 05:27 PM
I agree with Muddixwarx, if you were walking Piper alone and someone approached you in a way that made you uncomfortable I think she would pick up on that and bark, as she did with the man in the yard. However I wouldn't praise her for barking at everyone passing and everything that gets pushed through your door. I see you are in the US so I'm not sure how different things are there to here, but here people would be very quick to complain if a dog was barking at everyone passing by.
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youngstevie
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27-04-2008, 05:57 PM
Reah and Bruce can be like that, but I don't encourage it. I usually say 'thats enough' and they go quiet.
I know that if I was attacked Reah would be the first in.....as this was once the case. So I feel I don't need to encourage it.
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morganstar
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27-04-2008, 06:01 PM
I agree i discourage my dogs as well, I like to think I'm pack leader so I dont allow any sort of guarding behaviour either (although Spence would probably disagree about whos top dog )
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Wozzy
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27-04-2008, 06:13 PM
But surely in a pack situation, if the pack leader is in trouble or potential trouble it's the purpose of the pack to protect?

I dont encourage guarding in mine, even when one dog appears to be guarding me from the other (Flynn will often sit in front of me and snap at Jed if he gets too close, when this happens I push him away) but I would welcome a warning growl from them towards a stranger if the situation looked to be iffy.
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catrinsparkles
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27-04-2008, 09:51 PM
It seems she is going to do this naturally - which is nice to know, but like the others say, you don't really need to encourage it. Tell her "that's enough" in a nice voice and get her to sit, or settle down for a treat. That way you are distracting her from the guarding and rewarding her for paying attention to you and setteling back down again.
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AussieGeek
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27-04-2008, 10:23 PM
I would allow her to relay the warning but then take control and tell her thats enough. At least thats what I do with mine. This way they feel they have done their 'job' but you can get control and they don't go nuts. And also people cant complain.
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MegNPiper
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28-04-2008, 12:47 AM
Thank you all for the replies Next time I'll do as you've suggested and tell her that's enough after her first warning. Like I said, I do want her to warn me if something is up but I don't want it to ever get to the point of her not trusting anyone new. At the same time, I didn't want to scold her for doing what comes naturally to her either.

Thanks again for the help

Meg n Piper
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Wysiwyg
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28-04-2008, 08:04 AM
One of the biggest mistakes my father made bless him, was to encourage my dogs to be more guarding and protective. It caused a big barking problem (thanks dad ).

I'd say most dogs "cotton on" and (in the UK anyway, not sure about US) it's inadvisable really to encourage a dog to be protective, what with the DDA and all....

Just my opinion

Wys
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