just to agree you can teach your dog snapping is not okay and not allowed.

when i got teagan, she would bare her teeth at anyone who tried to go over her head/leaning over her when petting her unless she'd initiated the petting. she was maybe a bit different in that she was very tolerant of weak people/emotionally distressed people handling her in ways she would not have tolerated from someone who was not upset.

i worked mostly w/two people who i knew - my landlady at the time, and a friend owned a wee little dog and lived across from the park where the dogs went potty - and i would allow them to pet her once i'd indicated to teagan that i'd okayed the petting session - as soon as she started to bare her teeth she was corrected. she learned it was unacceptable behaviour, and doesn't bare her teeth at anyone anymore. i also always had her sit to be petted so for the times she wanted to be petted, she had to earn it, and for the times that i had said she could be petted, she also had something to focus on other than bearing her teeth at people.

edited to add: we ended up working on them overpetting her. since your dog has those triggers, maybe you can find people who you trust and are willing to help to try to work on those specific triggers?

Oops, I meant to say my boy is the same as the Mal in the first post.

Tolea, I've been following this post you started with great interest because I have a dog that acts the way you describe your dog acting. After consulting this forum on my dog's problem, I've come to the conclusion that my dog's sudden aggressiveness is fear based.

Like your dog, mine will approach strangers in a submissive way- head low, ears back, happy tail wagging. She gets pats, even pushes herself on people, then some threshold is crossed and she snaps (without actually making skin contact). There is a growl first like your dog does, but with the snap mine vocalizes in a high pitch. I interpret the high pitch to be "please don't hurt me!" or "let me out of here!" Does your dog vocalize as she is snapping? If she does, what does she sound like?

I do not allow people to pat my dog anymore on walks.

I had basically the same situation w/ Axel ( imported as pup from Netherlands / KNPV lines)He's a very dominant dog, but also (IMO) has weak nerves. Very territorial but now OK off our property. Yesterday I was walking him and a Mailman suddenly appeared from behind some bushes and startled him, he lunged at him. A quick pop on the e-collar and he was in a fuss, looking up at me for direction. I verbally reprimanded him and continued as if nothing had happened.
Mailman commented " I must have startled him, he's beautiful".

My point is that you need to "try" and be aware of the unforeseen situation. The only reason I was so quick to react was that I noticed the Mailman go on the premise and anticipated his exit.

Axel is 4yrs old now and we have been working on this for years. Unfortunately, he has two bites under his belt. Once when my Brother-In-Law was trying to feed him treats as a 9mo. old pup and once at 1yr. when someone entered my home unannounced / on their own. I really can't blame bite # 2 on him, he was just protecting his territory. He "never" leaves the house w/o his e-collar being on. It's been a saving grace in both training and preventing lawsuits. More importantly, I've learned how to read him.

I'd look into e-collar training if I were you. I don't know how I did w/o it for so many years.

...screamer

You've got quite a handful there. My Logan isn't afraid of people at all. He's pretty predictable too. When he sees a stranger, he stares at them with his head held high, ears up, base of tail out. I make him sit or down when they pass. At first I had to use a dominant dog collar because he would start to growl as they got closer. Now he's gotten pretty good and sits without a fuss...sometimes automatically. Before this he bit my new neighbor's wrist for trying to pet him over the fence...not for petting him but for him leaning toward me. I let Logan have it for that. It was another case of petting without asking. As long as I am outside, he totally ignores people, even the mailman (so long as they don't come over the fence). But if he is outside alone, he is VERY protective of his yard. I have no doubt in my mind if somebody tried to come in our yard he would let them have it.

You know I would have told you in the past that if you wanted him to be more friendly socialize him, but at the end of his leash for a few seconds and let people give him treats. Just like Ed says and for puppys yeah, but now days with a full grown malinois I dont think so with the crazys that have been created by Palms and anyother smalldog. Everyone thinks they can just walk up and hug any dog they see. I mean the girl your dog snaped at the first time should have had her head examined aint no way this boy is huging a malinois I dont own.

Just my 2 cents