# "Safe" Word?



## thehouseofshawn (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi all. I feel half and half about wanting to do this.

Part of me wants to train my dog to completely be nice to strangers, but part of me wants to harness her reactions now (She doesn't like it when strangers come in the house, however in public she is less concerned. She doesn't like men, but is more willing to submit to women) to use as a means of Home Security.

She's a mixed breed of what we were told is a Border Collie and a German Shepard (or maybe Rotweiler) although she is a real sweetheart. She's fairly smart as far as taking on commands, it seems like it took forever, but she obey to very simple commands; although breaking her of bad habits is tough.

I was wondering if there was a way to teach her a safe word where when she hears it, she is not barking and growling at strangers. Whenever anyone she doesn't know comes up to the house, or to the door she'll bark at them, and automatically at the door bell.

Do you have suggestions? Reasons why I should completely let her submit to all strangers, or teach her a word or phrase that will let her know she's okay, and not to bark/growl.

She will want to sniff people, but if they try to pet her (men especially - even though she's really close to me) she'll want to snap at them... and I really don't want that.

But, she can be an aggressive looking dog (although if you ask me, a complete baby), and I think it'd be a easy way to thwart off unwanted peoples.

Anyway, I'd like to know your opinion, anything is better than her default she does now. Please don't flame me.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

If you want a 'safe protection dog' I think it is best to attend an actual facility in which this is done; and have her evaluated, to see whether she has a stable enough temperment to BE a protection dog.

That said, yours seems to exhibit alot of fear based aggression, and lacks confidence; both of which will not be suitable traits in a protection dog...she needs to be a confident dog (pretty much from the get go) in order to achieve that level of training. 

Also, don't allow HER to run up to strangers and start greeting them; have her in a sit, or down stay while you go to open up the door to guests...when she barks, give her a couple of barks, thank her, and tell her to shush. Don't allow your guests in while she is still in an excited\fearful state. When you do let them in, tell them to ignore the dog; no eye contact, no talking to her, no reaching out to pet her. If she gets aggressive or starts barking, have her leave the room, by blocking her movement toward the guests (simply step infront of her motion), and telling her "out". Toss some treats in the direction you wish her to go, and tell her to stay when she gets to that spot. 

When she seems calm, have them start tossing her treats; this way she will learn that guests mean good things. (Until the dog seems calm, make sure that the guests know to ignore her completely, even if she comes up and touches them.) When she is eagerly looking for treats from them, then they can start talking softly to her, but must not touch unless she comes looking for attention; they should not reach out to a fearful dog.


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## thehouseofshawn (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks for the information. I've already started doing this with her (as far as making her quiet before they come in) and have alerted guests of the situation and not to interact with her. She will almost immediately start to sniff at them when they enter, after I quiet her from short growls and of the such. But even though she's investigative she'll go a whole night (or in some cases many days) before she'll let them touch her. She will eye them all night, come around them, and sniff at them, but won't let them talk to her or pet her. Which is odd.

I imagine the barking maybe is just habitual, as long as she could process that when I shush her and stop her, it's okay. Even that sort of mentality would be okay with me. I mean, what dog doesn't bark at the doorbell? 

I'd hate that someone could accidentally rub her the wrong way and end up bitten and then I'll have a big problem to deal with. I want to try to get her used to this, and the only way to do it is to have people who aren't afraid of her (no one). That makes it hard.

Before she started living with me, she was with my girlfriend where they kept her crated during the day, and the solution to that problem was to put her away in the crate or in another room when someone else came over. I've broken her of being crated, and she's a pretty good dog dealing with being around the house free all day (except the occasional trash can, but it's a work in progress), but it seems that crate adjusted her mentality to strangers, now that she is able to freely be around them...


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## Line-of-Fire (Aug 2, 2008)

I'd take her to the door with a prong collar and leash on her. Or, if she is comfortable in a down stay and doesn't move unless told to, then forget the leash. But I'd do exactly what was already said. I actually do this already. Put her in a downstay but do NOT let the people in unless she stays. She's not allowed to move. If she gets up, apologize to the people, close the door, and put her back in her spot. After a couple times, she'll get the idea that she can't get up. When they come in, first you meet with the person and say hello (no hugs, with a shepherd or rottie mix around lol) then tell your dog, "it's okay, it's a friend." The word, "Okay" will eventually signal that the person is nice and does not need to be worried about. And when you do this, it is IMPERATIVE that you remain calm. Your dog can sense when you're upset, worried, or scared. That may trigger her to be more agressive to some people. 

I totally agree. She needs to be confident to be a protection dog. You could maybe get away with taking her to the local Schutzand club in your area. They probably wont take her as a sign up, but I'm sure they'd be more than happy to evaluate her and say what they think.

She may be thinking that since she was crated when the people came over, she either isn't allowed around them, or there is a reason she isn't allowed around them. Maybe someone was missing? Do you live with someone who was gone that she'd think of as an alpha other than you? If so, she may think that she is second in command, and therefore she would feel the need to protect the house.


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## thehouseofshawn (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks all for the suggestions, I'll work on it with her. If anyone else has some input, please let me know!

Thanks!


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

For my dogs its "thank you, I can handle it". Its natural for a dog to bark when someone comes to the door. My dogs bark (well, Allie barks), and I say "thank you, I can handle it" and she stops barking, goes and lays down somewhere and keeps on eye on things, just incase. I don't encourage her to be protective, I think dogs are naturally protective enough of their home and family. 

How I did this was, I sent Julie to go ring the doorbell. Allie would bark, I would say her name and get her attention with a treat, and she would stop barking for a second, I marked her being quiet and rewarded it (with a treat). After awhile she would bark a few times, and then stop and look at me for a treat. When she did this I added the "thank you, I can handle this" command to the behavior. Then I added them moving away from the door next. Door bell rings, I say "thank you I can handle this", and as I am saying it I lead her away from the door to lay down somewhere. This also went quickly.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

> I mean, what dog doesn't bark at the doorbell?


Mine. At least when it's someone they know! (Or it's the mailmain or pizza delivery guy.) Maddy comes to get me, Beau will bark once, then go look for me, because I've taught them to do that. I pity anyone who tried to break in, or hassled me! I didn't have to train my dogs for protection. They just naturally are protective of their territory, and of me (as I discovered when the cops had the WRONG house and tried to shove their way in my house)!


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