Bringing out the inner guard dog!

[vancheese]

Hi people

I've a German Shepard and a rottweiler( and a beagle, but she doesn't count for this!) and they are lovely dogs, In fact, too lovely.
I live on a farm in Hungary, and I need them to be a bit more aggressive towards strangers. Atm, the GS barks but then is docile
The rottweiler is v. passive toward humans but highly aggressive towards other animals.
Most people have viscous dogs here to "protect the home" but they get the behaviour by being mean to the dogs!I'm very happy with the dogs, I just want them to "look" and bark more at strangers.

Do people have any tips/suggestions/methods for non-cruel ways to do this?

Andy

[sortanormalish]

Bark.

You are the pack leader, I hope. When the pack leader barks, everyone barks. When you scream or yell, that is translated as a bark by your dogs. That's why if you want a dog to stop barking you use a physical signal, like a tap on the side, to get their attention and quiet them. To get them to bark, you do the opposite. For example, if you want them to bark when a car comes along, stand there and yell, "go away!" or something equivalent. When they bark, praise them. Cheddar cheese works wonders.

This will not make mean dogs, just loud ones. A loud dog is usually intimidating enough to send people packing, especially sheps and rotties.

The problem I have is that our Blue Heeler (who loves kittens, ducklings, goslings, rabbits, and chicks) is very aggressive toward people. So I have been teaching her the two/three bark rule. That is where you teach a dog to bark twice for people they know, and three times for strangers. They pause to give you a chance to respond then repeat. This helps naturally aggressive dogs, who are usually frightened, feel calmer because they know what the pack leader wants. Voila-a calm dog. It has really helped curb her aggression.

The same theory can be used for any reasonably intelligent dog. Then you get a warning about who is coming up the drive.

[vancheese]

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, they are really working well with the German shepherd and the beagle(!). However, the Rotty is remain silent and just wont bark at anything. I've the dog treats on standby so she next barks, she is Rewarded and when she thinks that she will get rewarded for a bark, then I think we will be away!
Any other tips to getting her to start barking?

Andy

[pitwipe]

I use a 'key-word' with my dog. Every time he barks (for the right reasons) praise him and say the key-word. It could be something like "get him!" or "chase it!" After a short while you can get him to bark loudly on command simply by saying the key word. Very useful when you hear those scary bumps in the night, and you can tell your family what the key-word is so they can use it too if you're not around.

Your dogs will take their behavioural signals from you. If you act concerned when something/someone approaches so will they. And the key-word technique will get them roused on command any time you need them to be.