# Perimeter Security Question



## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

I have a one year old male intact GSD who is my only dog right now.

He is super social with strangers and has not developed much defensive instinct. He does notice people and watch them however.

He has been worked on a pole in prey drive, but never defense.

The dog has a good head, and is courageous. He rushes toward gunfire. He retrieves beer bottles. He is good with heights, slick floors, sirens, etc. He can take major distractions on the sleeve to include being picked up by his tail. He does not look away from the decoy or close his eyes.

When I am home alone I will sometimes go to the front door and yell at the door saying "go away." When I do this, the dog barks.

When I go outside and ring the doorbell, the dog barks.

Here's the problem. He doesn't bark when strangers knock on the door. I think he sees me as the alpha and basically thinks if there's a real problem I'll deal with it.

The other day I was home alone inside the house with dog. I gave a painter permission to hop the fence and start work on a piece of rotten wood by the side door. The painter hopped the fence and started ripping the wood off the house with a pry bar. I watched the dog to see his reaction which was to walk over to the door and watch the painter, nothing, no bark, no aggression.

Then again, two months ago, some dufus knocked on my door at 10 pm at night and asked if I could loan him some gas. I told the guy no and I couldn't help him and then he asked me to come outside and talk to him. I loudly yelled GO AWAY and when I did the dog went nuts, which was great. The guy left immediately. 

I've worked very hard to make this a social dog, lots of outings to the park and to visit friends with kids, but I think he might be too nice.

This dog has great ball drive, and he is great on the sleeve. I'm trying to say the dog has drive, he has a fire.

This is a very quiet dog, as was his dad. This dog never barks but he will bark on command, and the bark is nice and deep. 

This dog was bought as a puppy to be a PPD.

How can I work on this dog becoming more territorial with the house and yard in reference to strangers, in reference to barking at the door, and rushing the fence if the dog ever saw someone trying to hop over the fence?

I am concerned about this dog being left alone in the house and or in the yard and not putting up any kind of fuss if a stranger appears.

Thanks in advance.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

Teach him to bark when someone knocks on the door. He doesn't have to become a territorial monster to bark at a knock, door bell etc. For that matter, you could teach him to bark at the sound of breaking glass and other such sounds. He wouldn't even have to be "bite" trained and could still remain social.

dFrost


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## John-Ashley Hill (Jan 5, 2011)

I think this is a situation in which you need to be careful what you wish for. Having a PPD dog doesn't mean you need a landshark looking to eat anyone they don't know who is on the property. IMO a PPD dog that will protect you if you are ever under attack or in danger is ideal. I would think thats why its called personal protection and not trespassing and stranger aggressive dog. I undderstand you wanting the dog to take some sort of action when strangers are around but for everything you gain, you give something up. What if the trespasser is a kid fetching a ball that went over the fence or you let the dog out and the ups guy is coming to deliver a package. Like was stated earlier teaching the dog to bark when someone knocks or is on the property is usually all it takes to make a criminal pick another house. As long as you know the dog will protect you when the fit hits the shan, thats what matters. Having the dog you are talking about which Ithink of more like a sentry dog is a BIG liability.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

He is only a year old ?? What do you expect ? It sounds like he is going in the right direction, except his owner is an impatient knothead. HA HA


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Agree...one year old and rushing into things can spell lots of mistakes and some may NEVER be fixed. What you put into this puppy now will come out later in life!!!


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## Randy Allen (Apr 18, 2008)

Yeah Jason,
Careful what you wish for. 
PPD's are a genuine pita to live with and need constant awares on your part.
Just ask Howard.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

Randy Allen said:


> Just ask Howard.


Or Lee


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## Randy Allen (Apr 18, 2008)

Crap, I did it again.
Thank-you Maggie (for being a mind reader), yes Lee did come to mind first.


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## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

John-Ashley Hill said:


> I think this is a situation in which you need to be careful what you wish for. Having a PPD dog doesn't mean you need a landshark looking to eat anyone they don't know who is on the property. IMO a PPD dog that will protect you if you are ever under attack or in danger is ideal. I would think thats why its called personal protection and not trespassing and stranger aggressive dog. I undderstand you wanting the dog to take some sort of action when strangers are around but for everything you gain, you give something up. What if the trespasser is a kid fetching a ball that went over the fence or you let the dog out and the ups guy is coming to deliver a package. Like was stated earlier teaching the dog to bark when someone knocks or is on the property is usually all it takes to make a criminal pick another house. As long as you know the dog will protect you when the fit hits the shan, thats what matters. Having the dog you are talking about which Ithink of more like a sentry dog is a BIG liability.


I understand your point; it is well taken, and understood. I don't want to trend into sentry dog territory, I just want this dog to see my home and the yard as his property as well, just as his predecessor (RIP) did, who struck a great balance between being social and territorial. Away from the house he was fine even with kids, but if someone knocked on the door you could tell by his barks he wanted them to know his house's door was being knocked on. I was just the dummy who told the UPS guy to leave the package in the driveway.


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## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

David Frost said:


> Teach him to bark when someone knocks on the door. He doesn't have to become a territorial monster to bark at a knock, door bell etc. For that matter, you could teach him to bark at the sound of breaking glass and other such sounds. He wouldn't even have to be "bite" trained and could still remain social.
> 
> I'll work on having a helper knock on the door and see if I can condition him to bark more readily. Maybe over time his defense will take over from there. Having the helper knock on the door one day when I'm gone won't be a problem.


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## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Agree...one year old and rushing into things can spell lots of mistakes and some may NEVER be fixed. What you put into this puppy now will come out later in life!!!


I think stressing a confident, young dog is a terrible idea. This issue with the front door, the yard, and territorial feelings is up to the dog at this point. As he gets older I'll cautiously re-visit what experiences I want him to engage in with decoys.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

_*When I am home alone I will sometimes go to the front door and yell at the door saying "go away."* When I do this, the dog barks._

_*When I go outside and ring the doorbell,* the dog barks._

_*Here's the problem.* He doesn't bark when strangers knock on the door. I think he sees me as the alpha and basically thinks if there's a real problem I'll deal with it._

I think all of the above ^^ is the problem.

You sound as though you are treating the dog like it has neither brain nor instinct, you are confusing a young dog. Let him grow up and stop all that silly shit you are doing. You're teaching him to bark at YOU, I doubt he's seeing you as an alpha with those antics.

What gsd needs taught to bark at the door ?? Never heard of that one before.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

maggie fraser said:


> _*When I am home alone I will sometimes go to the front door and yell at the door saying "go away."* When I do this, the dog barks._
> 
> _*When I go outside and ring the doorbell,* the dog barks._
> 
> ...


If the dog barks when YOU ring the doorbell, the transition to just barking at the bell is easy stuff. The hard work is done. 

If he barks when you yell "go away". What is so difficult about building on that, with a knock from a stranger? Again, easy stuff. If all you are looking for is a bark to let whoever is out there there is a dog inside; job done.

DFrost


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Maturity may do wonders for this dog. 
Wait to see what his "mature" personality is. A lot of good dogs are way social at one yr old. 
My 7yr old dog is very social when I'm around but no one can go near the car or house unless I'm there to tell him otherwise. 
Will he actually protect me? I don't care. He's a fantastic alarm/threat dog. I'll take it from there!
Missouri has great CCW and Castle doctrine laws.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

as has been mentioned already: the dog is only a year old! give him some time to grow up, play around with training a bark on command, but i'd be willing to bet he'll start taking it upon himself in 6 months or so. patience!!


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## Oluwatobi Odunuga (Apr 7, 2010)

John-Ashley Hill said:


> I think this is a situation in which you need to be careful what you wish for. Having a PPD dog doesn't mean you need a landshark looking to eat anyone they don't know who is on the property. IMO a PPD dog that will protect you if you are ever under attack or in danger is ideal. I would think thats why its called personal protection and not trespassing and stranger aggressive dog. I undderstand you wanting the dog to take some sort of action when strangers are around but for everything you gain, you give something up. What if the trespasser is a kid fetching a ball that went over the fence or you let the dog out and the ups guy is coming to deliver a package. Like was stated earlier teaching the dog to bark when someone knocks or is on the property is usually all it takes to make a criminal pick another house. As long as you know the dog will protect you when the fit hits the shan, thats what matters. Having the dog you are talking about which Ithink of more like a sentry dog is a BIG liability.


I agree with this in part but i think many of us would love it if the dog's bark is enough to discourage the bad guys from coming in at all. My 2 year old GSD is unlikely to protect me in a real attack but she always barks when people knock at our gate or get too close to the compound and our neighbors actually think she's a very strong dog and its prevented bad guys from breaking in. I live in a place where you call the police and they tell you their cars dont have fuel so security dogs are a big plus if you live in area prone to attacks like mine.
I guess its different in the US but all the same its good if the dog barks when its 'necessary'. You can also put a BEWARE OF DOG sign, many non-dog owners use it here and its scares away a lot of would be intruders.:lol:.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

I LOVE this peanut crowd! :^o


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## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> Maturity may do wonders for this dog.
> Wait to see what his "mature" personality is. A lot of good dogs are way social at one yr old.
> My 7yr old dog is very social when I'm around but no one can go near the car or house unless I'm there to tell him otherwise.
> Will he actually protect me? I don't care. He's a fantastic alarm/threat dog. I'll take it from there!
> Missouri has great CCW and Castle doctrine laws.


Great advice, thanks. Along those lines, when this dog sits and barks he hops up and down on his front paws as many GSDs do. It's a good show, one I would not be willing to take a roll of the dice on. 

The Castle doctrine is a wonderful thing, and unlike dogs, you don't have to post your fence to let potential intruders know you have some desire to protect your own limb and home.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

One thing to consider--when you are with the dog, he is reading you as to how he should respond and whether its friend or foe. Don't underestimate how well the dog can analyze a situation. He's young and sounds pretty confident. I wouldn't screw with his judgment at this point. I say leave him be and let him mature [about Age 3]. I'd be more worried if the dog was a ra ra noise maker.

Terrasita


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## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

maggie fraser said:


> _*When I am home alone I will sometimes go to the front door and yell at the door saying "go away."* When I do this, the dog barks._
> 
> _*When I go outside and ring the doorbell,* the dog barks._
> 
> ...


But see the problem is such that if I quit these silly antics I might as well quit all my other silly antics with this dog, to include teaching him how to moonwalk, mix up the perfect salty chihuaha, or tear around the neighborhood in his pimped out go cart after doing the former.


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