Looks like you are doing the right things, she is a fear biter, and all of her interactions stem from fear, so take the fear away, while making things safe for everyone.
With other dogs, take her to the dog park and let her sit away from the other dogs. Even if it means sitting outside (away from the entrance) and away from the fence - so she is not interacting, just watching. Keep the muzzle on her - until she proves she can interact without biting, she should have it on. If she starts growling, tensing her body, lifting her lip etc, correct her. If she turns her back on the dogs playing, gently reposition her. One of you might go down the second or third time to where the dogs are, while the other one stays behind with your dog,. Let her see you guys playing and interacting with the other dogs. When you reintroduce her, do it slowly, with few dogs there - walk her before hand so she is a bit tired, and easier to handle and less likely to fight. Just go slow, Same way with the vet. Take her down, and sit in the waiting room for awhile, then leave, ask if she can sit in an exam room for awhile without interaction. Slowly desensitize your dog to her fears showing her there is nothing to be afrraid of. Always reward positive behavior and quicly correct unwanted behavior.

Thanks for the advise!!! We don't have a dog park near us... any suggestions with this in mind?
When there are dogs at a distance, her tail wags and she wants to go to them, but when they start sniffing her, she becomes uneasy and defensive.
Tonight, I tried to introduce her to the neighbour's puppy (very hyper!)... she was OK at first and then, the puppy kept coming, jumping, sniffing etc (being a puppy!) Our dog used to LOVE that and would roll and play with them-- tonight, her tail dropped between her legs and at one point she did snarl at him (I had her muzzle on). I let her off her leash and she nervously ran around, while I interacted with the puppy. She became "on edge" every time the puppy came around her.

When you say "correct unwanted behaviour"... what would you recommend? We have a shock collar that we occasionally use (we originally trained her with a "beep, shock" combination and now, the "beep" is often sufficient. However, tonight, when she snarled at the puppy, I shocked her... we're now wondering if she now associated the shock with the puppy and not her behaviour? I'm afraid if I say "NO", it won't be enough and she'll continue to escalate her aggressiveness.

One last thing, you mentioned to reposition her if she turns her back on the other dogs.... could you explain this more?

Thanks so much... you were very helpful and it is much appreciated.

p.s. One last thing... does anybody know if there is often success with resocializing dogs after the age of 2? I'm feeling a little discouraged b/c everything you read says the first year of life (which is unfortunately when our dog had several bad things happen)....

I really think that if you stay back from dogs for awhile, just let her sit and watch them from a ways back, she will start getting more comfortable. If she lays down and turns on her side, it means she is getting comfortable. If she lays down and her back is still in the middle, she is tense. If she turns her back on them, you have lots of work to do. Get rid of the shock collar, they should really only be used as a last resort when all other training has failed. Your dog is afraid, adding a shock is ony going to make her worse. YOU need to be the one who is interacting with your dog and the dogs around her, she will learn from your lead. I think the puppy was a little too much too soon. If you do go out and there is a dog, have who ever is with you should hold the leash of your dog, and put your dog in a sit stay position, you go up and make cute noises and pet the other dog make a big deal about the other dog etc. The person holding your dog on a leash should be petting your dog if she is just watching and in a relaxed state. If she is tightening up in any way, walk away with her. Remove her from the area. Have the person holding the leash turn around and walk away leaving you with the other dog giving the other dog attention. You are in fact teaching your dog that other dogs are safe. She knows and trusts you so, in time she is going to want you to pay attention to her not to the other dog. If the other person with you has to walk away with your dog have them watch her behavior, does she look back at what you are doing? If so, stop there and come back slowly. But stop about 10 feet away, close enough for her to sniff around the other dog etc, but not make contact. Little by little she is going to get that the other dog is okay, she should be kept on a leash because your energy is needed to help guide her and keep her on track. Near you she is not going to be so afraid. Ultimately she will find a pup she is going to sniff at and stretch out to see, let her stretch out on the leash to sniff the other dog, if she becomes tense, dont pet her to say it is okay, that is rewarding her for acting like that *dogs think differently in this regard than we do. They dont see it as comforting so much as rewarding. Reward good curious behavior. when she starts in to see another dog and her tail goes down it means she has had enough and is getting afraid, this is when you pet her and the other other dog at the same time, put her in a sit stay position first and make certain she is relaxed before petting her. She needs to go for long walks, hopefully before you run into another dog. A tired dog is less likely to put up so much energy than a fresh one. A good half hour walk before you see another dog would be great. Since you dont have a dog park, maybe check out where dogs and their owners hang out for their evening walkies. If you can not find dogs to practice with, try and find a training class you can sit in on. Just sit away from the other dogs, no contact. Just let her watch for now....she is still too afraid. You can resocialize a dog at any age.

First of all, you don't mention if issues "in her youth" took place with you or before you came along in your dogs life. Why did she go through this??

Second. It is extremely important that you get over your anxiety about your dogs issues. Take a patience pill. Your dog is picking this up and things are only going to get worse.

Third. You are expecting way to much from your dog, way to soon. Your dog was traumatized by the rock throwing etc., what do you expect??? She really does not know what is going on at this point and is trying to find her way.

Third. It is a HUGE mistake to do anything that is going to scare or ingest pain. You need to throw the damn shocker and muzzle away. Would you put a shocker and muzzle on a child who went through a similar situation and induce shock when it misbehaved???? Trying to force a positive behavior with a negative act is just not the way to go. Your are going to only make things worse. Your dog is going to start to show all sorts of "negative" behaviors, such as submissive peeing, and this "negative" will build on itself. And it will be your fault. You need to VERY SLOWLY build on "POSITIVE" behavior over the course of the next year, maybe more depending on how you and your dog progress. I adopted a 4 month old Shepard/Hound 2.5 years ago who was traumatized before I came along, and Im STILL dealing with her issues. She has come a long way, but is still not there yet, and I realize this.

You really do need to give more history concerning timing with all of this both before you came along and after. You have an extremely confused dog, that has humans wrong things to try and make things right. As you mentioned, your dog is a very playful one. Can't you see that this is the "natural" way she was born? This is the way she should be. Not frightened that when she does something she is going to feel pain. Why are you doing things that are going to destroy this??

Sorry to be so blunt. I really have a difficult time holding it when people suggest or do "negative" acts to try and create a "positive" behavior. IT JUST DOES NOT WORK. NEVER HAS, NEVER WILL.

SG

I don't usually chime in and I'm certainly no behavioral specialist but it seems counterintuitive to me to shock a dog that is already traumatized and very skittish.

Thank you for your advise. The reason for the muzzle is simply to avoid anyone from getting hurt. (I should mention, it is a soft muzzle, that she can still drink, bark, etc with)... She has been involved in a dog fight before (and the behaviour has worsened since then)... and when cornered on one occasion, snapped at a person (did not bite, but was quite close). We never reprimand her for her playfulness and happy-go-lucky times... this is quite enjoyable and no need for reprimand.. she is often quite obedient at these times as well.
We owned her from a puppy, but lived in a place in Northern Canada where dogs are not respected. We did keep her indoors, but on many occasions when she was outside, we "caught' people being abusive towards her. Additionally, the population where we lived are quite fearful of dogs and thus, she did not receive welcoming gestures from strangers. We tried the best we could to use rewards when training... did not get the shock collar until much later when she ran after animals.... which put her at risk for being shot where we lived. Now we are living in a much different place...
Additionally, at 1 year of age, she became extremely ill and required many procedures... since then, she has become more timid.
What would you recommend us to do when she growls at a dog that is nearby? When at a distance, she always wants to go "play" with them... it is when they are in her "personal space" that she becomes fearful and growls...

thanks again for your help

Keep the muzzle, you need it. It is a reminder for her that she is not to bite.
The thing is not to get her near a dog. This is the crux of helping her understand that dogs are okay. She needs to be desensitized to them. Let her stay at a distance, no personal space time unless she is reacting positively to a dog, ie - leaning forward, tail up etc, once the tail goes down, leave, walk away.

Mazer is right. Your job is to anticipate when things are going to start going bad, and then take her away before the bad thing happens. I know that this means you have to be a mind/body reader. Get the book below and study it. You need to ID what the ear, eye, tail and body movements mean. Then you can take her out of a situation before it gets bad.

She will learn from having positive experiences. If you let a negative experience happen, it just reinforces her fears. It sets you back ten steps! So learn how to tell when she is starting to get anxious and praise her and get her out of the situation before she stops being comfortable in the situation.

Buy some books by Pat Miller. Read and learn why positive trining methods are best for your dog.

Look at these.

Thank you so much for your help! We have not had a "negative" experience all week... When out for a run, we came across a couple dogs (on leashes)... they sniffed, etc and her tail was up the whole time and I left before anything negative happened and gave her a lot of praise. Also, the shock collar hasn't been on all week.
thanks again!

I'd probably try a group obedience class. Its a controlled situation with other dogs, people and an experienced dog trainer. They could evaluate your dog before the class to let you know if it would be right for the two of you.

People who throw rocks at dogs! NEED help- glad you rescued her.

Sadly this dog may never get over the abuse she's suffered- some animals/people are like that, we have a dog( moms not mine-shadow) who was probably kicked as a puppy, and given away to my mom, she's good with other dogs, but you cannot call Shadow an at ease dog, she is skittish and doesn't invoke as much play as a normal aging lab mix would.

You just have to understand this dog may never be like other dogs, she may be a lone wolf- some wolves never really live with other wolves, its not normal its not healthy or good but it happens.

Maybe the best( if not kindest thing to do) would be to muzzle her good and well, then stick her in with a bunch of really nice,really mild mannered dogs, leave her in the pack structure for 30 minutes each day then take her home and give treats,training treats are the best IMO because they taste the best. Slowly after one week work it up to 1 hour, then 2 then 3 then 4. Then try one on one with another dog without the muzzle.

see if this helps.

Doodledove - re the September 27th posting. Perfect update You wrote "I left bfeore anything happened" STELLAR. Extra milk and cookies for you on millk and cookie day, whoo hooo, happy dancing and all that, go treat yourself. This is the absolute right thing to do. You got it. Ending on a positive note, is the outcome you are looking for. Little bit by little bit your furbaby will be resocialized, and except for a set back now and then you are back on your way to playtime with other puppies. Keep a good eye out and watch that tail, her body language is going to tell you when she starts to get uncomfortable. You are good to be watching her body language. Please keep reposting and let us know how things go.