Across the street from my home, there is a family that has a largish boxerish/mixed breed something or other dog contained within a large, fenced in front yard. The dog seems to be used to me and my truck. Most of the time, when I come home and park in the street in front of my house, the dog barely reacts. He might amble over to the fence line, give me a half-hearted ‘woof’ and then go back to his spot on the porch. Sometimes though, he gets highly motivated to put on a big, dramatic show and bark with all the vigor he can muster! As near as I can see, the difference is whether or not his people, his family, are out in his yard with him. If the family are outside playing with and around the dog (which they do quite often), he get louder and more vocal.
Some obvious options come to mind.
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- The dog could be thinking “HEY, that’s another human that can play with me! Come here friend - and bring that sandwich I can smell you have.”
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- The dog could be thinking “HEY, there’s another human that want’s to kill me and my family! I know he’s gone into his own house 1,000 times without incident but THIS time, he’s coming over with a flaming machete to kill us. MUST PROTECT FAMILY!”
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- The dog could be thinking “HEY, there’s some rando I can bark at and my family is HERE to see what a good guard doggie I am. If I bark at anything that moves then they’ll pat me and tell me I’m a good boy.”
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- something else I can’t think of.
I don’t know why the dog barks so much more vigorously when his people are around but he does it consistently. Several other people on the street say they’ve noticed the same thing. Does your dog do anything similar and do you have any idea why?
Probably closest to #2. Dogs are pack animals and once they have established their pack as their source of food and shelter they become fiercely protective of it. When you appear, dog barks, you go away, it reinforces his behavior since he thinks he was successful in scaring you off. Also, without the family around he may feel you are less of a direct threat to them.
I would guess #2, as well. When I let my dog out in the backyard by himself, he largely ignores the neighbor who is working on his garden. When my wife and kids go in the backyard with him, he tends to bark his head off. It’s some kind of protectionism/territorialism.
When the dog’s by himself, he hasn’t got any backup. When the family’s out there, he’s got his pack with him. He’s going to feel a lot more confident about challenging you when he’s surrounded by his family.
It’s also possible, especially if the people out there with him are children, that he feels he needs to protect them, although he doesn’t feel that he needs to protect himself.
What do his people do when he barks at you?
By himself - he’s letting you know he’s there and for you to be aware of him.
When his pack is there - he’s alerting the pack to your presence, and quite possibly your sandwich.
Some dogs are protective of their humans. I think dogs know the difference between humans and other dogs so I don’t think it’s necessarily ‘pack’ behavior. Humans take care of the dog, provide it with food, fresh water and a warm place to sleep. Dogs will often bark to protect their humans from other humans and other dogs, and more importantly, warn them of impending danger.
My dog, which is a small terrier, does this. If he’s sitting by himself on the front lawn and somebody walks by he just sits there as long as they keep moving. If they turn and head for the front door, as the UPS man does, he’ll start barking loudly to let me and everyone in the neighborhood know we’re under attack. But if I am outside working, and someone just walks by, he will bark loudly and look at me to say “I’ve got your back”, “nothing to see here”. He definitely barks more when we are outside than inside.
Yes, of course they know the difference. They still expect both to protect, and to be assisted by, their humans as they would expect to protect and be assisted by canine pack members.
Not much. A few times I’ve heard Grandpa shouting him down. Mostly they just let him bark.
When an dog owner comes home and the dog is all excited and jumps up all happy, what is happening is he has had separation anxiety. The owner is the pack leader and with him gone, it’s chaos. He’s glad your back.
When and owner comes back and you get a neutral or a plain tail wag or such, your dog is showing you he is very comfortable with you. He knows you are gone and will come back so it’s no big deal.
You can also tell a defensive bark from a “I’m lonely or bored” bark. Dogs are masters at picking up clues and it doesn’t take much to please them to reinforce behaviors.