hmm...

Disappointing though that must be, a stable, friendly dog is miles better than an unstable one. This is one of the troubles with just getting a dog for security: dogs work best as part of an overall plan and you do need the right dog with the right training for your needs.

Seriously though, barking alone is good enough for most situations as few thieves want to find out whether or not your dog is friendly and hate to have attention called to their activities. So if you can train him to bark reliably, he could yet be very useful to you.

You could teach him to bark on command and link that to whenever someone's at the door, or at the windows, etc, etc. Once he starts doing it on his own initiative, come right over to him and reward him, the basic idea being that it's a good thing to bark when someone approaches the house.

Another way is to get a little, sharp dog who'll reliably alarm bark. Perhaps foster a terrier with an option to adopt if it works out. Once it starts barking, he'll almost certainly do so as well.

If there's a neighbourhood watch, it'd be good to participate in it. Knowing that people in the area *are* watching out for each other and *will* call the police over any suspicious activity does a lot.

Dei I was thinking the same thing. If barking is that important and if Mo is strapped for funds to train the Gsd a little yapper will do the trick.
Mo that friend that came over did your dog ever meet him before? I agree with Chuck sounds like you have a very nice dog.There are advatages, last week my wife was on a field trip and her boss came over to let the dog out.

Milt

Mo,

The fact that the dog does bark at some proper times (people in the alley, going in the neighbors house,...) to me means that the dog is likely to get the idea at some point. Combine the barking with a command (Watch 'em) and praise the heck out of him for barking. When he gets the idea use the command in the house at the door.

Be careful what you wish for though, once you get him going you may wish you could shut him up.

Originally posted by Richard Cannon:
Mo,
Be careful what you wish for though, once you get him going you may wish you could shut him up. Good point Richard.

MILT,
NO NIGHT HAD NEVER MET THE FRIEND BEFORE

CHUCK,
HE IS A NICE DOG AND YES ALL AIL WANT IS FOR HIM TO BARK WHEN SOMEONE COMES TO THE HOUSE(MAY-BE TAKE A LITTLE BITE IF THE GUEST IS UN WELCOME)
MAYBE I SOULD GET A CROSS BETWEEN A ROTTWEILER AND A COLLIE (LASSIE)
THEN IF THE DOG TURNS AND ATTACKS ME WHEN HE'S FINNISHED HE'LL GO FOR HELP
MO

Check this ARTICLE out.

thanks vince the link was helpfull