Not A Watch Dog

[DAVERI]

After the passing of my old girls in 2009 we hadn’t had a new dog but felt the need for one since moving into a new house last year. I had my name down with a breeder but by sheer luck a family member was giving away her lovely 3 yr old purebred staffy (lara)and my mother was traveling up from NSW the next day so did a stop in and collected her. We love her to bits, she is the best with all our kids (aged 2 to 12yrs) and other pets (2 cats, g-pigs and chooks). My hubby’s older coolie lives on the farm with the inlaws but comes to stay from time to time. Both dogs get on like a house on fire but the old boy can only tolerate my 2yr for not much more than 5 or 6 days straight and having already 4 kids when they have friends over the noise levers get high and he can’t stand it.

Hubby dos some work on cars from his workshop at home part time and is at the other workshop when his not home. Which leaves me here when he’s not but sometimes we may be out on the weekends. At night the place is very dark and we have mirror tinted windows (which is great during the day cause you can see out but can’t see in, not so great at night when the lights are on inside cause it’s very hard to see out.). And the property is fairly heavily planted.

Over the past few months we feel someone has been snooping about either at night or when we are not home. A few garden tools have gone missing from the carport area and over the past few weeks someone has clearly rifled through some of my boxes I have stored in the shed and hubbies tools and parts but as far as we can tell nothing has been taken. The shed has a dicky personnel door (which he will be welding a bracket and lock to this weekend). We have a feeling we must know who it is. Lots of place in the area have been broken into and some places in daylight while the home owners are home. The property is fenced into three areas and has a front gate which I’ve now been closing and padlocking even when I’m home (which I’m not sure if I’m aloud to do cause then the power and water ppl can’t get in). I just don’t feel real safe. With the gardens and the house being set into the side of the slop it’s imposable to see anyone come in the front until they are at the front door. We are looking into security cameras but because they need to be day and night wireless and I need at least 2 or 3 it’s very costly even on ebay.

But Lara (new dog) never barks unless she’s getting over excited when she’s playing with the ball. At first we put it down to being a new house cause I was told she barked at the old place she was at but she also spent a lot of time on a chain due to escaping all the time. We have talked about getting another dog (we’d still be keeping the one we have) but it’s such a huge thing, just when we think we have decided I get cold feet. It would need to fit in with our family and other pets and at the very least bark and warn me someone is about. I’d have to admit we don’t walk much cause the street is full of dogs and every one of them bark (which seems to carry on for about 1/2hr) whenever someone walks up the road with a dog and I find it hard with a pram too. But we live on 2 acres and the dogs are always played with lots of ball chasing, running after the kids, walk down the back feeding the other pets and my oldest sets up courses with tunnels, ramps and small jumps so they are kept active everyday and when the kids are at school lara is playing with my 2 year old (she never leaves her side). We have also noticed lara is quiet (seems sad) when the other dog go’s back home to the farm.

[dogslife]

Get a second dog.

My first rottie was a total sook and scared of her own shadow. once we got a second dog she became more confident and both barked as soon as they heard anything.

Choose a dog that your first dog likes as they will be spending all their time together.

It took meeting lots of dogs at the pound and rescue group to find the right dog but we had 10 years of perfect dog relations and I was able to sleep at nights with the front door wide open and I live in the inner city of sydney.

No one could step inside the gate without my dogs going off........

.

[Chezy]

what about sensor lights, you sound like you don't actually want another dog , no guarantee it will be a barker either , sensor lights are quite cheap and easy to install .

as for the power and water, you can contact them and be put on a list that you make a set day for inspection , or you can self read and they do a read on appointment once a year .

[megan_]

I think it is unfair to get a dog just to be a watch dog unless you actually want two dogs and want to do the walking, training etc. Staffys are hopeless watch dogs - strangers are just friends they haven't met yet. There is no guarantee that dog #2 will be a good watchdog, regardless of breed - then what happens to that dog?

If you want security, get a security system - cheaper in the long term and if it doesn't perform as promised you can just return it to the shop.

[BJean]

Megan - you can guarantee some breeds will be a watch dog.

Guard dog: depends on your definition on guard,

but watch dog, that is not hard to guarantee.

[Dame Aussie]

Want my Anatolian?? :laugh: god help anyone who even tries to look at our place

[DAVERI]

I have a sensor light at the front of the shed and two at the carport and it hasn’t stopped anyone. And I don’t know if it’s been when I’m asleep at night or because of the heavy planting and the house being set into the side of the slopping block but we haven’t noticed the lights go on when we are in the house.

It’s not that I don’t want another dog. I find taking on a new dog is a huge responsibility because he or she will be around for a long time and its super important to choose the right one that will fit into our family and get on with all the pets we already have. I’m probably more worried about choosing something that won’t work out as well as I hoped. (Will not get on with Lara or the kids or wants to kill the chickens or something, a personality that won’t fit in.) We are the type of family that take our pets as extended members of our family and we love each dearly.

Training really isn’t an issue. Lara was already 3yrs old when she came and knew nothing. She had no idea how to sit etc. she’d never been inside. She had spent most of her life on a chain but she was always around other dogs. But we have worked with her every day. She might not get walked out in the street much but she’s always kept active. When the kids are home she runs round mad chasing balls or toys, running round courses my daughter sets up, swimming when it’s hot etc. (when the coolie is here he’s run off his feet and is a working dog)and when there at school she’s following me and my 2 year old round, I often play games with her, she walks down the back with me when I feed the chooks etc. (she’d get more exercise playing than she would in a 1/2hr or 1hr walk with less risk of catching something or being chased by some stray etc.) and when she’s tired she’s usually a pillow or foot warmer for my 2 year old at nap time or watching TV on the lounge. Lara spends 99% with us when we are home but I have noticed she really enjoys the company of the coolie when he comes to stay and seems to be a little more quiet than normal the days following him going back home and up until she came to live with us she was always around other dogs.

I love bully breeds and I’ve never had an issue with any of them not barking when someone is around before now. One staffy we had as a kid was so suspect on everyone that my mum even used her to pick a removalist; if she didn’t let them in the yard they didn’t get the job of moving house. And it worked because the people she went with did a great job and the other people that the dog didn’t like ended up on some news show a few months later for ripping people off. But far dinkum if lara was on the lounge or something and someone came down the drive or walked through the side gate lara wouldn’t even as much as raise her head. She’s walk to the door if someone knocked but that would be it.

Can I take her with me to the pound to choose a new friend? (Should we choose to go with a new dog). I never thought of that.

I’m thinking under 12mths would probably be ideal (more so if we go with a pound puppy) just because being that little bit younger and not fully knowing the dogs history it may find it easier to adapt and become socialised with the other pets and training might be easier. If we go with another dog from a private home or breeder we could go with a slightly older dog again having that added bonus of being able to speak with the owners and see the dog in its current home etc.

[kiesha09]

I think if you get another dog it should be because YOU want another dog not beacuse your other dog wants a friend or you need a warning system for intruders.

Because to be honest there is a very real possibility that a new dog won't fit in 100% with your family or other pets (ie what happens if it does try to eat the chooks?) or what happens if the new dog takes Lara's lead and also doesn't bark at intruders? This could certainly happen and you'll end up disappointed in the dog because it didn't live up to your expectations.

You have to decide how you will manage things if things don't go exactly to plan because a dog is for life and is a long committment (as you mentioned in your above post).

For me - I do not expect my dogs to protect me at all. In fact I am there to protect them from harm. Therefore I would put other things in place to fix the problem, like alarming the gate so I know if anyone comes in or setting up CCTV cameras.

[flame ryder]

I feel your pain Daveri. I have a German Shepard, a well known watch dog breed....but a watch dog she isn't. Most likely cowers and hides if an intruder should enter my property. She was a pound rescue. Hoping our Boxer will perform better watch dog duties (only a youngster atm).

[BJean]

A pedigree puppy from a good, experienced breeder whp knows their lines, will be a better prospect than a puppy at the pound.

[Dame Aussie]

A pedigree puppy from a good, experienced breeder whp knows their lines, will be a better prospect than a puppy at the pound.

I agree with this. If you're looking for something in particular this would be the best way to go, but I also agree with getting a security system if youre that worried, there's no guarantee that a dog will bark.

[aussielover]

I would not be relying on a dog for security. If you are truly concerned I think you should get a security system.

Of course a dog, particularly a barking dog will likely deter opportunistic criminals, however if they really have their sights set on your house, then a dog alone will not stop them. They may even be prepared to injure the dog.

You should only get another dog if you actually want another dog.

Even though your dog doesn't seem like a natural watch dog she could probably be trained to bark on command and then be trained to bark when someone approaches the front door.

[dee lee]

I think it sounds like your house is doggie heaven!!

I wouldn't be worried about the exercise, my GR lives in a tiny house- we have a hard session of exercise every day (generally no more than 40 minutes running or fetch) & she is exhausted. Your dog sounds like she gets plenty. :)

If I was you, I'd get another dog, a breed known for alert barking- there are many, staffords are generally not (my staffy x hardly ever barked at all!).

[Kajirin]

Did have trouble with a prowler months ago...was at night [nothing taken,] but Scout [a Boxer] could smell them from inside...woke up from a dead sleep smelling at the door, then barking madly. When I let him out, he had his nose to the ground tracking a bit and could see where they'd been. Found the gate thing blocking off the back of the shed and whatknot wide open.

Guessing Scout disturbed and whomever it was hightailed before he actually got outside. He has a very deep loud bark =]

Do feel much safer with a dog around that will be alert to anything that is amiss I have to admit.

[RuralPug]

I would be contacting a few of the rescues near you and say that you are wanting an alarm dog that is good with kids and other pets; that is a dog that will raise the alarm when anyone comes and therefore scare off any prowlers with noise.

Good rescues have their dogs in care with fosters who know exactly what characteristics they have so you would be getting a known quantity, as opposed to a dog from a shelter or a puppy who will take at least half a year to grow into whatever personality they will develop.

You will probably find that once the alarm dog starts, your existing staffy will join in. Given that your existing staffy gets a fair bit of daily exercise (on property rather than on road is neither here nor there) you might find that one of the tradtional working breeds would be a good match - many kelpies for instance are auotmatic alarm dogs. Try contacting AWDRI (google for website) they have branches in most states and I would be very surprised if they didn't have something suitable for your needs.