I cannot seem to find logic in my pup's response to people passing by our front yard. We hang out on the front porch a lot with the 9 month pup on a tie out. He does not bark at the neighbors across the street and other neighbors because he knows they are our neighbors.

He will run to the end of the line and bark at strangers that walk by - but only about 30% of the time. I can't figure out why he is okay with some people passing by and not with others?

Is this the behaviour of a sharp pup?

I want him to function as a watchdog, but I want him to be able to tell the difference between a threat and a passerby. I have been giving him the leave it command after one or two barks - only works when a prong correction accompanies it.

Any thoughts?

Matt,

My 9 month old GSD pup does the same thing. I am teaching her the no bark command and giving her a quick leash correction followed by a treat if she responds. The other strange thing she will do is when someone comes over and I let them in, she may bark and then quiet for a pet and after the pet start barking again. She is getting better though. When I know someone is coming over I make sure she is leashed so I can work with her. We also sit on our front porch and work with her while people pass by. I am not really worried about it but it is something that we do work on. If I were you I would not put him in front on a tie out until he overcomes it. Instead, I would work with him on the front porch so he learns what is expected. Just my opinion. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

A previous dog I owned was like that around 4 mo. old. She was a pit bull and was extremely dog aggressive, but a people lover. Sometimes she would notice someone walking slower than usual or acting suspicious (maybe because she was pit??) and would go off, lunging and growling and barking. A little more than you would expect from a 4 mo. old. Upon a good correction, she would stop but wouldn't take her eye off that person and would begin again if she saw him on the way back from our walk. She was also sensitive to men with beards or big hats on. People staring bothered her. She did get better in time at stopping on command but was always pretty upset if she saw someone she had questions about. Someone actually tried to steal her from my car in a parking lot when she was 4-6mo. old. Luckily I caught him and made some noise and he ran away, but I assume that would leave a scar on her. She was aggressive toward the "thief" and then crapped all over herself when he ran off.
She became a dominant dog and was too much for me at the time I owned her, so I'd like to hear by the more experienced, why she would be this way too.

I'd like to know what defines a "pup with a little sharpness" vs a "sharp dog", what are the various levels and what is considered "acceptable". Is a little sharpness good?

I taught my dog that "wie is dat" (who is that in dutch) means "be alert, and if there's something suspicious, bark at it". So now if I want to provoke him into barking at whatever he's staring at, I can tell him "wie is dat!" n he'll bark, if he's just relaxing n I want him to go see what's at the window, I can tell him "wie is dat" n he'll go to the window and look - not bark, just look. I guess this is where his level of sharpness comes in - he's not going to bark just because I told him there's something he should look at, he's gone to the window to make his own decision on the threat level. If he's barked long enough for my liking, or he just won't stop, I can tell him "its ok cujo" and he'll stand back at alert or go find something else to do depending on how hard he was barking, sometimes it takes 2 or 3 "its ok" to get him to calm down, and he'll still have a few little growls n yelps while he walks away, the 3rd "its ok" is usually a "no, its ok cujo", the no being very soft and no emphasis on it. I have never ever physically corrected my dog for barking.

It doesn't bother me, right now he's laying on the floor n everytime he hears one of the lawncare workers outside (the blinds are still closed so he can't see out), he lets out a small "grr" or a puppy like yelp then lays back down. He's done this 4 or 5 times in the last 90 minutes, I told him "its ok cujo" n he settled down.

What I would like to know is how to read my dog's body language and decipher his behavior. If he's seriously barking at the window, his tail is straight up but WAGGING and his heckles are raised. But I know that if he chases the person he's barking at, I have no fear for their safety at all, he has no aggression towards them, he'll more likely run circles around them wagging his tail, any move to pet him results in him jumping up to lick their face, even if he's never met them. Is this just an age thing? He's 13 months old, has he just not fully matured? Or is he just a super friendly dog that's never gonna do anything to someone he barks at? Lately he's been letting out these weird, almost moaning noises after he's been barking at the UPS truck or whatever set him off, almost like he's stressed out or annoyed that he can't jump out the window to go see what's going on.