An episode tonight really surprised me, I inadvertently put myself (an Benson) in a situation I really hadn't considered before. Well to cut a long story short, we had a chap from the Hawk and Owl Trust visit, it looks like we have barn owls. We had been chatting up near the wood, and I left him up there with his binoculars to owl spot. He said he would sort himself out and would not bother us when he left. Benson was inside, I hadn't introduced him, as not wanting to disturb the wildlife. Anyhow, hubby went out, and I was sorting things out in the kitchen. Dark outside. I go out to pop something in the recycling, at the exact time the owl man comes down from the bank..so approx 15m from me, Benson as usual had popped out with me for a quick sniff, spotted the owl man and flies at him, a snarling, barking ,very unfriendly choccy lab! Hackles up and lips bared...I was quite frankly shocked... as soon as i started chatting to him, obviously relaxed and Benson reverted instantly to happy friendly lab. Owl man was a star, very dog savvy, having had two gundogs of his own. Benson went on to impress him with his retrieval skills, returning a large squeaky kong football to hand perfectly 3 times! Good dog It did actually shock me a bit, and I guess my fault for not introducing Benson, it did make me wonder is this unusual behaviour? He is fine with the postman and couriers. Does anyone else have a similar experience? Should I be worried?
Re: Guard Dog I think dogs are good at spotting things that aren't "normal". Lilly will lie reclining on the bed at the front of the house, kids up and down the street on the way too and from school, postie, bin men.....all the usual. But if there is an event on in the village hall and folk are walking up the street in a group, chatting, laughing.....she will bark and call the alarm. They know
Re: Guard Dog Harley always used to bark at men who come to the house, especially if they get too close to me. My friend came round a few months ago, Harley had never met him......her hackles went up and she was growling and barking when he hugged me. What I do now is if anyone comes to the house she doesn't know, I touch their arm and stand talking to them for a min to show her there isn't a problem.
Re: Guard Dog Yes he is very in tune with things that are a bit out of the norm. We live in a quite an isolated area and he has the run of the place so considers it all his territory including our neighbours! I guess it took me by surprise. He has also recently started to bark, not excessively, only at odd noises at the moment. It is a lovely sound, a real grown up bark, a sort of deep wuff.
Re: Guard Dog What I wonder about......is does she bark at "strangers" when we are out, or only when we are at home when she is protecting us? The neighbours have never said, but then again she is used to their noises so probably wouldn't bark unless they were doing something pretty unusual. Often pondered that
Re: Guard Dog I think it was very normal for Benson to bark at a strange man, coming towards you in the dark. And very good that he relaxed immediately once you showed him everything was ok. I do think it is a wonderful thing to be able to rely on your dog in this kind of situation. Of course you don't want Benson barking at everyone... but now you can be pretty sure he will speak up if he finds something threatening. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Re: Guard Dog I think it is normal. When I am out alone in a rather creepy wood, I am glad to have my dog with me and would hope he would do the same.
Re: Guard Dog It sounds like Benson was just surprised, and recovered himself pretty much immediately. Good boy. [quote author=Stacia link=topic=7842.msg109995#msg109995 date=1410856880] When I am out alone in a rather creepy wood, I am glad to have my dog with me and would hope he would do the same. [/quote] It might depend on where you live as to what's acceptable though. My dog walker had to refuse to continue to walk a dog that barked and growled at lone men in the woods. Through fear, and the other dogs were picking up on it and starting to do the same. I could see her point, it must be pretty alarming to be wandering along and come across a dog barking and snarling...
