i think this

Yup. My girl doesn't bark at much at all. She will now (after I trained her to bark on command) bark if someone comes to the door. And she will bark if she sees the UPS truck outside. Otherwise, she's pretty silent.

I'm thankful she barks when someone knocks at the door because I can't always hear the knocking, but otherwise I'm really glad she doesn't alarm bark at everyone walking by!

Myra, I played your video-- and Habibi went nuts! She is a natural guard, so she clearly heard something in that that set her off.

That said, she does bark at just about anything...

A lot of people will say that a dog who doesn't bark is a real blessing, but to be honest, I feel much more secure when my dogs alert me to things. They may not be people at the door-- it may be something in the street, it may be something in the garden-- I would rather know, so when they do bark, I pay attention. My hearing isn't all that great, so I rely on them a lot anyway. If it's nothing, that's cool; we all just settle down.

There are ways you can teach a dog to bark at strangers, but I've read some ways and I suspect they are not for every dog. Some dogs may not bark because they're just too easygoing, but some might not because it's too traumatic to deal with strangers. I'd consult a behaviourist if you really want to teach guarding behaviour, and don't take it lightly!

I STILL have no earthly idea what he was barking at, your dogs probably just was as annoyed by that silly bark as everyone else was. He's NOT a guard type breed (he's Labrador and Great Pyrenees) but he's always barked at the door or if he sees a stranger AT OUR HOUSE ONLY. If he went barking at people when we went places... well we probably wouldn't go places. He never, ever barks unless we're home. His TRULY upset bark where he can't SEE the threat is extremely annoying and sounds nothing like a bark from his breeds. Sounds like hound or maybe... just silly doggy? Lol.

Some breeds of dogs are genetically more disposed to barking than others. My first Shar-Pei (a guardian breed) very rarely barked, in fact she was a year old the first time I heard her bark. If she was seriously worried about someone, she'd stand between me and them and give a low rumbling growl My Tibetan Spaniel, originally bred as lookout dogs, had the widest range of barks of any dog I've ever owned which took quite some time for me to learn how to interpret. But by the time she was 2 years old even though she might be out of sight, I could tell you what she was barking at, simply by the tone of her bark!

Nope, she wasn't annoyed: she was alarmed. If you'd been here watching, you would be in no doubt. You could see it in her expression and her posture. I'm not saying that whatever made him bark in the first place wasn't silly-- Habibi barks at all kinds of ridiculous stuff, but it certainly was a very effective bark!

Yup. My Jade doesn't bark anymore, even though she is a GSD mix, and has never been a real barker. She prefers to just wait until her target gets close, then just spring an attack. If she sees an intruder, she won't bark... but she will stay alert. Enter her space, and she will just attack. If you mind your own business, nothing happens at all.

But as seen in the two different videos I posted, Nigredo acts VERY differently when he can see the threat than when he cannot. When he decides the threat is real and puts himself between me and the threat, it's time to retreat because for all I know, despite him being such a good and friendly guy, he may mean business if the threat proceeds.

As my dad says, any dog with teeth may bite. He's a big dude, and he doesn't like intruders on our property. Best you get lost if he plants his feet. But in his yowly bark video... I had gotten a very good look around and had no sight of ANYTHING, so had no idea why he was so upset. There wasn't anybody or anything there. Some dogs are just silly I guess.

I wish I had seen her. I had a VERY good look about and there was nothing to be seen. Nigredo isn't a "bark at wind, trees, wildlife, and everything else" dog, so it baffled me. Nine times out of ten, I quickly see what he's barking at... but not that time. Love the name Habibi BTW.

That's impressive! By contrast, we had a magnificent GSD/Malamute mix who was a little bit wolfy. He hardly ever barked, but if he did, it was the most puppyish thing you ever heard from a dog that size. But he was a natural guard too-- never happier than when he was shepherding his own little pack, his usual group with the dog walkers. Even if he never barked, he had a whole range of expressions you could read like a book. I'm sure if we had a Timmy and a well, he would have had a 'Timmy is in the well' facial expression. Laszlo did so much work for us, kept us up to speed, alerted us when someone was missing or something was seriously wrong (poor Tara nearly drowning; Laszlo told us and she was OK).

Habibi does bark at pretty much everything-- not wind and trees, so we do get a bit of peace! But she is nervous and possessive of her family, and she wants everyone to know to keep their distance. She's not a biter or a fighter and she's about as aggressive as a teapot, but with all the noise feelings can get misinterpreted... and she's a strong little thing, probably Staffie mix and we think Basenji; she has the 'primitive' teeth (seriously, I've seen smaller sets on full grown GSDs) and the curly tail, and she's that beautiful russet copper-gold colour you often see on Basenjis. But she certainly has the bark of a much bigger dog than herself! We called her Habibi because we thought she should have an Arabic name, but we couldn't pronounce most of them. It means 'beloved'. Her middle name is Neferet: 'Beautiful girl'.