Hi, My 1.5 yr old whines and gets excited when strangers come around. I would hope that through maturity or training she will become a bit more serious? She doesnt have alot of training only basic commands and doesnt have much experience with people outside the family. She barks when the doorbell rings or if something makes noises in the dark outside.Besides that shes quiet. Any suggestions

 Quote: Mike Ruiz

Any suggestions

Read my thread: My dog is the village idiot.

It's up and running now. Can't miss it. It will give you some idea of what others think about having a dog that thinks strangers are great.

My suggestion, pour yourself a cup of coffee first .

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure I understand your post correctly. Do you want her to just not react to anything? Are these strangers people outside while you are walking or people knocking on your door or talking loudly outside your home?

Kimberly

DEJA VU!!!

 Quote: Carol Boche

DEJA VU!!!

Carol,

Judy

Here is the link to the "My dog is the Village Idiot" thread.
Make sure to start at pg.1 post 1

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=132372#Post132372

Mike,
What would you like your dog to be?
What breed of dog is she?
Does she have a crate or is she allowed run of the house?
And, who handles the dog most of the time?

I ask these questions in order to gain a better understanding of where you are at with the dog and what you are striving for in having a dog.

 Quote: Mike Ruiz

Hi, My 1.5 yr old whines and gets excited when strangers come around. I would hope that through maturity or training she will become a bit more serious? She doesnt have alot of training only basic commands and doesnt have much experience with people outside the family. She barks when the doorbell rings or if something makes noises in the dark outside.Besides that shes quiet. Any suggestions

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Generally, dogs with a less-than perfect temperament and weak 'nerve' bark every time the wind blows, which gets really annoying.

With experienced & knowledgeable help you could train her to react a specific way when strangers come around, but you have to be very careful with this & honestly I don't recommed it unless you have a real need for a PPD.

A dog socially aggresive dog, by nature, isn't a bad thing by any means, but requires diligent handling. Also, a dog that is socially aggressive by nature is better than attempting to create one.

Is your post meant to get help on getting your dog to bark more or getting your dog to "like" strangers less?

Speaking to the barking, I'm not a trainer. I only want to share my experience with a dog similar to yours. He'll be 24 months in a couple of weeks, just neutered last week, and acts excited when strangers come around (come into the house), is quiet 98% of the time. Even if a stranger rings my doorbell, my dog almost never barks. This drives me crazy .

I, therefore, trained him in such a way that when he barked on his own, I encouraged it. Still do to this day. My encouragement did not make my dog into anything other than a somewhat more willing to bark dog. He'll bark at night much more readily but even then it's seldom enough that when he does, I know something is out there .

Your dog sounds like she is a little more vocal than mine. John says he wouldn't recommend "it". Not sure what he means by "it". If he means he wouldn't encourage more barking, my experience has only been positive in that regard. Of course you could have a different outcome. Just sharing the experience I had.

If John is talking about not recommending an attempt to change her perception of strangers, I too have that type of dog and the thread mentioned above covers it all.

I think it's not easy whichever type of dog you have; aggressive or over-the-top friendly.

Oops, now I see what John was referring to . Time for my coffee. Yea, he's right about being careful!

Edited by Judy Troiano (03/09/2007 06:33 AM)
Edit reason: Mistake

Shes a working line German Shepherd ---Inside she stays in her crate---Im the one who handles her----------I just want her to be aware of strangers/not agressive just cautious . Shes confident in almost every situation. Maybe through training she will learn how we would like her to react in different situations. We live on 5 acreswit no real close neighbors so I kind of want her to be a little less inviting . thanks Mike