Was the visitor entering or leaving the house when this happened? Often, fearful dogs will attack from behind, usually during a transition such as coming or going. What I strongly recommend is that this dog be contained when people enter and exit the home. Crated, or in another room would be good, but not physically restrained by her collar. If the owners have already established good obedience habits with her, they may be able to train her to go to her bed when people come and go, and only allow her up to investigate when things settle down (personally, I would only recommend this option after they have done the containment for several weeks). Either way, she should only be out and allowed to greet visitors once they have settled in. When she approaches the visitor to greet them, as long as she isn't behaving aggressively, the visitor should give her a treat (preferably, the owners should issue a "sit" command first). Eventually, she may be able to handle being out when people come or go, once she realizes that visitors=treats. It's also possible that she may never be trustworthy with visitors. Just depends upon the dog.

Ok, I disagree here!

Please remember this is just MY opinion LOL, I am not saying anyone is wrong!!!

I personally think that by crating/containing the dog, will, if anything make matters worse, certainly not solve them!

By doing this, you are going to build frustration and in turn aggitate the dog even more by confining it everytime there is a visitor, which in turn could cause even more problems than there already is here. I certainly wouldn't want the dog to think visitors=being locked in one's crate !!! Locking the dog away in this situation,IMO is not a good thing to do. That is avoiding the problem, not confronting and trying to solve it.

Although I totally agree with the visitors giving treats, but at first putting the treats on the floor, avoiding eye contact with the dog, until the dog feels more comfortable and realises the visitor is not a threat.

OBED is certainly THE word here. IMO, nearly all problems can be controlled, not solved, but controlled by good obed, this, if nothing else is a must!

Dog that are crate trained usually view their crate as a safe haven. Therefore, if this dog is exhibiting fear aggressiveness, it may actually serve to calm the dog down and make it feel more secure if it is put in it's crate. That way, the dog learns that it is not in control of the situation, and doesn't need to stress about it because it does not decide who comes and goes.

Some misunderstanding here ..... I meant crating or putting the dog, in the crate in a different room....

mspindler, exactly! When the dog is ignored as people come and go, she will learn that she really has no causal relationship to whether or not visitors come or go. To avoid the crate/confinement being seen as a punishment, she could be given a chew or treat when she is crated, so that she sees the crate as a positive. She should not be dragged to her crate by her collar every time there is a knock on the door, but rather, given an upbeat "Kennel UP!" command that is rewarded with praise and treat.
After the cycle has been interrupted for a significant length of time, the dog will be more receptive to gradual behavior mod, such as training her to settle on her bed as people come and go. She may even learn to kennel up on her own when she hears a knock on the door.

Personally, if it were my dog, I don't think that I would put it in a crate in another room. I would probably put it in a crate where it could observe me interacting with the visitors. That way, if the dog sees that you're ok with the people, it may learn that visitors are not a bad thing.

I think putting a chew or treat in the crate would be a good idea. That would also reinforce the message that visitors bring good things <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> They could also periodically give the dog a treat while it's in it's crate, and you wouldn't have to worry about the dog trying to bite anyone. If and when the dog seems to enjoy having people over, then and only then, would I attempt to introduce it to people outside of the crate.

Melissa

OK, I didn't say put her in her crate in another room, I said put her in her crate OR in another room. The reason for that being that these people may not own a crate for their dog. If they do not, and choose to purchase one, which I think is a good idea, then they will need to crate train her, which is a whole other issue. She should not be crated only when visitors come; rather, she should be trained to kennel up on command. I'm also thinking containment in order to protect visitors. I think it's unfair to ask visitors in one's home to be guinea pigs in this kind of situation. The dog either needs to be contained or muzzled.

Thanks for the input...

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if they do have a crate-she's never mentioned crating before. I know Liberty does well in a crate (other than a few moments of quiet whining) because I had her crated while at my house.
She (not Liberty of course <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ) emailed me earlier today. They have scheduled an appointment with a trainer that is supposed to be experienced w/ GSD's...hopefully she'll be able to offer more advice from actually 'witnessing' Liberty's behaviour first hand.
I know when they first took her home, Liberty bonded immediately with the wife (as she did with me when I took her in) but was VERY skittish of the husband. At one point when the daughter came for a visit Liberty wouldn't even let her up the stairs. The girl that was attacked this past weekend was the son's girlfriend...not sure if she was coming or going (or just walking in the house for that matter).

J Parker, I wasn't saying that you said anything about crating the dog in another room. That was actually in response to what Qatana said. I'm trying to work and type at the same time and it isn't working too well <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Sorry about that...I'll try to be more clear next time!

That's alright, I figured there was some miscommunication happening somewhere.