hey there and welcome.
it sounds like winston is a nosey neighbor, as i call my eb's![]()
during the day, if anyone is outside my house (ie neighbors doing yard work, kids playing, etc), if my blinds are open, all of my dogs, including my two eb's have their wrinkly faces stuffed between the blinds, trying to get a nosey peak and doing their under the breath 'muff' barks and also alerting and barking.
a solution that works for me/my dogs when it's not a great time to have commotion is to simply close the blinds/curtains, and if the noise outside is still obvious, i turn on animal planet on the TV. i know that might sound silly, but my dogs all love animal planet and will sit watching it like human children.
during the times that it's not inconvinient to have them being nosey neighbors, i let them have at it. regardless if being a guard dog is their strong point or not, i think most dogs instinctively want to know what's going on-some more than others
i have never managed, however, to train them not to bark/race to the door every time the door bell rings or someone knocks on the door. one of the 4 inevitably hears and alerts the rest and off they go barking to the door. they do seem to be having fun with it though instead of it being a point of stress for them.
like you, i'm not afraid that this behavior will lead to anything harmful. they're not being aggressive at all. they're more excited than they are 'guarding'. if i can't find one of the dogs in the house (it's a big house and my dogs are laaazzzy and not inclined to wake from their naps just bc i want to know where they are), or if they don't want to come in from playing in the back yard, i'll go ring the door bell and they all come racing in and to the door. it's kind of comical most of the time.
my female eb is a pretty good watch dog, though i've never assigned her that dutymy male eb is a total wuss and runs behind me at the slightest hint of anything wrong. i guess it takes both kinds.
while most eb's are laid back, they are also very stubborn.if it's a behavior that you can't tolerate and it can't be reduced by limiting visibility and noise from the outside, i think my best suggestion would be to ignore him/the behavior when he alerts and pay him attention again only afterhe has calmed down--then reward him and lavish him with attention. that techinque worked out very well with my alapaha bulldog, regarding jumping up/onto people when he greeted them.
winston will mellow out more. 2 is still very young. he's a teenager.
i'm sorry i wasn't able to be more helpful. i hope it helps some to know you're not alone in winston's nosey neighbor status![]()