Nihonken Watchdog?

Asgardfox

I have been away from the forum for a bit. I decided a long time ago that my heart was set on a nihonken. Everyone has been so helpful thus far, I have done quite a bit of research but as usual I would like to hear from owners, not blogs, Wikipedia or random webpages. I was in the process of changing jobs and moving over the past 6 months so that has delayed things a bit for us until we could settle down in a house. From my previous posts I realize there really protective nihonken breed, and I'm fine with that. However my question is, from a watchdog prospective, meaning a dog that will park at strange noises in the night so I can wake up to check on them myself. Which nihonken would be my best bet?

Thanks! Asgard

Losech

Erm, most dogs will do that just fine. All my dogs are watchdogs, but none of them a guard dogs. Big difference. Anywho, My Hokkaido, oddly enough, is the least barky of my dogs (but noisiest in general). Conker (Shiba) will go on and on and on about some things, but totally ignore others. He is probably my most barky dog, with Juneau (mix) being second, and Sasha (also a mix) third. The two mixes do more of an alarm bark, short and loud, and will only keep barking if it is something suspicious like an unknown person or animal.

Asgardfox

*Not a protective breed I meant to say.

Asgardfox

Hokkaido's are difficult to find hehe, but they are certainly beautiful dogs!

Asgardfox

Japanese Akita Inu's good watch dogs?

MapleTwinkie

My dog will alert me, for instance he'll bark loud once but that's it. He doesn't bark to scare off intruders if that's what you're asking. He's more likely to confront an intruder than to bark at them.

Asgardfox

That's your Japanese Akita Inu or?

shibamistress

Well, not a Kai Ken, that's for sure! My Kai Ken doesn't even bark! (Not all are as silent as he is, but I don't think they have much interest in alarm barking).

Otherwise, I imagine any would be fine, and some of it depends on the individual dog. Shibas alarm bark. Both my American Akitas alarm bark, the girl puppy more than the adult male, but lately he's been more barky than he was as a young adult (he's near 4 now). He would also probably engage a person trying to come on our property, which may or may not be a good thing.

cdenney

I have a kai and if a strange person enters the house with or without me she will do a low bark that turns into a light house foghorn howl if not made less strange quickly. However my shiba will let you know there are ghosts in the hallway. freaking ghosts in the hallway, but don't you worry she's got them, you can go back to bed.

Asgardfox

Thank you for the input!

Any Japanese Akita Inu owners? Good watch dogs? Do they bark?

Losech

LOL ghosts in the hallway. Conker is like that too, with critters, but not people. He's killed a few things and gotten into a couple epic battles, even took something's nose off through the fence. (That was kinda gross.) He'll take on coyotes (and bears, horses, cows, moose...) which is a very stupid idea for a small dog, or any dog in general. But people? No, they are scary, they will be barked at from a distance until they go away and never come back.

Dragonfly

Not a Shikoku....kiyoshi loves everyone. He doesn't even bark, just goes over and starts giving kisses XD He welcomes strangers into our house. Silly dog. He'll bark at the door maybe once then immediately goes into slobbery kiss mode as soon as he sees its a person. Most of the time he doesn't even bark though.

Asgardfox

It would help if you guys tell me what kind of Nihonken you have hehe...but I appreciate the info. Sounds like to me that Nihonken don't even bark at strangers, aren't even good watch dogs?

Crispy

TK (Shikoku) alarm barks to strange noises and strangers talking outside the house. Short, crisp, and often rather serious.

sjp051993

My kai will bark at anything strange outside. If a strange person comes to the door, they will put on quite a show until I tell them it is ok.

CrimsonO2

My Shiba is an auditory alarm howler/barker from within his crate.

My Shikoku are also auditory howlers but only when out and about and only focus on the front door.

lindsayt

My Shibas are excellent alert dogs and very watchful of the house and yard.

violet_in_seville

My shiba girl will alarm bark from inside the house if someone tries to open our gate. She will also start to alarm bark if you: 1) talk on your cellphone loudly and loiter near our house, 2) light up a cigarette anywhere in her sight (actually this is true of strangers on the street or in the park too), or 3) try to litter on our tree lawn. If you persist she will start to howl. A little small dog higher pitched howl if she is merely offended but a much deeper, louder, resonant big dog sounding howl if she thinks you're a threat.

Don't ask about the cigarette thing, we didn't train her that way; it's baffling and not a little embarrassing.

My boy shiba barks once or twice, then starts to cry if he hears strangers near the gate. Sigh.

zandrame

Kouda (Shiba) will alarm bark as well. Odd noises outside, people arriving, etc. And if he falls asleep in an unfamiliar place, he will often startle himself awake and bark.

He makes lots of other weird noises too. Besides the shiba scream, he has a frustration yodel, hyena cry, and bird chirps and squawks.

It's always amusing when people meet him and say "oh, one of those silent dogs!"

Shikoku

My shiba alarm barks, growls and investigates. Then if they sound bigger than him he runs back to get me.

Asgardfox

Awesome! You guys were sooo helpful! I wanted a Japanese Akita Inu but the wife wants a Shiba, it sounds like I may concede. Happy wife happy life right? haha

Thanks, Jon

NavyDog

My Kai doesnt really bark. if she hears a noise too close to our door she will sometimes let out a lout "BUR!!" but that is it. She is learning though from my Amstaff. Not a nihon ken but absolutely the best watch dog. Through out the night she will randomly get up to patrol the house, only coming back to bed once she has been through every room and knows everyone in the house is safe. If she does here a noise, she will first investigate. She gets very tense and looks intimidating. If she is concerned about the "threat" she will let out a very loud, very distinct bark to alert us. She only continues barking if the "threat" becomes more threatening

MapleTwinkie

@asgardfox - i have a Japanese Akita and no, he does not alarm bark. In fact, he rarely barks at anything. He will more likely engage the threat rather than trying to scare it off.

We all love our pets here and I don't think any of us would consider any of the Nihon Ken to be guard dogs, (or would we want them to be). Perhaps you should look into a GSD or something else?

Kimi_Forever

@asgardfox - i have a Japanese Akita and no, he does not alarm bark. In fact, he rarely barks at anything. He will more likely engage the threat rather than trying to scare it off.

We all love our pets here and I don't think any of us would consider any of the Nihon Ken to be guard dogs, (or would we want them to be). Perhaps you should look into a GSD or something else?

i have read that many times about Akita's, not being trained as guard dogs, it confusing their natural instincts or what have you. It may be different with a japanese Akita and an american akita, i am still learning about japanese akita's. but the Akita is listed as a guard dog by the AKC (and my former american, not japanese, certainly did just that), granted not a japanese akita i guess there may be a difference i am not aware of.

i am not advocating training akita's to do guard work, i have actually read against it, but people have done it successfully, American Akita in Action:

shibamistress

I love that video of the Akita (American Akita) in the top video working! It's around here on the forum somewhere, and I remember when it was first posted, someone, maybe Brad, noted that at it one point the dog goes around an obstacle than over it he should have, and said "typical lazy Akita" which I thought was so true! What we discussed about that video then was that the dog looked more sporty (like schutzhund style sport) rather than a true working personal protection dog. (There is a lot of discussion in that thread about the difference, so it's worth doing a search and finding it).

Anyway, if you're actually choosing a dog for either schutzhund or the real work of being a personal protection dog, a Nihon Ken would not be a good choice, though obviously there are always individual exceptions (but if that work is important, choose a dog more suited for it!) And on a side note there, years ago I had a very goofy GSD who loved to work. He was a very friendly dog, and never once growled at a person. I was told by someone who did schutzhund that he would be perfect for it, because he would see it as a game, as it should be, and he would have been a very solid dog for the sport.

That said, I've heard again and again that American Akitas are more suspicious and more "protective" than Japanese Akitas. Since I only have had AAs, I can't compare myself. All the AAs I've had, though, have a tendency to be suspicious dogs and not terribly tolerant of people not in their family. As I said early, my male is becoming more like a "watch" dog because he alarm barks more and more. What he used to do, though, is simply watch someone approach (usually at the gate) then he'd come flying across the yard barking at the very last minute, when he was slamming his 120 pound self against the gate trying to get at the offending person (usually the hapless UPS man). Now he barks when he sees the UPS man (so the guy gets a little more warning). Would he engage a threat? Probably. But he has had no training for that.

And I will say that it is good to have a watch dog, but Oskar is a difficult dog. He's big. He doesn't like strangers. If we have guests he hasn't met before, he barks at them the entire time they are here. He's hard to take on walks, because he is suspicious of people we come across. While he will be polite at the vet, etc, if people approach him slowly, I'm always a little nervous with him and strangers.

BradA1878

I don't think the OP was asking about guard dogs, I think he was asking about alarm dogs. Correct me if I'm wrong on that, @Asgardfox

I think any of the Nihon Ken *breeds* would fit the "alarm dog" or "watchdog" requirements, however it will vary by individual. The more suspicious the individual dog is, the more likely they are to bark at things they consider to be strange.

timkim

I have 3 JA and all of them is pretty good at watching my house. they all bark when stranger comes near my house. they don't bark when ppl that we know walks by or some other dogs that they know. but when street cats, other ppl comes by, they go nuts. also at night one of my dog stay in front of front door. and other dog comes up to 2nd floor and sleeps infront of bedroom. double protection for us!!!! and Masato doesn't care and sleeps where ever he wants.

Kimi_Forever

I don't think the OP was asking about guard dogs, I think he was asking about alarm dogs. Correct me if I'm wrong on that, @Asgardfox

I think any of the Nihon Ken *breeds* would fit the "alarm dog" or "watchdog" requirements, however it will vary by individual. The more suspicious the individuae l dog is, the more likely they are to bark at things they consider to be strange.

i'm sorry brad i meant to insinuate that because of an akita's natural guarding instincts they should make a good watchdog under his criteria. but that it may be different for ja's than aa's and someone should correct me if i'm wrong,but timkim said what i pretty much thought to be true. should have been more clear, sorry.

shibamistress

I didn't think he was either, but I think the conversation digressed from there as it is wont to do!

Sangmort

Shikoku - Never alarm barked, ever.

Kishu - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS randomly barks, even if there's nothing there.

Not nihon ken, but out of the Dutch Shepherds, only one will always alarm bark, 1 maybe, & 1 never. ~

shibamistress

That's so interesting, Osy! For some reason, I imagined that the Dutch Shepherds would have been big on alarm barking!