Went to pet smart last night to get a few things and to start a little distaction training for my 4 mo old female GS/Husky. Sit, Down, Stay while on leash. She does excellant on these. Happened to come when they were having this HUGH Lua and lots of dogs and people around. Walked through the store keeping distance from other dogs ( I know I have to keep her safe.) Someone I know (did not have a dog with her )came up to say Hi and Sheela barked twice at her. I told Sheela to sit and she did. When my friend came up Sheela put herself down on the ground flat with her ears back and let her pet her. Her tail started wagging and she seemed fine. I told he her get up and I gave her a treat. Then a lady who works for pet smart came up to me and said " I should never make my dog let people pet her if she doesn't want it." Am I correct from what I have read here, that if I allow Sheela to do that ( barking at strangers )she will think that when she barks she is making people go away from her and that she has control? Or is she still to young? Was this just to much distration for her? Any help will be appreciated.

Assuming that your pup was barking because she was uncomfortable with the situation, I hate to say it, but I tend to agree with the PetSmart person. Think of it this way: If barking at the stranger is the pup's way of saying "I'm scared, don't come any closer!", and the person ignores that and comes closer, then there is potential for the pup to escalate to a bite. By putting your pup in a situation that she cannot handle, you could be setting her up for a fear bite. Right now, because of her age, she is more likely to show submissive behaviors in the face of a threat, because that's what puppies do. But, as she matures, that may change.
Remember that socialization isn't just exposing her to all kinds of people; proper socialization means making sure that every experience she has with new people is positive.
I would say, socialize the crap outta this pup!!!! If you're not sure how to socialize her properly, get some help from a knowledgeable person.
Maybe others here can give better advice on that.

My suggestion for how to have handled this situation would have been to ask your friend to stop coming closer, and have a friendly conversation, while you both ignore the puppy. If the puppy continued to bark, then YOU should move away from the other person, but without giving the puppy any reinforcement. This isn't going to fix the problem; that's what socialization is for. But, it's a way to get your puppy out of the stressful situation without reinforcing her behavior.

I'm with Lisa. I would have rewarded the pup for responding so well to your sit and down, but I would not allow the person to bend over the pup and pet it. I would have released the pup and allowed him to make the decision on whether he is comfortable being close to the other person or not. If he was, I would allow the person to play or feed the pup, but not pet.

I would have put the dog in a down and have the person ignore the dog and talked to the person and ignored the dog. This is teaching the dog that being around people doesnt represent any thing at all. You dont need the pup thinking it has to perform one way or the other around people, stress free.For what its worth I wouldnt take my dog, especially a pup, into somw where like Pet Smart for any reason.The kind of traffic that place gets with pet owners dragging dogs in there with no telling what.It would be the kind of place a pup could end up with parvo or something.

At 4 months, her pup should have most or all of its vaccinations, so Parvo shouldn't be a concern. But certainly uninformed dog owners who have no control over their animals (or parents with small children) would be.

The way I see it, and this is from bicycling with my SAR dog every day, other people with dogs are hazards of cycling just like automobiles, potholes, lamp posts, etc. I am vigilant for any problems BEFORE they occur, and I steer clear of any situation that I don't feel OK with. I always assess how much control a person has over their dog before I even make the decision of whether I'm going to go off-road and go around the long way, or pass by them in a normal fashion. I don't expect others to be considerate, because in my experience, they're not. I see other unthinking dog owners as a hazard to be avoided, and if I can do so in PetSmart, I will. I've only taken my dog there a few times, but when I do, I just steer clear of others. She needs to learn obedience under distraction, and PetSmart is a very distracting environment. I think it can be a valuable training environment, IF USED PROPERLY. I would never recommend using PetSmart as a socialization or training environment to the inexperienced. Too much can go wrong.

Thank You for all your help. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'm with David on this one - put the dog in a down and have both people ignore it.
with a shy dog I think it is best to use dog savvy people as most people approach shy dogs in the complete wrong way and exacerbate the problem.
Most shy dogs want to be the fly on the polka-dot wallpaper - just blend until they can process the situation. I have quite a few shy dogs and you have to be more careful to "protect" them from the well-meaning boobs of the world who want to much all over every dog they see regardlesss of the signals the dog is giving.
Your dogs body language suggests a shy dog that submitted to the attention but would have been more comfortable to get acquainted at a slower pace. Shy dogs don't usually make instant friends
but like all dogs they have pretty long memories so you want any intros to be positive.

Another problem I have with Petsmart has been the flexi-idiots. The ones who have no idea what is going on on the other end of the lead. The ones who say "ohhh he's friendly"

Great product, used properly. A nightmare when the dog is just running loose with unrestricted freedom.