Our ten months old, neutered Lab/Retriever/GSD(?) puppy is turning into a little (not so little actually) watchdog. Only two weeks ago, he didn't make a sound when the UPS guy knocked at the door - and I tried to reinforce that by showing him the package and giving him a treat. But for a couple of days now, as soon as someone approaches the front door, he starts growling and barking, the hair on his back raised.

Is there something I can do to reduce his drive?

 Quote: alex riegler

Our ten months old, neutered Lab/Retriever/GSD(?) puppy is turning into a little (not so little actually) watchdog. Only two weeks ago, he didn't make a sound when the UPS guy knocked at the door - and I tried to reinforce that by showing him the package and giving him a treat. But for a couple of days now, as soon as someone approaches the front door, he starts growling and barking, the hair on his back raised. ... Is there something I can do to reduce his drive?

I'm not sure about the terms "watchdog" or "drive" with regard to this.

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=259030&Searchpage=1&Main=24875&Words=lawn+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post259026 has some good suggestions.

So does http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=167&Number=267299&Searchpage=1&Main=25541&Words=lawn+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post267261

Alex,

I don't know what your looking for in a dog, but you need to determine what kind of behavior you want to see from your dog and then shape and mold it to get what you want. Since you already have the dog you need to understand why your dog is doing what it's doing. If this just started all of a sudden, my guess is you've already missed some signs that your dog was giving you.
There needs to be enough socialization with people and other dogs under the right conditions and in controlled enviornments.
If your wanting to dial back a little bit on the aggressive responses in the situation described, then your going to have to work your dog consistently and possibly do a counter conditioning type of training so your dog isn't overreactive.
A good obedience program will go a long way toward achieving what you want.
The age of your dog, genetics and past experiences (yours and the dogs) are all part of what your looking at. Your experiences concerning your savvy in reading your dog and not reacting or over reacting to the situation, and your dogs when it comes to how your dog reacted in the past.
Quite often with dogs, the problem is not the problem, it's the way they feel about the problem. This is why you need to be an avid student of your dog, (not to anthropomorphize) just like your wife.

Michael,

We got him as a six months old rescue. While he never lived at a shelter - he was fostered -, he was found with a big wound at his face and neck. We therefore took extra care in socializing him properly. And so far, he doesn't show any aggression towards people, dogs, or cats.
The only thing that startled us was that during the first couple of weeks he sometimes suddenly woke up and growled towards a big window, the hair on his back raised. As soon as I talked to him calmly, he seemed something between embarrassed and submissive. However, after a few weeks this behavior stopped.

Today he noticed something (visual/sound) through the small frosted glass window of our front door. Within an instant the hair on his back was raised and he was growling very seriously. A few days ago he reacted the same way as the UPS delivery man was knocking.
I was wondering if puberty (he's 10 months now) could bring on territorial issues (if that's what it is).

Connie: Thanks a lot for the "desensitizing" tip. I will look into that!

Are you absolutly sure nothing (or no one) is peeking in your windows and startling him?
I hope not, but.....

Either way, how do I get my dogs to bark? At one point a friend of mine 'broke in' my house while I was sleeping. The dogs all looked at me and said nothing. She came in suspisiously and everything, didn't turn on lights, was using a flashlight, etc. Is it because they knew her or because they waited for me to respond?

Oh, never mind, I didn't mean to hyjack, just got a bit jealous, I guess.

Alex,
Quite often not knowing is worse than knowing the worse. This is one reason people and animls are much moe likely to respond with fear in the dark or in strange situations. Your response to this stimuli is going to be key to molding the dog's behavior to what you want to see.
There could of been someone outside making some kind of noise or it could of been the wind. Through your training and the way you respond in situations like this is going to make all the difference in that dog.
Your dog's age can have a lot to do with this also so show him he's got nothing to worry about because your there and everything about you is reassuring him that he's got nothing to worry about. This takes time, but this is how relationships were designed and that's what you have here.
If possible allow the dog to see what's going on from a distance and then incrementally get closer while training with his favorite toy or food (whatever floats his boat).
As your relationship grows with the dog and he finds he can trust you this will help enormously. From the beggining I always go out to see what my dogs are barking about. If I can't see anything I tell them it's OK and they stop, but you have to be consistent and not get to lazy to go check and never yell at him to stop (be reassuring) because he's only responding to his nature. Again your job as the trainer is to mold what's already there. He might be a little sharp but that's OK because I'd rather have a dog who's a little sharp then not.

 Quote: michael reese

... show him he's got nothing to worry about because your there and everything about you is reassuring him that he's got nothing to worry about. This takes time, but this is how relationships were designed and that's what you have here. ... From the beggining I always go out to see what my dogs are barking about. If I can't see anything I tell them it's OK and they stop, but you have to be consistent and not get to lazy to go check ...

This is a much more succinct way of saying what I meant with my "lawn guys"
story.

I force myself go look every time, to use the same upbeat voice to say all is well, not to sooth/enforce reactivity, and not to require silence until I say everything's OK.

At this point, even the more reactive of the two will give one big bark and then look at me to check and say it's OK ("lawn guys!").

I think consistency and not blowing the dog off OR trying to "out-bark" the dog while you also open the door, etc., are crucial.

Thanks so much for your help.
During the last weeks, he only started growling when someone walked up the stairs towards our front door - and that's perfectly okay with me. I also caught myself feeling safer at night.