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Beth, I'm going to have to repeat your experience to my friends and family. The "CALL OFF YOUR DOGS??" and "WE CAN'T - THEY ARE NOT TRAINED!" has to be one of the best lines I've seen on this board <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> !

Believe you me, we will use that one again and again however needed around here. While we are absolute 2nd amendment folks, that was the best deterent I've been witness to yet on our own property. And no matter how much training we do in prey and defense with the GSD's, the Beagle will always be the loudest. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> For some strange reason, Buck (Beagle) just ROCKS as an after dark deterent, based on sheer volume.

Beth

Well my male Yaggo will not touch a single thing in the car or the car itself.I can have him in the car for hours and all he does is guard the car.I love the fact that he barks at ANY one that approaches my car.I cant' pick and choose who he should bark at and who he shouldn't .I let him decide that.Sometimes it is a pain when he is close to my ear barking but I rather he barks.We don't live in a place that is so friendly and peaceful that barking at any one coming close will offend me or care if he offends any one.I have a reason for having a dog like him (I can't go into) but He was trained to protect at all times and he does his job very well.He also speaks when you ask him to. I think their are dogs that guard naturaly and others you have to teach.I'm happy to say that my male is a natural at it and I wouldn't change a thing about him in that respect..OK I'm done bragging about him. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I'm a firm believer in crating for safety reasons, and suggest peopel do so - which, as I said, somewhat limits the usefulness of the dog barking. But I'm also a flaming libertarian so don't think we need a law forcing people to do so. And even if you don't crate, chances are you won't have your dog with you all the time, so you still need to watch out for yourself. Our local (Jacksonville, FL) TV station just ran this story on their website. If it's another internet hoax, I'll apologize and go sit in my dog's crate http://www.news4jax.com/news/10329218/detail.html

In regards of the car jacking, my point exactly.If a crook got into my car and my dog was in a crate what help would he be.Don't always assume that a crook is scared of your dogs.But if your dog is loose in your car (like mine) if he still decides to get into my car then he deserves every stiches he will get, and I won't stop my dog for a second, I'll wait till cops arrive.I have no tolerance for crooks of any kind. And my dog is crated in the car for training time only.When we are out and about he is with me (loose) in the car or on the leash at the park but he is with me at all times.I know about "always watching out for myself at all times"being married to a officer , believe me I get my share of lectures about that .But having my dogs with me as much as I can take one or all is better than not (for me)

I'm with you on the crating in the car thing. Even if I had a car that fit a crate, I wouldn't use it. Like you said, what good is a crated dog while you're out and about. Crimes happen in the daytime too so I don't think for a second that if I go to park my car in a busy parking lot in the middle of the day, that I'm "safer".

By the way, my fiancee figured out how they scammed us. So for anyone out there that has a navigation system in their car you might want to think about this...as long as someone has the key to your car, i.e., parking garages, valet parking, they have access to the information in your navigation system. There is actually a button marked "HOME". When you push it, voila, up comes your home address. Then all you have to do is push "LIST" and up comes all the pretty little street names in our town!!!

So, we've since erased that info. from the car's navigation.

I have a navigation system but I never use it, too complicated for me.Nice that you thought about that event and changed a few things for safety purpose.Some people move on and don't re-think of why such bad thing happend to them and don't really learn from it.
I'm glad you guys thought about it a bit!!!
Good for you

i dunno, with regards training your dog to bark at people who approach the car, mine have been carried around in the back of my suburban since about 10wks old - and they picked it up pretty well on their own. actually, they seem to think their "territory" extends well out of the car in any direction, and i would prefer them not to bark at people all the way across the parking lot.

i'm not involved in schutzhund, but if i were (or any other occasion where my dogs would be socialised with others') i would crate my dogs in the back of my car. otherwise, it seems easier to me just to train them to stay in one place (out of reach of the driver of course) - in my case, the cargo area at the rear of the suburban.

most of the time it's just one dog at a time (i try to keep them seperated as much as possible), but occasionally when there's the two of them in the car unattended - for even the shortest of times - the temptation to romp is too great, and i'll return to find at least one of them in the passenger area... but even that they're slowly learning.

just my two cents though.

Jamie,

The idea is to train him to bark on my command, not when people approach my car. Big difference. Gas station attendants approach my car, valets approach my car, friends, family, etc. I don't want him doing any kind of barking then. I'm training him to bark on sight of a hand signal and w/a voice command when the person approaching my car is not supposed to be. For instance, I'm parked at a red light and someone loitering on the side of the street decides he/she wants to talk to me. That's the time, he'll be told to bark.

My dog is 19 mos. old and is so laid back in the car, you'd think I give him sleeping pills! If he's not lying down in the back seat, he's sitting in the passenger seat in front with me calmly co-piloting. He has nerves of steel, traffic never gets to him .

So I think I'd have to be a magician to teach him this skill and then the skill goes haywire, wherein he barks at everyone approaching my car. It's just not going to happen.

 Quote: judy troiano

For instance, I'm parked at a red light and someone loitering on the side of the street decides he/she wants to talk to me.

Out of curiousity, have you had the experience of having your dog in the car with you when someone came to the car and made you nervous? I'm asking because maybe your dog is discriminating. Perhaps if he sensed your fear, he would respond. Also, have you ever left him in the car and watched what he did when people came to the car? Maybe he's protective of "his territory" when you're not around.

The other thing is that I think your dog is young and could still grow into his protectiveness.

He is discriminating but whatever it is that has him discriminating...I don't know what it is. Here's an interesting story to explain:

One time I'm w/my dog and we pull into a gas station right next to two guys that look like they just broke out of prison. They creeped me out completely. Gunnar did nothing, nada. Just as I'm sitting there quietly freaking out , another car comes and pulls up and sort of blocks both me and felons next to me. It's THIS car that Gunnar takes notice of and starts barking at. Just as he's glaring at the occupants of the 3rd car, the guys in this car get out and do the strangest thing...they were in some sort of strange costumes, got out of their car and starting beating on their own car!! I swear I'm not making this up!! Then a 5th guy out of nowhere comes up to the kooks bashing their own car w/a camera and starts filming not only them but me and the felons next to me!! Gunnar is barking at all of them. Then, without warning, they all get back in their cars and drive away.

Now the felons turn to me and start smiling at me and giving me the thumbs up for my dog's assertive behavior. The felons turn out to be the normal ones (at least during that few minutes) which may explain why Gunnar never gave them a second look.

Another time he barked very aggressively at bikers (bicycles) who pulled up next to our car to stop for the traffic light. Gunnar scared the crap out of them and me and my son. It was so unexpected. There were 4 of them and the only think I can think is that Gunnar felt, maybe, that they were too close to our car?? They chose to stop right at our back door and didn't see my dog b/c he was lying down. The moment they spoke to each other he leaped up and stuck his head out the window and barked in a rather nasty fashion. It was an "I'm-not-playing-so-get-the-hell-away-from-the-car" bark.

And lastly he went wild over some guy in my driveway. So yea, he discriminates. He has it in him but I cannot tell for the life of me what sets him off. It's too few and far between to see any kind of pattern.