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[dexxy]

I'm currently building a wall around my fort. Previously I've chained up  dogs in rooms sticking out near the top of the wall, where the room walls are fortifications. This works pretty good, the dogs see enemies arriving and an alert is raised. But the dogs can still be shot with crossbows or even attacked by flying monsters.

So I was wondering if anybody is an expert on watchdogs. Here are some questions:

* Will a dog in a cage notice enemies arriving near it? Can the enemies kill a dog in a cage?

* Is there a way to build a doggy watchtower room where the dog is reasonably safe, such as not being killed by elite bowgoblins?

* Is it possible to use any animal as a watchdog, such as a kitten or a goose? I think I tried using "tame rats" before and they did not work for this job.

I'm also going to build some barracks up on top of the walls, so that the soldiers training up there can spot enemies arriving. Is there any easy way to make it so that soldiers can go from up on top of the wall to outside the wall quite quickly, but goblins can't get from outside the wall to on top of the wall using the same path? I want the soldiers to be able to quickly get out of the barracks to outside the wall where most of the fights happen. But obviously I don't want goblins climbing up some stairs and getting into a great sniper position on top of the wall.

[Sphalerite]

Animals in cages are useless.  They don't notice anything.  Vermin-sized animals like rats are also useless.

For making animal-powered watchtowers, I usually build an elevated platform, one Z-level off the ground, and then surround the watch animal with windows.  Windows stop bolts, but let the animal see out.  Having the platform 1 Z-level up keeps building destroyers from smashing the windows.

I've used war dogs, but I've also used peacocks and other animals for this.  Not sure if war dogs see further or are better at spotting sneaking creatures.

[i2amroy]

I've used war dogs, but I've also used peacocks and other animals for this.  Not sure if war dogs see further or are better at spotting sneaking creatures.

I don't believe that they are.

[WCG]

But how far away can wardogs spot sneaking enemies? I've got them pastured at the entrances to my walled compound and they never spot a thief until he's right next to them. In fact, no matter how many dogs I've got there, the thief is usually past them (if just barely) before he's spotted.

So I'm wondering how these doggy watchtowers would work. Would they spot anything at a distance? How, if they won't spot creatures at a distance when pastured?

I end up just pasturing some useless animal outside the compound, outside both entrances. Ambushers can't resist attacking them first, giving the alarm. (Thieves just ignore them, of course.) But it's kind of a game exploit, so I'd use dogs as guards if they could sound the alert early enough.

[Sphalerite]

Dogs spot creatures up to about 3 tiles away.  A doggy watch tower raised 1 Z-level above the ground is basically only going to spot something passing right next to it, and even then it isn't always going to spot thieves.  You'll want to make sure anything sneaking into your fortress has to walk right next to a watchtower, and probably have more than one of them.

[iofhua]

The wiki quotes Toady One as saying hunting dogs can see things farther away than normal dogs. Putting dogs behind glass windows a z-level up sounds like a good idea, I might have to try that in my fort.