[8] Cash Box felt the album was Shear's "most focused pop exercise to date", with the songs "bear[ing] the indelible stamp of his own lyrical and musical idiosyncrasies, which he and Rundgren have effectively harnessed without diluting".

[9] Gene Triplett of The Daily Oklahoman noted the "plenty of Beatle-esque elements", while considering Shear's voice to be "a cross between the tragic melancholy of Jackson Browne and the youthful toughness of Todd Rundgren".

"[10] Steven X. Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer commented: "Watch Dog is a fine record, an eccentric and eloquent collection of songs that deals with love and romance from a decidedly skewed perspective.

However, he criticized the lack of hit potential of any of the tracks, which he feared would result in Shear's loss of a recording contract: "And that's a bonafide drag, because [he] is probably trying to do more with the lyric side of things than just about anybody now writing.

[7] In a retrospective review, Chris Woodstra of AllMusic noted the "new-found maturity" in Shear's songwriting, which he felt displayed an "eclectic mix of styles from ultra-smooth pop to R&B-inflected rockers".