Quote: alison voore

What are your specific goals for your dog? "I want my dog to be calm and comfortable around other people" & " I want my dog to enjoy being around other people" are two very different things. One is a friendly dog and one is not. Do you want people to be able to love up and pet/play with your dog? (I don't know if it is a realistic goal-plus, I'm not sure why you would want your dog to want to do this anyway. I don't let other people pet my dogs.) the other goal is for your dog to be aloof, non- aggressive and basically ignore all other people, but to be comfortable in their presence, not fearful. Don't expect her to pet by people, that's a whole other issue to her. I'd define your goal very specifically and examine what that contains in detail. Work on that before trying to do more. It will be easier for you and her.

There are some dogs who, by some traumatic event during a critical period, will never be friendly to people out of the pack. EVER. Would it be possible for you to accept her as one of these dogs (after more training to no avail) and just contain her when others are over?

You say she is dominant- what signs of dominance does she show? The sitting at your side, leaning with her ears down is a sign of submission (with some fear with her)and not dominance. She should be treated aloof during this time, not praised or discouraged from doing this.

A realistic goal for me to have to my female GSD would to be able to have people over the house without her charging them and challenging them; allowing people into the house by my hand and her being relaxed enough around them so she doesn't aggressively bark at them or me having the fear that I have to babysit the people there and walk by their side. I would like for my family to be able to deal with her if I have to go away for a few days, let her out to the bathroom, feed her, interaction. I believe this is a realistic goal and I will tell you why with examples.

1) When I was down in Fl and it was me and my G/F who raised her and no one would ever come over because we knew no one. Her parents would come down to visit for a few days at a time and she challenged them( She would charge the door and bark at them when they entered the house from going outside, i would correct with this a prong) After about two days of this she would calm down because they were staying there. My G/F's father started bribing her when I wasn't around with bones, milk bones, I didn't know this until later, which it worked because after that two day period she accepted them and they could walk in and out as they pleased, touch her, play with her.

They came back several times months apart and even brought there dog with them "Shar-pei" and she was fine towards them, accepted them, no problems. They came down to help us move back to NJ after not seeing us for 8 months and she was fine towards them, no aggression, no corrections needed, she was more focused on the other dog which we had to keep separated.

Now I we moved back to NJ and sold our house in FL and live with her parents until they move out in April into a different house and we are buying their house from them. My bitch loves my G/F's parents and they can do anything they want with her, play touch, pet, 100% accepts them as part of her pack. They let her out of the cage in the back yard when I am not home, she listens to the commands that I have taught them to use with her, this may be taboo in some people’s eyes but I have a different situation in letting other people take care of her when I am not there. So, I know she has it in her to except and trust other people.

Example 2) When we moved here in July the pool guy came over who is a friend of the family and we were in the back yard and I decided to bring her out for some exposure and she had her hair up, smelling him, and told him (pool guy) the rules and she relaxed. He started playing ball with her and she would bring it back to him, he would throw it, she would bring it back. I was standing rite next to him the entire time. This went on for about 15 minutes and she walked by him waiting for him to pick the ball up and throw it again and he decided to try and pet her by grazing the side of her body and she freaked on him by barking aggressively at him and I had to correct this. So, she had zero trust for him in the touch sense, but he was okay enough for her to play with by him throwing the ball.

3) I brought her over my brother in laws house and we played ball with her in his back yard and she was fine with it just like the sense with the prior example with the pool guy, he tried the same thing and tried to touch her, I didn't expect him to do this and told him prior not too and she freaked on him the same way and I wasn't close at this time and if she was going to bite she had the chance rite there, she was so close in barking at him, her nose was touching his elbow when she was barking at him he told me, he just stood still and I was rite there and called her off and she backed off.
The other problem with this instance was we and my sister were talking sitting down at the table and my GSD was just smelling around the back yard and my brother in law was inside and he came outside through the sliding glass door and she immediately charged him and challenged him, I was already between them at this time since the door was behind where I was sitting, I wasn't expecting him to come outside because he said he was going to be inside for awhile unless she would have been on lead.

So there is some background info and instances, good and bad.

“You say she is dominant- what signs of dominance does she show?”

1) She will try and make eye contact immediately with strangers, but I have already warned family ahead of time so they don’t make the eye contact with her, but I watch her posturing.
2) When around my G/F’s mothers dog, I will have her on lead and she is such a goof ball with a lot of play and pup still left in her but she will try and bullies and dominant him. She will shoulder her body over his, try to roll him and get under him, paw him almost like boxers do when they play.
3) When we walk down the block, when we first got here, when she saw someone she would stiffen up, hair raised, and slowly start to try and walk from by my side to ahead of me to challenge. I would immediately correct this. A neighbor would just say hello to me and I would say hello back and she would try and bark aggressively at them, like I can’t speak to anyone else. I use the dominant dog collar along with a prong for these corrections; well one or the other, you get the point.
4) My G/F’s sister brought over there 10 week old lab over the house the other day, she walked in the house and I had it on the floor checking him out and we weren’t rite near the cage but in the general area and she immediately zoned in on the pup and locked eyes with it and freaked through the cage. I watched all this. This comes from the same dog that will play with the Sharpei with no aggressive behavior, just dominant behavior.
I know this is long but hopefully it helps me out and also helps to educate others with similar problems.

Joe, maybe it'd be best to hook up with an experienced trainer to evaluate your dog and figure out a plan, internet advice isn't the same as seeing the dog.

Al Curlow is right about being evaluated by an experienced trainer. Action always speaks louder than words.

 Quote: joe chevrier

.......The way I corrected this was with a two finger tap to the side of the body and a "hey" I never tapped her in the nose, matter of fact I have never done this because I never want her to be afraid of me, especially never afraid of my hand or hand shy.......

OOPPS...my bad .....I assumed you tapped her on the nose.....please forgive me!

This is off subject, but if you were really worried about your dog being hand shy, always use a leash to correct until she is properly conditioned to the word NO or HEY. If the prong is fitted right, it takes very little movement from your arm or hand to give a correction, so, the dog will associate the correction with your 'NO' command and not your arm or body movements. A dog can see a hand correction coming and will anticipate it and shy away. You don't want your dog acting fearful every time you reach for her to give affection.

It sounds like you watch Dog Whisperer. If you do, watch closely to how Cesar corrects with his hand. Quick! Fast! Firm! The dog doesn't see it coming most of the time. He also uses his foot to catch a dog off guard. When he can't correctly administer a hand correction like this, he uses his mere prescense and 'energy'. In my opinion, it takes some experience to use hand corrections without creating conflict in a dog, especially a fearful dog.

I can't really tell you much more about her since I can't see her. You'll probably have to find a local trainer, like previously mentioned. In my opinion, hackles raised can be a fear reaction, rather than a confident, dominant reaction (try to look bigger buy raising the hair & barking in order to scare the stressor away.) I couldn't tell unless I see. Hair raised only over the neck and shoulders can mean dominance, but with the back hair and over hips and tail means fear. (this may be variable by dog)
Sounds like you know your dog, but she needs some rehab and training, rather than a just good correction. A local trainer can help you figure out those minor details. You seem to have the correction part covered though this can possibly make her worse based on her personality. Again a trainer can look at her and know.

Good Luck!