I recently lost my german shepherd of 13 years. She loved the constant flow of guests and never received a complaint. My new puppy is not so welcoming. We have a backyard in law type studio with a separate entrance and guests are allowed to check in & out at their convenience. My new puppy is a six month old shepherd/cattle dog mix. She is not aggressive but will bark and stalk any new guests in our yard. I guess this is more of a dog training question, but if anyone has any tips on how to break a puppy of these behaviors and make airbnb less stressful for her and my guests… I’ve left treats in the unit as a bribe. It works temporarily, but mostly depends on the guest’s willingness to help with the situation. Any advice would be appreciated.
Am I correct in believing that your guests are arriving while you are not home, but your puppy is home? Most dogs are territorial about their property and will be uncomfortable with visitors they don’t know until their owners let them know that the visitors are approved. German Shepards are particularly known for being territorial. If I were you, I would not let guests check in while you aren’t home. Your dog is a puppy now. When she matures her instinct to protect her territory will increase. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait for her to bite someone before I switched my check in policy.
my advice as a canine professional would be to have a one-on-one session with a behaviourist. Puppies who aren’t socialised before 16 weeks of age are much harder to train. It definitely CAN be done but it isn’t a simple process
Ellen’s suggestion of changing check-in procedures is a great one as an interim solution. But please also address the behaviour! It just takes one person to claim your dog is aggressive (even if you know it isn’t true) and you could lose your poor puppy 
I believe barking and stalking to be completely normal for a dog who believes that a stranger is in the house. In fact, most people encourage their dogs to warn them about strangers coming into the house.
I will disagree with you on that one. It’s not uncommon behaviour but it really shouldn’t be considered normal. I’m just thinking here of the assholes who will report a dog as ‘aggressive’ for displaying this behaviour, and then the dog is put down. So really I believe it’s best to deal with so this doesn’t happen. Especially when we have strangers in our homes
Edit to add my concern is only for the dog. I don’t care about other people’s opinions of that dog. It’s about protecting your pets. I’ve seen it happen is all I’m saying, and it’s devastating
I have a similar set up to you and put in a separate fenced dog run and new dog door on that side of the house. Is your dog barking and stalking from behind a fence or are they in the same yard as the guests? My dogs are total cheap dates-- one treat or belly rub and they’d gladly go home with you – but I never let them have any contact with guests unless I am home to do the introductions. Also I don’t want the guests letting them out. Funny the male dog will sometimes scratch at the interior double door set to the addition and whine to meet the people, other times he ignores their presence completely. Are they wearing roast beef scented cologne? Who knows.
Thank you for the tips, everyone! She’s a shelter puppy who’s a little shy and doing exactly what she’s supposed to, as far as she’s concerned. It’s rare that someone’s not home, but she’s crated if she’s home alone. She does have a doggy door with full access to the yard. We have quite a few amenities out back (hot tub, garden, bbq area) and I’m not always sure if our guests are back there or not. I think I’ll start requesting that guests provide ETA’s and arrival texts so I can at least keep her inside until they are settled. The eventual goal is that everyone can come and go and coexist peacefully, but I think I’ll start with leashed introductions.