should i allow halo to protect

[susan]

Halo is now 7 months old. She did something the other day i never seen her do. I had the water co. install new meter in process they broke wire to outside to read meter, so they sent a man to repair it. when he arrived at my home he got out of truck n stated very rudely that he has been to this home before { we just moved here in feb.] n that he was here to fix problem if he could. i let him in cellar came back in house got halo n was sitting on front porch. he came from cellar about 10 mins. later n rudely n loudly said to me who did the plumbing in this house they did crappy job n broke wire so bad he could not find it. HAlos hair went on end she scotted real close to me n just snarled at the man. he that said he couldnt deal with it right now he had emergancy n would be back tommarow. i replied to man angry by this time that i worked for a living n did not know if i would be home tommarow to let him in.
i then went in house to watch some tv with front door open because it was nice out n i have screen door. a half hour later man appeared n knocked at door, Halo jumped up hit the door n growled n barked at the man, then the idot put hand on handle like he was gonna open door. i shouted dude you better not open that door apparently this dog dont like you n is about to tear you a new asshole. i had to go outside n shut both doors so halo could not see him, for him to tell me he was going to fix it now.
halo has never growled or shown aggression to anyone. I ignored the sitution, was I wrong or should i have punshed her? i dont want her in anyway to be mean but was very proud she wanted to protect mom. is this wrong?

[suziriot]

This deserves a long response, and unfortunately I don't have the time right now. Here are a couple main points, though.

1. Never punish growling. Negative reinforcement will only result in a negative response. She could react by biting you, etc. Rather, you want to redirect the dog to modify the behavior. There are several discussions in this thread section that provide more details.

2. Halo obviously could sense the tension in this situation and reacted. This was a trigger for her, so you should try to avoid exposing her to the trigger. Again, there are other discussion threads with more info.

[susan]

her punishment is to be put in her cage for bit n told her behavior was bad. i really get no fear that she will bite me. and yes i removed her from sitution as soon as possable. she has many people coming up to her the past couple of days n her responce is all tail wags. thank you for responce

[fureverywhere]

I don't in any way know anything about proper dog training, but just IMHO- this guy sounds like he was being a total &%*$#@%^ so I dunno, but I'd praise the dog. You certainly don't want her to make a habit of answering the door like that...but they KNOW sometimes.

I have to drive late night and always take the ride too. Alot of times I don't see people in the shadows or walking around from the back of the truck at stop lights. But Ophie does, now maybe her Cujo imitation is going to scare some innocent jogger...or make some poor guy drop his 40...But I know I will never have my car jacked while she is with me