Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi all,
I want to get your thoughts and advice regarding Luna's behavior. .
About 2 years ago we bought a new house. We completely renovated it, which meant that we had contractors in and out daily. Luna didn't care. She would greet them and then just let them go about their business. Same with deliveries; she didn't care.
Fast forward 2 years, she barks at the window if she hears a delivery truck within about a mile of our house. When visitors come, she gets excited and, as we taught her when she was a pup, she grabs a toy so she doesn't mouth them. She cries and carries on a bit, but it's more excitement than anything.
However, she goes crazy when any visitor leaves! She yips, cries, barks, etc. And if the visitor tries to hug me, forget it. We put her in place when we know goodbyes are coming, and although she doesn't normally break her command, she becomes extremely vocal.
I'm trying to figure out what is causing both of these reactions and how to stop them. My thought is that it's her drive to protect us and her territory. But, I've tried alot of the suggestions offered to break this behavior(place, treat when quiet, etc) but we aren't seeing improvement. She has the same reaction no matter who it is visiting. She loves my MIL, but she still freaks out if she puts her jacket on to leave or if she hugs me. Of note, she doesn't display these behaviors if we entertain outdoors. Her bad behavior is pretty limited to when they are physically in our house. I dont care that she guards the house, but I can't teach her that when I say it's OK, she needs to chill. We do try to leave her out to socialize when we have guests, but I know she probably reads my anxiety about her behavior.

Any advice is appreciated!!!

I'd try a few things:

1) work that place and leave it.
2) make sure Luna doesn't own the spot where she is mis behaving. Casper, not DS and not "my" dog, goes bonkers when he is allowed to watch out the door. As a result he isn't allowed to sit and watch out the door.

I wanted to edit this post because there wasn't enough information about what your dog is doing to identify the issue. Given the situation you describe, it sounds more like the dog doesn't know how to react because it's not under command and those commands haven't been reinforced through repetitive training. I suggest getting a trainer to help the dog refocus those drives or have it crated if you have guests over that the dog doesn't completely feel comfortable with.