As everyone knows, beagles make excellent watch dogs and really horrible guard dogs.

A man and his 3 or 4 year old son were walking by down our alley. My beagle started braying and spiking up because they had stopped to look at her. We went out and the man was laughing at her, and so was the kid. He asked his kid if he wanted to see the puppy and picked the kid up. Well as soon as the kid was up higher and she could see him better, she bolted. She was terrified. Came to stand behind my legs and bark and shake with her tail between her legs. The man and his son left, and I'll be darned if she didn't spend the rest of the night trying to 'track' the man and his son. She kept going back to the spot where they stood, sniffing the fence and following it all the way to where it meets the neighbors fence, over and over.

I can't help but laugh at her, cause I know if she ever finds anything she's been trying to track, she'll tuck her tail and run the other way. She'd be the worst hunting beagle ever, I think. But she tries to do her job, thats for sure.

When we first got Sawyer, we were aware that shelties are a herding breed, but hadn't given that much thought. We had a party with about 15-20 people over. About 1/2 way through the evening, we all "noticed" that we were standing in a small group in the center of our family room . . . and Sawyer was perfectly content in a corner. As soon as one of us moved from the "herd," Sawyer went into action. He gently leaned on the person until they moved in the direction he was leaning. (Mind you, this dog only weighs about 25 lbs.) He would continue with this until the "stray" was back in place; then go back to his corner. We had been herded into our group and hadn't even realized it!

How funny!

I didn't know Beagles were "excellent watchdogs but really horrible guard dogs";
guess they figure they're to sound the alert so their alpha (you) can protect the pack (them).

sheltiemom, I've heard of Border Collies herding children, but never a little Sheltie herding a whole roomful of grown-ups!

When I was nearly 6 years old & my brothers were almost 4, my parents moved to an isolated rural area.

A beautiful dog, probably part Collie & part Spaniel, appeared one day, carrying her one puppy in her mouth.

My mother swore she wasn't going to feed that dog, it needed to just move on down the road.

One night, my mother drove home late with the 3 of us asleep in the car.

She had to carry us inside one at a time.

When she returned to the car after taking the first one in, the dog was sitting by the open car door, keeping watch.

The puppy went to another home, but we had Molly for about 12 more years.

Casey's job is to make sure that any excess edibles are not left lying around to attract bugs. Just ask him! Excess is defined in dog-language as: "Anything that may or may not be in an other's possession that no one is currently interacting with." The time span for defining "currently" is "nanosecond." So, if one pauses in their interaction with a food substance, that food is defined as, "up for grabs" as soon as a nanosecond has passed. A legitimate action for Casey is to eat the food substance as soon as he can obtain possession of it. He may use jumping muscles, furniture, or any other means to gain possession of the food substance. This is his job, and he does it well.

Excess is defined in dog-language as:
"Anything that may or may not be in an other's possession that no one is currently interacting with."

sounds like that dog went to law school!

Three different times someone else's dog (once an Akita, once a Belgian Shepherd, once a German Shepherd) has "protected" his owner from me.

Interestingly, all the owners were big ole strappin' healthy guys, & I'm 5'4" tall & weigh 120 lbs.

All three times, I moved "too close" to the owner.

Each time, the dog walked between us & pressed one side against his owner's legs & *looked* at me.

It may sound strange, but I understood exactly what those dogs were saying, & I backed up, stood still, & looked at the ground.

(The owners were all flattered & delighted that their dog would defend them.)

Sylvia,
Casey most respects a loud and drawn-out "M-I-N-E"!!! It is a concept he can understand. :-)

Jeremyn and I were in the backyard, putting up a cheap bird feeder, in hopes (likely in vain, but oh well...) that more birds=less bugs. Capone let us know he wanted out, so we opened the door for a potty break. I didn't even have the door all the way open before he bolted and blew right past me - CHARGING the bird feeder, telling it off for all he was worth. He got up to it, turned and barked at me, and then sat. ...and watched, and watched.... he let out a bark here and there. When I was (mostly) done laughing, I walked over and told him, "Hey now-that's alright," and touched it. Shook it, to let out some bird seed. He doesn't give it a second glance since then, except to mark directly under it.

We thought it was sooo funny he was 'protecting' his turf and people from a birdfeeder, of all things.

Foosacub.. what brave doggie ya got there... *snickers*

Our Maltese is the matriarch of the family. If Abby the lab is doing something wrong and I tell her NO!, Daffy will come from whatever room she is in and just give her heck. Abby brought a stick into the house today and I told her No, take it outside and Daffy came flying off the couch, took the stick from Abby and carried it out. lol Abby followed her out with every hair on her back up only to get a little more what for outside. It was too funny.
Lorie

LMAO!! At least you've got backup.... Jeremyn and Capone are in cahoots.

LoL lost, Coda does that with the cats. If we yell at the cats to stop doing something, or get off of something, she chases them right out of the room, and then she won't let them back in for a good hour after that. If they're fighting/playing and we tell em to knock it off cause it's getting out of hand she'll go stick her big dumb head right between all the claws and teeth and nose them apart and just sit down between them til they walk away, and then the chase is on.