Those of you with guardy dogs

I posted about this a while ago in the musing thread, but I thought I'd start a topic about anyway.

I'm just curious, those of you with "guardy" dogs, what is your procedure when welcome guests arrive, how do you do the introductions etc?

We have something pretty good worked out, but I find it interesting to hear what other people do. Onyx is my first even remotely protective type of dog.

No uninvited guests, dog was crated.

Once somebody walked into our house without knocking. They got chomped. Word got out and it never happened again.

Lies. The Banana doesnt have the coordination for such maneuvers :rofl1:

She's definitely talking about her previous Malinois, Herdy (Harry)

Shhhhh Im in denial

Sloan meets everyone in the yard, each time.

Backup was crated until visitors had settled in, then brought out with a no-touch-unless-he-asks policy.

Shamoo is introduced similarly to Backup, but mostly because she has no manners. She's a guardy dog but the real worry is when she's overly happy to see people. LOL

Phelan is a thus far easy.

My dane, Classic, was always kept separate from people (not really crated but barricaded into a room) unless he was on leash working with me. He never got to just hang out with visitors.

With the shepherds, it depended on the dog. Miya was crated or let outside until the environment settled down. It was just too over stimulating for her to be loose. Missy was just kept close in a heel (by me) or a down stay by one of us, but she was heavily socialized and more social with people, so unless it was a true stranger, even that wasn't really neccisary. <3

Wesley has to meet you several times and be paid attention to before he relaxes and will not alert bark. Feist is easy, except she will be like an octopus on your face in 0.5 seconds of walking in the door. Pick your poison.

Blossom used to be able to be bought with food but has outgrown that. Our new procedure is to keep her kenneled with a bark collar on - this keeps her from spinning up into aggression, as she can't see people breaching the door and can't load up by barking. Then when guests have settled down, I'll bring her out, usually wearing a tab, and put her on Ollie's crate (it's her place/mat, LOL) where she waits and gets to check out what's going on. As long as she's feeling comfortable I release her but keep a tight eye on her and all is well. We had lots of family over yesterday and she hung out most of the day with us, played fetch with the kids and all that.

ETA: Keeva is a bit of snot to people who let themselves in although not inclined to bite. At the risk of horrifying EVERYONE, I will tell you that she has previously been trained to wear a bark collar and knows what it means. Thusly, I can put a bark collar on her when people are coming over and since she knows she can't bark, she's just plain friendly. LOL. One of those things you're never suppose to confess to, oh well. IME bark collars work like that pretty often, actually. *runs* :yikes:

With Takoda, we introduce slowly and use lots of treats and a muzzle.

It took her almost 6 months to accept people. But mostly she stays in the backyard in her kennel and is not brought around anyone. I don't want the risk of her eating someone.

Thankfully for me Pan is good with people he knows and if we properly introduce them, but once he mature that might change. So in that case we keep his kennel in the living room where he will be crated when guests are over. Although I expect him to be good with people as he matures, hopefully. They usually are a breed that is good until you give them a reason not to be.

I also, eventually will be putting up a sign on the door that says "dog inside, please knock and wait for me to come to the door" as I live in a very friendly small town and people like to just come in. Although our door is almost always locked.

Nice, keep 'em coming! Definitely like to hear everybody's different approaches

With Onyx, obviously when she was a pup she didn't even really notice when people came over, eventually she started alert barking, and then I started noticing a real increase in guardy behavior, she didn't really want to let people in unless she knew them well, so I started really working on it when people came over - having her on leash and getting her to work for treats or toys while the arrival happened and for a little while afterwards seemed to be what worked best.

It was great because through December/over the holidays, we had SO many people coming and going, and staying here, and multiple big parties, it really desensitized her to people arriving.

So now, if someone arrives who she does know, I just let her do her thing, which is generally alert bark when she seems them coming (our front door is glass so she can see out of it), and then usually a couple more barks once they're in the door, and then she just greets them (or not...haha sometimes she totally blows off even people she knows pretty well, she's essentially a one person dog).

I suspect at this point she would behave similarly with strangers, but if someone she doesn't know is coming over I leash her up and usually just play tug, or do some training or put her in a down. If they are staying a while, eventually I let her off and she's fine. Her biggest issue now is that she wants to play bitey games with visitors (we had one roommate who unfortunately really initiated rough games - even after I told him to stop - so she kind of started expecting it from anyone/anytime). So I mostly have to watch her because she'll start pestering the visitors. She'll go over all sweet and lay her head in their lap, they'll start petting her and then she starts gnawing on them. Very rude.

I have kind of a quandary with Abrams. He's super friendly - but he acts like he is going to rip your head off. Ideally, I just turn him loose and he approaches said guest while barking like a fiend, then he gets to them and is all happy puppy wiggles, bounces, and kisses. However, people who don't know me (or him) well don't really like being charged by an 80 pound Grizzly Bear that looks like he is running towards them to eat them alive. So. We haven't really found a good alternative yet. LOL Because now matter HOW much he likes the person or HOW many times he's seen them before or HOW many times I tell him to STFU...he will bark at them until he greats them. And I don't really care, because once he gets to them he's friendly. The issue is having people feel comfortable enough to have him great them.

When I have less than dog savvy people over (which rarely happens - like, I think it's happened once), I put a slip lead over Abrams and attempt to get him out the door while they are coming in the door. Because once he's outside and the people are inside, they are welcomed guests who don't need barked at before he says high, so they aren't scared of him approaching.

I would just crate him, because he is quiet in his crate, but then when I let him out he'll pee everywhere in his excitement. So, alas, he can't be crated unless he is going to stay in the crate the entire time the guests are over.

I do just crate him when someone is outside that won't be coming in, but I don't want to listen to him bark at them. Like, the nice neighbor who shovels out my sidewalk. Or delivery people. When he's in the crate, he knows barking is off limits and he calms down.

ETA:

Chloe, my dog who lives with my mom, is either securely put away when guests come over, or kept on a leash. Most of the time it is a combo of both; she's kept put up until the festivities of people coming in and out the door is over, then she's let out on a leash and rewarded for calm behavior. If we feel like she's settled enough to be off lead, we do, but due to her unpredictable behavior we typically just keep her away from guests all together.

Gambit is not gaurdy, but he certainly sounds that way. I have a studio and being crated when there are people.around freaks him out.

If its a person we don't expect to see again, like an electrician, I put him in the car. If it is a guest I would like him to eventually accept, I leave him loose and have a strict do not approach policy. You can sit on the futon, and pet him if he comes to you only.

Nola is put outside or in the bedroom with a chew when people first get here. After they settle in she'll come in and guest are warned she won't want you to touch her or me for a few minutes until she warms up. After that they're allowed to pet her, but only if she asks for it.

I let my dogs alert bark initially and tell them to settle after that. Aiden is allowed to meet people right off the bat because he's generally low key and non aggressive..just guardy of property. Carma is kenneled until things settle a bit. She's very sweet, but she's a hurricane. Tulah doesn't know the difference yet.

Buddy was crated, unless she had met the person back when she was a puppy. If you came in uninvited, you'd get pounced on.

Roxie just loves everyone. Although, she will beat you with her tail if you speak to her before everything's calmed down and the "OMG HAI!" has evaporated. That thing will dent your kneecaps.

With Heelers it's like either they are guardy or not. Izze was snd she could be with visitors but I made sure they knew it was "pet at your own risk" lol because if she didn't like someone she would aid snap at them, she never tried to bite someone but it was a warning like ... "Don't **** with me, I'm just not that into you" lol.

If someone tried to enter the house gate and I wasn't outside, they weren't getting in and if they tried they risked losing a hand.

All my current dogs are shamelessly friendly

My dogs have almost no manners when new people come into the house. They bark and jump and pretty much go crazy. Bayleigh, for one, is very demanding in wanting love and gets excited and pees. Emily on the other hand is very cautious of strangers and I absolutely do not trust her at all. Generally, they're just crated or shut in a bedroom until the people leave. I would love to work on these behaviors but unfortunately, my guests aren't too cooperative.

If the dogs have met you a few times, they can stay out and once they settle down from the initial, "OMG there's someone here who isn't our owners!!!" they are fine and pretty much leave you alone.