I am very sorry to cause conflict...

BTW, what is OB?

Let me give an example, maybe that will help. Last Sunday at the unit meeting, I kept her on a short lead. I had her down at my feet for the majority of the time. I do not allow her to sniff other dogs, I keep her attention on me with treats. While I was talking to someone, a third party was pulled up to us by their HUGE male rottie (FAT-about 180 and should be 90-but friendly) who stuck his nose in her face. (no aggression) She snarled and went to wrap her front paws around his head. Mid-launch I jerked her up, snarled "NO!" at her, and threw her on her back. She remained on her back, ignoring the rottie who was a foot away, staring at me looking for approval. When the owner finally wrestled the rottie away, I told her she was dismissed and then sit. When she sat, I praised her and gave her a treat.

Normally I catch her in the "stare", softly tell her "no", give her a command, and praise and treat when she does it. She always does the command. If I tell her to down near another dog (within a foot) she will do it, then roll on her back for belly rubs. She ignores the other dog. It is really bizarre.

There is another dominant ridgeback female there who we have not allowed them to sniff. We stand and talk, and make the dogs ignore each other, even lay down next to each other. There has never been a problem with them. In fact, my girl licked the other one on the chin last week, which I think is submissive. I don't understand any of this at all.

Thanks everyone for their posts, I am learning much from each of them!!

OB = Obedience

Based on your description in your first post, I was imagining something a bit different from your example. If your example is typical of the problem you say you have, then I don't think your problem is too severe. If she's not going out of her way to seek out conflict, I would say it's probably pretty manageable.

Read this article:

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html

Dog aggression isn't always caused by dominance. If you dog is aggressive because she is afraid of the other dog, then submissive behavior would be very normal.
This is a picture that I see, let me know if I am right. You are standing with your dog, minding your own business and she is behaving. Other dog approached (not behaving aggressively). You, knowing that you dog is not particularly fond of other dogs, see the dog coming and react. You likely become very tense and probably tighten up on the leash. Then your dog responds and you react to her poor behavior.
If that is not the case, then disregard this and perhaps explain further. I am focusing on YOUR behavior here for a second. The first mistake is getting nervous and tense. Your dog can sense this, and if you are nervous, then something terrible must be about to happen and she must prevent this!
Second mistake is tightening of the leash. This gives the dog more confidence in her ability to succeed in chasing off her "attacker" as well as increasing her feeling of territoriality (you are her territory).
The correction is pretty good, except that I don't like rolling a dog, especially if the dog is behaving aggressively. This action puts your face WAY too close to her teeth.
Work on being more confident and less nervous. If this is not the scenario, please explain further.

I think you are describing the situation well, Elisabeth. She only attacks when I am not paying attention, and she really would rather get treats than attack. But she doesn't like other dogs getting into her face, and if I force a greeting (ie, happy voice, "who's this missy-poo? be nice" petting the other dog) we *might* end up with a snarl, but she eventually accepts the other dog. Generally, she listens to me and we do pretty good when I use treats, obedience, and praise.

I will try meeting people with dogs more and treating her while we are talking. I imagine I will need to start with people who have controlled dogs, as I really don't think she likes dogs getting in her face.

Ya'll are awesome!

THANK YOU LISA!!!!

That is such an AWESOME article, and I think it describes how I have been feeling forever! I will no longer consider her behavior abnormal, I will protect her, and try to teach people to make their dogs have manners. This really relieves me, as I have always punished her because of other people's perceptions. I feel like I did when I realized I had made my GSD a fear biter... I hope I have not ruined her.

Thank you so VERY much!

I just read that article. EXCELLENT ARTICLE!
I like that...it makes sense.

You're welcome. Glad to be of help. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />