Dog as watchdog

RogR

Got a rough collie pup a month ago, lovely temperament, very clever easily trained boy. Saw both parents on purchase, mother very quiet and father good watch dog and wary of strangers. I got the pup as a pet and also as a watchdog to alert me to anybody entering the house. So far he has more of a likelihood to lick a stranger than bark at them. Is there any advice anybody could give to encourage him to be more wary of anybody arriving, I still realise he is still quiet young

RogR

RogR wrote: »

Got a rough collie pup a month ago, lovely temperament, very clever easily trained boy. Saw both parents on purchase, mother very quiet and father good watch dog and wary of strangers. I got the pup as a pet and also as a watchdog to alert me to anybody entering the house. So far he has more of a likelihood to lick a stranger than bark at them. Is there any advice anybody could give to encourage him to be more wary of anybody arriving, I still realise he is still quiet young

Forgot to mention he is six months old

VonVix

You really wouldn't want a 6 month old to be wary of strangers as you can end up with a whole heap of other issues you don't want.

I wouldn't be trying to change your puppy's habits, proper alert barking (which is what I assume you hope for) comes with time and maturity.

I think they also get better at it with age. One of mine (nearly five years old), didn't make a single peep until he was around a year and a half, but now his alert barking has gotten so good that not only can he alert us as to when someone is at the door, but if we invite someone in and they either go upstairs or near the back door, he will start wildly barking, because he knows it's not normal for strange guests to be there.

Beth18

In my experience the territorial nature in dogs especially male will only begin to develop when their testosterone starts kicking in which would be around now.

RogR

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. I don't want a vicious dog, just want to be alerted to strangers. He's a lovely boy and I don't want to change that. Hopefully the testosterone will kick it off, he's not even peeing with a raised leg yet anyway

Bells21

RogR wrote:

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. I don't want a vicious dog, just want to be alerted to strangers. He's a lovely boy and I don't want to change that. Hopefully the testosterone will kick it off, he's not even peeing with a raised leg yet anyway

Ours didn't raise his leg until he was well over a year old, wasn't a major deal. Speaking from someone who has a very vocal dog, be glad that you don't have one who is barking at strangers especially at this age. You could be setting yourself up for some pretty big issues if he were to become overly wary of strangers at this age.
He may well, as he grows, bark to alert you to someone's presence which is fine, but I don't think you want to go down the route of them barking out of fear or worse again aggression because they've become so untrusting.

RogR

Bells21 wrote: »

Ours didn't raise his leg until he was well over a year old, wasn't a major deal. Speaking from someone who has a very vocal dog, be glad that you don't have one who is barking at strangers especially at this age. You could be setting yourself up for some pretty big issues if he were to become overly wary of strangers at this age.
He may well, as he grows, bark to alert you to someone's presence which is fine, but I don't think you want to go down the route of them barking out of fear or worse again aggression because they've become so untrusting.

All I would want really is to be alerted of someone's presence

Bells21

RogR wrote:

All I would want really is to be alerted of someone's presence

Totally understand that, our quieter dog wasn't one to bark or make noise as a puppy but has over time learned to alert us to someone coming. Her's is simply a bark to notify us, no stress, no fuss which is great. Our other dog on the other hand can become quite stressed/anxious and his bark is totally different. It's something we've been working on with him but it's a looooonng process.

JustAThought

Sounds like a lovely pup . Mine was never taught to fear or be wary of strangers & never barked - until one day out of the blue at the door - I think the alerting of someone odd or out of character happening on the grounds comes with time & experience that something is out of the ordinary. I taught mine 'shhhh' to be quiet which was picked up very quickly & a rolling hand gesture which I very occasionally used to keep the barking going at the door - very handy - particularly with scumbags hanging arout or knocking. I would say even having a dog that dosn't bark visible is a great deterrant - its not the sound of the voice but the thought of the teeth that puts them off.

Graces7

Mine is great. This house is very very isolated and her job is to alert me to passers by as there really are none..

She has a time bomb ticking "bark" if the postman just stops at the gate, but if he lingers or sounds his horn as he needs a signature, she lets fly. He has never seen her but comments what a good dog I have.

She is not fully socialised as that is not needed or possible here. I am rarely from home and even more rare is that anyone comes here.

It is getting what is appropriate and needed for each situation?

Wildcard7

RogR wrote: »

So far he has more of a likelihood to lick a stranger than bark at them.

I just want to say these things aren't mutually exclusive. A watchdog makes noise, it's not necessarily in any way aggressive towards strangers. (That's just my personal experience from my GSD who can look and sound scary as hell but the most dangerous thing about her is that she'd lick your face whether you want it or not).
So I guess I just want to second what everyone else says: Don't worry about your dog being too friendly, it doesn't mean he's not going to make more noise than you want by the time he's older.

Ms Doubtfire1

Give it time. You will be wishing for some quiet time when he comes into maturity, your dogs hearing is fully developed and able to distinguish between ' home' and 'away' noises...you'll receive plenty of warning of anything he feels is 'improper'.