5 months old and I just heard his first ever "alarm/alert" bark

[Nik]

Diesel our 1/2 DDB and 1/2 pit mix puppy turns five months old tomorrow and I just heard him make his first ever alarm/alert bark as someone walked by our house. It was a very different sounding bark from his typical "demand" bark.

At first I was startled but then proud. I told him he was a good boy and then called him over to me. He was very good about stopping after that first alarm and just watching the front door closely until the person walking was well past our home.

How do the rest of you feel about alarm barking? Is this something you encourage as a short alert or do you train your dogs not to do it?

I'm okay with it if it's just a short alert and then stops but curious as to everyone else's stance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Smokeycat]

I have Kryten trained with a stand down command. As long as he stops when I say I know they are there I like the fact he lets me know someone is there. I do live in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood so the fact that he lets people around know that a big dog lives there is a positive too.

 

[AKBull]

I have Junior trained with an "it's okay", or "It's okay, leave it". "Leave it" being associated with something I don't want him to be around, touching, smelling, etc.
And if I'm in a mood, I'll whisper, "what's that"... "what is that". That way whatever he's noticing is noticing they're being watched. (it gets noisy in here)

These dogs (Mastiffs in general) we're bred to be guardians to one extent or the other. When they bark it "usually" means it's something that you should check out. Or it could be a leaf blowing by the window...

Diesel was a good boy.

 

[PrinceLorde13]

Mine only bark if I'm not within their sight or if they are startled awake by something once they can see me and I'm approaching whatever they are alerting me to its all growl until I give a command to stop it.

 

[Nik]

Smokeycat - Our neighborhood can be a little sketchy as well sometimes. Mostly its very safe in our direct neighborhood but a few blocks over its not so good and those elements sometimes come into our area. We had a scooter stolen from our driveway once in the middle of the night and I had a really creepy guy come to our door once when I was home alone asking me when my husband gets home. He claimed he was from the power company and needed to talk to him about our bill but I called them to check on it since he didn't have a uniform on and seemed suspicious and he wasn't with them. Very scary for me when alone so definitely I don't mind the short warning barks.

AKBull - I tend to agree that he was a very good boy. Funny thing though his alarm bark is not nearly as deep and booming as his "demand" bark. I wonder if that will change as he ages. Kind of cool though that the alarm bark is so very distinct. I didn't know that would be the case. I've never had a dog that did the alarm bark. Even my rott never did it and my standard poodle is basically silent and rarely barks at all.

PrinceLorde13 - Did you train the growl rather than the bark or did they do that on their own?

 

[PrinceLorde13]

I trained for it, correction for barking when not necessary, praise/reward for growl when called for, I just hate when dogs bark too much and I wasn't gonna be that guy in the neighborhood, we have a Dane a few houses down that never shuts up and drives me crazy wakes my dogs up in the middle of the night. Bonus I've found is the growl seems to be way more terrifying to most without disturbing the neighborhood.

 

[Nik]

PrinceLorde13 - Yes I can imagine that the growl would be more scary. I really like the idea of that. It would have been nice to have him there growling back when the scary guy came to my door.

 

[Oscar'sMom]

I have Junior trained with an "it's okay", or "It's okay, leave it". "Leave it" being associated with something I don't want him to be around, touching, smelling, etc.
And if I'm in a mood, I'll whisper, "what's that"... "what is that". That way whatever he's noticing is noticing they're being watched.

I do exactly this! It cracks me up when I say "what is that!?" ...and buddy he is on alert! I personally like the alarm bark and as long as I say it's ok then we go about our normal business. Good boy Diesel!

 

[eoj89]

Murphy gets an 'alright' which usually works but on the rare occasion it doesn't, he gets a 'leave it', and with both commands he'll come and sit down next to whoever gave him the command. He'll come with me to see what it is as well if I ask him to come.

 

[Nik]

So Diesel has been keeping up with his "alarm bark" work and it is still going well. In fact we worked out a command that lets him know he can come off of the alert. I say "safe" and he knows that means all is well and he doesn't need to remain at the door or window on alert. Only problem is the boy is so smart that if I say it from the couch while continuing to watch my show or read my book without actually checking he doesn't buy it. I have to get up walk to the window and actually check so that he knows I have taken his alert seriously. The good news is that he doesn't continuously bark. He just gives a few low "woofs" and then stands there staring on alert and very tense until we go check it out and tell him "safe".

At this point anything that comes near our house is a potential threat in his opinion and gets the alert bark.

He still has yet to growl (ever) so I haven't been able to try to convert the bark to a growl. I'm not sure he knows how to growl. lol

 

[maryl]

My 1mo. old EM only barks and growls in his sleep. Maybe the bad guys are after him?

 

[maryl]

Sorry, it's suppose to be 10mos. old.

 

[Nik]

Diesel mostly just snores in his sleep but his snore sounds like a purr. I like to joke that he takes after his kitty siblings. I have to say his "purr snore" is one of my favorite sounds in the world.

 

[KMD]

Barrett has a very loud and distinct guard bark. My neighbourhood is sketchy, so I let her go. "What is it?" means I am checking it out and "leave it" or "Quiet" means to stop... which has had limited success thus far.

 

[Nik]

It's so strange because Diesel's alarm bark is so quiet and low and he only does two in a row. I don't think someone outside could even here it. Yet his "demand" bark is ridiculously loud. I think he got it backwards. lol

 

[KMD]

A DDB does things their own way!