Gaurd animal only in the sense that he is close to the door and if someone were to come in they would have to step over him and risk a fall...He's otherwise been quite a useless pet in the few months that we've had him. Fun to watch, super-affectionate (to the point of being annoying), and cute as a button, but geez, at least keep my yard from looking like an interstate-highway for moles, could ya' little fella? T-fer has decidedly NOT earned his keep. We are keeping him anyway, he's a family member. And nobody gets rid of 'Uncle Bob' or thier wierd cousin what's his name just because he's annoying and eats alot. That being said, when he's not being lazy and looking all cute (or eating) he entertains himself by treating the yarn in ways it wasn't meant to be treated. I never get pictures of that because I'm always rushing to rescue the yarn before irreparable damage occurs. I could excuse behavior like that if he made up for it by keeping the mole situation under control. He could at the very least excercise Big Fat Sam a little more often. But no, abusing the yarn seems to be his only interest aside from the food bowl. It looks like I will have to find an alternative to storing pretty yarns in fancy baskets on the floor, they're just too darn tempting for the little guy.