Yes, if you get a purebred golden retriever. That being said, any dog breed could be trained to provide an alarm system. One of the qualities fathers were looking for when they selected a dog to watch over their wife and baby was that the animal should never bark at them or their child. On average it took about two days of training before a dog would sit close by without barking in response to someone getting out of bed in the morning. It can take another week for them to learn that people moving around without talking is cause for alarm–a determined intruder may be able to sneak past until he accidentally makes some noise! After three months most dogs will bark when strangers knock on your door…