I haven't been on APS much since it was created, so if this has already been covered please excuse me.
I've got a dog, a black lab mutt that shows a high likelihood of having Staffordshire Bull Terrier or American Pit Bull in him, that I picked up from the pound back in February with him at the age of about 5 months old.
He's a lovable, and loyal, thick skulled bugger.
We like having a dog around for companionship, but I also like having him around as a security system. When my dog barks, especially at night, I like to go peek out the window he's looking through to make sure there's no threat.
Problem is: He thinks EVERYTHING is a threat. Our house is 'round 200 feet from the road, but he'll alert whenever the neighbor across the street comes home from work. He'll be half asleep on the living room floor, catch a jogger out of the corner of his eye and run to a window, bark at them, then run to another window when they leave the field of view and continue barking at them.
Thing is, I don't know what to do to get him to go back to being calm after I've investigated his barking. I don't want to swat him on the nose every time he barks at a noise because I want him to keep that practice up, but I want him to stop when I become attentive to the situation. Not sure how to handle that one.
