[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness]
Yes, but how a dog reacts when a stranger approaches can also vary, just as how a dog reacts when the owner is not there. If you really want to know how friendly your dog is to strangers, for better or worse, have an acquaintance who’s never met your dog before go to your house when you’re not home.
[/QUOTE]
You know, I just had this happen to me yesterday. I went to my grandma’s house to get a washing machine from her garage, but she’d gone out to make a copy of a key, so I tried her back door, but it was locked. Then I went a few feet to the right and tried her sliding glass door, which was unlocked, and went inside to get the keys to the garage. I walked into the living room (which has the sliding glass door), turned left through a doorway into the kitchen, and turned left again to go to the counter in the laundry room (which has the back door that was locked) – and there was a giant copper-colored dog staring at the back door intently (my brother and brother-in-law were both still standing outside the door rattling the doorknob).
I made it back out to the backyard, sliding the glass door behind me, in about 3.8 nanoseconds. “BIG DOG! BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE! STRANGE GIANT DOG IN THE HOUSE!”
Then my brother and I poked our heads in and whistled and called for the dog, ready to slam the glass door shut if it came tearing in … but nothing happened. We kept that up for a minute and then walked in and found that dog still staring at the back door, even as we walked up behind it.
It turns out the dog belongs to some couple that’s staying with my grandma and helping her fix up her new house, and it’s like 18 years old and can barely hear or see anything, but let me tell you, when I came around the corner and saw a giant wolf-like dog not three feet in front of me, well, I think my cerebellum just fused.
Oh, and actually ON topic, I think cutting anything’s ears off is a hideous thing to do.