dogs behaviour

Question

My 8 months' old Dusto   QUESTION: My puppy is a boxer mixed. He is 8 months old now. He doesn't bark at strangers but at us when he wanted some attention. He even wags his tail at strangers. When will he bark at strangers?

ANSWER: An eight month old dog is a juvenile; dogs at this age do NOT offer alarms (barking) unless something has gone wrong in their environment.  Your dog will, as he matures, begin to vocalize when unknown people, other animals, etc., come into his environment.  I CERTAINLY HOPE that short tie out was just for the purpose of this photograph.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If i let him loose, Duston will bite everything and destroy the plants and pots in the car porch area. What's your advice? How long should the leash be?

Answer
Oh THAT leash is WAY too short!! A dog must be able to sit and lie down and get away from his own urine and excrement.  Also, tying a dog in this manner is setting him up for all sorts of negative behaviors; tied dogs acquire fear responses or prey responses to things that enter their space that they can't interact with normally or chase.  A chained up dog can become quite aggressive toward people and other animals over time.  GO OUT WITH HIM is my advice!  Socialize him, be certain he's confident around other people and animals, reward and praise him for being calm on walks with you, use positive reinforcement training to give him behaviors (such as "sit" and "down") he can offer for reward.  If you must leave him outdoors alone, try an overhead tie out system (from tree to tree) so the dog is free to run, can sit or lie down, and not get tangled in his tie out rope.  I'm trusting you tie him out there only for purposes of elimination; dogs need to be with their humans inside the house.

For information on how to train and live with a dog, read Dr. Ian Dunbar's "Dog Behavior: An Owner's Guide To A Happy, Healthy Pet"