Really what I'm looking for is advice and how to get Sasha over these hurdles.

Here's the update:

I haven't posted here in a long time... I've been super busy working with Sasha for three months now...training her 2-3x/day, taking her to a daycare that specializes in socialization 2 x/week and then doing work on my own. She'll be 6 months next week. Overall she's doing fantastic. Gets along well with my 3 year old maltese, behaves very well in the house, is pretty much house broken, doesn't climb on furniture or chew shoes and is just a good girl overall. She knows around 15 commands and I am just finishing the second puppy kindergarten class. She is swimming too! Loves the water. I've also had many compliments on her temperament from the vet and dog trainers. She's very calm.

Here's what happened:

Today I took her to a street festival. I think maybe it was a mistake. She's been around small crowds but I think this was a little overwhelming and she started to back up, looking for ways to escape and make her self very small. It kinda reminded me of a horse that gets skittish. There wasn't a lot of noise in the crowd but people were walking up and down the street. So I brought her to the side line which wasn't so busy and thought I would have her focus on me to get her through the uncertainty. I asked her to sit and took out a treat. She complied, ate the treat and was soon somewhat relaxed...still observant though - her tail wasn't down anymore but was parallel to the ground. We rested there for 15 minutes and she layed down and was watching the people walk by. I decided to walk down the less busy part of the street but what I found was that she was always looking behind her (I was still trying to focus her but it was only partially working), and she became a little bit skittish again, so I removed her and brought her to the side line again...then I decided to remove her altogether and we walked down a lane that was virtually empty. She seemed happy and took a poop, and was wagging her tail. Does this mean she has recovered? And, do I need to keep repeating this exercise?

A fear stage? Here are other issues I've been having.

First she's very sweet but will bark and growl at people. I get some of those people to give her a treat and she does take it from them but she still behaves very uncertain she will bark even after that. I had a guest come over to the house and she walked up to her and started barking at her. Actually, this happened twice today! If it's just a stage then no problem....I can take care of the human side of things but I just don't want an adult hundred pound BRT after my guests. Tell me what to do please! One thing I am working toward is the "place" command. I will just send her to her "place" when I have someone come over. Any other suggestions? (I don't have many that just "pop" by so I can always crate her when I do have people over).

At night, if I take her outside, she will bark at nothing...there is silence...we live on a very quiet street, but I have been told this might be a puppy stage for a breed that is high in defense drive.

4-5 times a week I walk her on a street in my neighborhood that is busy with traffic. I have her walk on my left side and she is always turning around looking at the cars as they come from behind. Sometimes she'll put on the brakes and cower. It seems like she's afraid the car is going to come up on the side walk and hit her. She's been like this since about 4 months. I do try and focus her.

What I don't do in any of this is molly coddle her. I try and focus her with a "here" command or a sit and then have her looking into my eyes and feed her the treat.

What do you folks think?

Timing sounds about right. Vik expressed himself around the 8 month mark.
Sasha seems like she is having insecurity generated actions. Maybe she needs MORE positive reinforcement when she is calm and behaving well.
As for guests, put her in the crate until your guest has come in, greeted you, and sat down. Then let Sasha out with a greeting command and maybe load your guest with treats. Tell your guest not to look, touch, or speak to Sasha until she invites the pet. Her fall is coming in now and probably confuses her a bit. Putting her in the crate lets her know that she has to be calm when YOUR guests come into YOUR home.
Maybe before you take her into the street fair/market scene again, run/walk her and get her tired. That way, she'll have less energy to focus on her natural talents. You didn't mention how much excercise she gets. Not including daycare, which is a big playdate.
Vik was great IN his Therapy Dog training site, but a different dog outside, so they do figure it out and need guidance from us. Don't panic..... She is just upping the ante and demanding more guidance. Good luck, and you know that any/all of the "grandmas" will help you through this. Your pup is just hormonally charged right now, so hang tough AND be consistant. I learned calming breathing excercises too. For me. LOL

I exercise her twice a day with 20-25 minute walks. On the days she has day care I walk her only once. The day care atmosphere is very controlled but she does get a pretty good romp in. But yesterday I didn't give her any excerise before the fair...I should have! I do know some of these little tricks but I forget sometimes. Doh!

I do praise her when she's behaving nicely but maybe I ought to do more.



You are right on...I will start right away.

15 minutes ago, I was training sasha at the back of the house... you can see through to the back of the house from the front door....the mailman surprised us and Sasha (who was not on leash) let out a torrent of barking running up to him then backing away and so on. I remained calm but did not want to encourage her by molly coddling her. After several seconds I said "enough" in an assertive tone and she seemed to calm down a bit.

Maybe you have a word of advice for that type of scenerio? The "surprise" visitor!

Thanks!!!!

Your advice worked! She's much better with guests now Thanks!

Great news. I'm glad that you are moving forward.
I train a leave it command that I use in O SH*T moments. For me, "leave it" means, don't even look at it! AND I PRAY. LOL Just kidding, but these moments are teaching moments, so now you know what Sasha is willing to do at this moment.
Helene recommends a muzzle, but to non-trainers, it is difficult because we/I don't want people to see our dogs and think they are bad dogs.

I really would not worry about it too much.. my male was like that when he was a pup, one minute he was loud and proud and the next he was jumpie at everything, I couldnt figure it out.. they very quickly grow out of that stage! My Maksim thinks hes king of the world and is not afraid of ANYTHING!! We put him on a leash when guests come over tell him to say hi and then hes fine..
Good luck!