My dog only barks at threats. Is this ideal guard dog behavior?

Hi there. If Browny isn't barking at anyone, this sounds like good news - most owners spend time trying to get their dogs to *stop* barking at people or other dogs. So congrats, and enjoy your pup. It doesn't sound like a problem at all :)

Barking is a hard behavior to break as it can be reinforced by seemingly random things (such as your neighbor walking back into the house, thus your dog thinks the barking lead to them leaving). You may need to either train no barking at all, or deal with barking at everything as it may be hard for your dogs to differentiate "neighbor walking past" and "stranger". You can try to use distraction techniques such as tossing a toy or performing other tricks such as sit for treats to break the barking and distract them from the behavior. If you are not home, preventing the dogs from seeing outside will also help stop reinforcement when you are not home to deter it.

This is going to be difficult. You can't really train a dog to only to bark at night. I suggest professional training but if you want a "quick fix" you can try a citronella bark collar and only put it on her during the day and take it off at night. She will soon learn that she shouldn't bark when the collar is on her. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwstVpzALY )

I think it's possible that the dog can sense something about the person that is making him feel uneasy, but I don't think the dog knows that the person doesn't like him in the house. Dogs also don't do things like bark or misbehave out of spite. They are very focused on our behavior and nonverbal cues and most of the time they are simply responding to the way we are acting whether we realize it or not.

German Shepherd Dogs are one of the guarding breeds, but Bruno should only go into protection mode when there is an actual threat to you. A benign stranger passing by is most likely not a threat. He needs some training in leash walking and ignoring non-threats. I would enroll him in a good obedience class as soon as possible. I would not recommend your getting another puppy until you have Bruno under control.

This dog is probably threatening to Bella for some reason. It may be intact (and if in heat possibly a female). Since she doesn't do this to other dogs/people walking by, it has to be something specific to that dog. I would trust Bella's instinct about the dog and avoid any interaction with it if at all possible. Sometimes growling can be more of a warning and then Bella would likely start barking if the dog approached or got any closer. When you notice this behavior, try to distract Bella away from it by offering her a toy to play with or a treat. This way she does not become too hung up on the possible 'threat'. Continue to monitor Bella's behavior. If she starts doing it to other dogs or people she may be developing aggressive tendencies. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Labrador Retrievers are incredible dogs that sometimes love everybody. They do not always make the best watch dogs. But, he is still very young, & when he matures, he may become more protective of his home & bark more. Otherwise, remember, people can be very wary of large dogs, & this may be enough to keep people out. Take care.