I have a problem with my 4 year old lab. He is very protective of the yard and house. He will agressively charge the gate and bark and growl at anyone walking by. This aggression only seems to be directed towards people he does not know If I were to invite that same person in, he would be all other them looking for love. He also only does this when he is in the house or yard. If we're at the dog park or out for our walks, he is as friendly as can be.
I don't mind a bit of protective instinct in him but this is too much. I have never encouraged this behaviour either and scold him when he does it. However this does not seem to work.
We will be moving to a small town quiet town and will be building him a dog run in the yard. I do not want him to be barking at the neighbors all the time though.
I have considered a bark collar for him but am not sure I want to go that route. He does not bark for the heck of it and other than the protective part, is very quiet. He usually barks once to get in and I wouldn't want him to get "corrected" for that.
Overall, he is a pretty mild mannered dog. Rather submissive to other dogs and often a little timid around things he isn't familiar with. 90 lbs of snarling dog pushing against a gate is a little scary though.
Anyone have any ideas?