Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
My Rusty needs some training. He is ok if people are in our driveway or in the next yard. He just barks at them with his tail wagging, like he's saying Hi. But if they come onto our porch or into our house he barks incessantly and growls, and sometimes actually scares me. I know he's being protective, but I think he should realize when we openly welcome someone into our home, they are OK. I really need to find a way to change this behavior. We know a guy who trains police dogs for a living. Next time I see him I might ask for advice.
Carol, when I come across a dog that acts like that I stand still and let the dog smell my hand all the time talking softly to the dog. Perhaps you could ask your company to do that a couple of times until he gets to know the person.
I realize that it can be an imposition to your company, but like you said, he is protecting his territory. Teddy is very territorial. Even when someone just walks past the door outside, he runs to the door and barks a couple of times. One time a local boy that Teddy knows tried to break into Spike's home. Spike was upstairs sleeping. Teddy was downstairs. His bark was different this time and it woke Spike up. Had the boy just knocked on the door, he would have given his regular bark. But Teddy was smart enough to sense that this kid was up to no good. Spike let the kid break in and caught him red handed.
Being territorial can be a good thing. You just have to teach him when he should use it.