[herpguy]

Hello,
I have a 2 year old English Pointer. He gets along great with everybody in my family, including my other two dogs. He is also a bird dog, so thus he is not neutered. He never shows any interest at all in other dogs. During hunting, he comes across many other dogs, and he completely ignores them. The problem with him is that he shows aggression towards certain people, actually only certain females. He has shown aggression towards my grandmother, a teenage girl, my friend's mother, and my young neighbor. This included growling and snapping. He luckily has never bit anyone. He was reprimanded every time he did this (ears pinched and pulled back). He is a very well trained dog as well. I am baffled at why he is showing this aggression. Any help would be much appreciated.

[gotambull?]

My mother's unneutered male dobe went through a stage very similar to this at the 2 year mark with females. He was trying to assert himself as alpha male over all the females around him. My mother ended up taking him through obedience classes (even though he was already trained) to work through it. The fact that SHE was the one controlling him showed him that he had to submit to her and he stop the snapping.

I would still watch out just in case that is not your problem, you don't want him biting someone, especially a child. I would pay really close attention to him when he's around these people and what's going on. Is he some how protecting you or something else he believes is "his", or are those people in any way agitating him?

[german sheep]

hi herpguy,

if you

ears pinched and pulled back

your dog will not give any warning in future but snapps at least "all of a sudden" because he knows that his warnings are punished by you.

If it comes to the situations as you told where are you? I mean if the dog is under your control how can this happen? He must show signs before he growls.

How is his behaviour before? And what did you do before the escalation?

LG
gs

[leashedForLife]

2-YO English Pointer. He gets along great with everybody in my family, including... two dogs. He is also a bird dog, so thus he is not neutered.

unless U have a very unusual dog, he need not be intact to hunt -
he only needs testes to breed, and as they vastly raise the odds of a bite to humans, fights with other dogs, and aggro in general, i would suggest desex. he is far-less likely to bite anyone, roam, fight other dogs, etc, plus he avoids many testosterone-fueled cancers and behaviors like leg-lifting in the house.

as a 2-Yo dog, he is now SOCIALLY * MATURE -
he is no longer a pup or young adult, he is the equiv of a 21-YO man.
it is not unusual for aggro to occur as he changes in relations -

What are the other dogs? M, F? desexed or intact? How old?

He never shows any interest at all in other dogs. During hunting, he comes across many other dogs, and he completely ignores them.

to sum this dog up, just how is he *great* with the other dogs at home?
he does not sound sociable, he sounds asocial - which is very odd, in dogs.

does he play with the other dogs in the household?
any chasing, wrestling, any interaction? or merely co-exist?

...he shows aggro towards... only certain females. (so far) towards my grandmother, a teenage girl, my friend's mother, and my young neighbor. This included growling and snapping. He luckily has never bit anyone.

what were THEY doing,
what was HE doing,
and what happened Before + After the event?
where did these events occur? same area, same context?
was food present, or a special toy / bone?

did he actually make any contact, or were these air-snaps?
an air-snap is a WARNING - and is very valuable info, as is a growl!
we WANT growls, and air-snaps -- a dog who cannot warn, has no options left but to bite.

if he made no actual contact, then ** Punishing! ** the dog is precisely what U do not want to do. instead, figuring out what made him feel threatened, and working to help him feel comfortable, is where i would be headed. and just in case - i have over 15 years of experience working with human and dog-aggro dogs, including with bite-histories.

He was reprimanded every time he did this (ears pinched and pulled back). He is a very well trained dog as well. I am baffled at why he is showing this aggression. Any help would be much appreciated.

punishing him is not going to help; adding aggression to an already emotionally loaded, tense situation is making it worse, not better.

without being there to see the dogs body-language and what the events were in sequence, there is little that i can add.

i am willing to bet that this dog was trained to retrieve with a forced fetch technique? that alone can make him highly, HIGHLY suspicious and paranoid about anyone approaching or reaching from above his head, whether to pet him, take his collar, clip a lead on, etc (presuming that he had his EAR pinched in the force-fetch lessons).

*Click to Calm* and *Control Unleashed* are both excellent books that treat aggro, reactivity, fears, etc, via DeSensitization and CounterConditioning - DS + CC, or DS/CC, a common pattern of re-training in Behavior Modification.
i would say Click to Calm might suit U better, as there are actual step by step recipes for B-Mod in the back of the book.

if U would like to supply more details, i will try to help here -
but i cannot write a book, LOL.
cheers,
--- terry

[herpguy]

Thanks for all the input everybody. Out of the four incidents, two occured without a family member nearby. The other two involved a family member in very proximity. Also, there were no items of food, toys, etc. present. He did not make any contact, just growling and air snaps.
Leashedforlife, I was originally told that dogs must be kept intact for hunting or else their drive gets taken away, but my research as a result of this behavior shows otherwise. I also am having a hard time finding any conclusive studies saying that aggression is really that much affected by being intact or not. Neutering is definitely an option for me but I don't know if that alone will solve the problem.
Also, I could not bring myself to force-fetch him, it seemed too drastic for me.
In addition, he sometimes plays with my little silky terrier, but with my older lab the extent of their playing is playfully sniffing each other. They do sometimes cuddle though.
He always was on the timid side. When we first got him he really wouldn't come up to us at all. He would come up to us and sniff us and then run away when we tried to pet him. (He's on an invisible fence) he does absolutely love us now though, he always comes up to us and nuzzles us. There is still the fact that it took him a while to warm up to us. With stranger dogs out hunting, he shows almost no interest at all, and when they come up to sniff him he just ignores them and keeps on his way. When dogs walk in front of our house he does run up to the edge of the invisible fence abd stops and points the other dogs.
You say that he should figure things out himself? How exactly can I get him to that without punishing him?
I am very appreciative of your help and if you need any other information please let me know.
Thanks,
-Dave

[leashedForLife]

...of 4 incidents, 2(had no) family member nearby.
The other 2... a family member (was close).
no... food, toys, etc. present.

hey, dave! :--)

for the 2 where a family-member was nearby -
ask for an account of the sequence of events.

try to skip emotional statements; stick to What Happened:
Before The Snap/Growl...
what was the dog doing, where was he re the person,
what was the person doing,
did snappee approach the dog, or dog approach the snappee?
could the dog flee, or not - a leash, fence, room, wall?
JUST Before the growl, what was the dogs body-language?
what was the person doing *right then*?

what did the dog do AFTER the growl/snap?
what did the snappee do?
what did the onlooker do?

He (made no) contact, just growl(s) + air-snaps.

this is actually good behavior in the dog - the first POSITIVE sign that i see, this is excellent! Why? because he still has good bite-inhibition - for whatever reason, he felt threatened, but did NOT Bite - he Warned the person to give him space, that he was worried or scared.
this is good news, much better than i expected! very encouraging...
his bite-inhibition is not broken, it is intact. very hopeful!

for the bad news... :---(
unfortunately, when he tried to communicate i need some distance, this is too scary / close / intense, U read this as an attempted k9-revolt, + punished him pretty-severely, given his very-inhibited display of distancing signals.
after all, the dog did not TOUCH anybody -
he just said in essence, Back-off, i cannot cope here...
and he got whacked for it. so...
as a direct result of being punished 4 times for warnings... do not blame the dog if he is less-inclined to warn, and instead snaps without growling, or bites vs snaps.
i am very serious here, U essentially taught the dog that warnings do not help; asking ppl to give him space does not help; and in fact, warnings get him hurt. So... why should he warn? ~???~


first Big Suggestion:
--------------------------------------
everyone involved with the dog needs to learn to READ dog body-language better, and nobody under 12 to 16-YO should be around the dog solo.
period. ever.
anytime the dog is in the presence of NON-household members, literally anyone that he does not *live with*, a household member should be present, and WATCHING the dog + the interaction... not looking out the window, not reading the paper, not watching the TV, but watching the dog, and observing every interaction.
if they cannot monitor, the dog is not in the area with the visitor.

if the household-member leaves the room, the dog goes with them.
the dog does not remain with the Non-Household person, un-observed.
if they cannot take the dog with them, he goes to a safe place - a crate, a room with a closed door, an outdoor pen... and the Non-Household person(s) does NOT approach, talk to, or interact with the dog in any way.

I was... told that dogs must be kept intact... or else their drive (is gone) but my research... shows otherwise.

yes, that is a myth... precious to men around the world, but a fable.

I (cannot find) any conclusive studies saying that aggro is really that much affected by being intact or not.

the perp-profile for the classic biting dog who bites a person, or fighting dog who gets into fights with other dogs, is an intact M-dog between 9-MO and 2-YO, who is un-trained or has minimal training, little interaction with the owner / family, and who lives in the yard, or on a chain, or in a pen.
statistically, being intact makes a bite to a person 10x more-likely.
if U want stats, i will hunt them up.

Neutering is definitely an option for me but I don't know if that alone will solve the problem.

i never said that neutering alone would solve the problem - only that it stacks the odds in Ur favor, reducing the likelihood of bites across the board, and reducing aggression in general.
if U want some journal-papers on desex vs intact re aggro, i can get them, but so can U - go to Google Scholar, type in

aggression in intact male dogs

.

changing the dogs behavior starts with HUMAN behavior
--------------------------------------------------------------------
the people have to change first.
how he is managed, handled, approached, trained, fed, where he sleeps, who gets to meet him, what the visitors may DO to or with the dog...
all have to be considered, in light of his anxieties + self-protective aggro.

the dog needs to be better-understood by the ppl he lives with, and needs to be Heeded! when he warns ppl - a growl is not to be punished, it is to be LISTENED--TO, and the person stops what they are doing, gives him some space and time, and figures-out a way to address this issue in a way that will NOT upset the dog, or plans a specific Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning program to help the dog become more comfortable with (whatever the upsetting action).

a comprehensive Behavior-Mod program, literally re-training the dog to have new, happy or confident emotional-responses to things that were previously scary or too-intrusive or otherwise negative, would be wonderful...
but that is up to U.
all it takes is good skills at READING the dog, consistently keeping his stress under his reactive threshold, and associating the formerly-aversive stim or circs with positive experiences, so that the dog learns to link X (the former bad-thing) with Y (whatever Good-Things U pair with it).

over time, the dog literally learns a new emotional-association with that once-frightening / over-arousing / un-controllable stim or circs, and S/he is now either able to tolerate it calmly, or preferably even enjoy it.

I could not bring myself to force-fetch him, it seemed too drastic for me.

Good on You! excellent, take a huge round of applause -
IMO had U actually done a forced-fetch on this dog, we would not be having this conversation - as he would not have warned (snap or growl), he would have been so alarmed + defensive, he would have bitten with force - and he would have most-likely been euthanized.
so again... this is excellent news!
i am very encouraged, things have brightened considerably, and there is definite sunshine breaking thru the clouds. thumbs-up!

...he sometimes plays with my Silky Terrier, but with my older Lab (only) playfully sniff() each other. They do sometimes cuddle though.

this is as i suspected, a pretty asocial dog re other dogs...
whether this is due to poor socialization as a pup, leaving dam + sibs too early, some bad early experience with dogs who were rough or overwhelming for a soft or shy pup, i cannot say.
but his dogplay-skills + dog-social-skills are very under-developed, and being around non-family dogs is probably not enjoyable for him; it is just another stress.

U did not mention the age + gender of the other dogs -
-------------------------------------------------------------------
are they intact, M or F, and how old?
have either of them had any training?
what cued behaviors do they know?
do all 3 dogs sleep in the house at night?
do they come indoors to spend time with the family?
or are all 3 exclusively outside-dogs?


do they have activities with ppl? - leashed walks, training games, play like Tug-Of-Peace, fetch games, on-leash jogging or trotting beside a bike, sharing time in the living-room in front of the TV with dogs getting training + fun in the commercials?
(yes, that is a serious Q - a 2-hour movie has 40-minutes of commercials, that is 20 opportunities to train the dog, and short, happy repetitions are the most-efficient and best-retained lessons of all.)

do they have activities with other dogs?
off-leash runs and play with non-household dogs in a safe confined-area (dogpark, tennis-court, someone elses fenced-yard, another house) ?

He always was on the timid side. When we first got him he really wouldn't come up to us at all. He would come up to us and sniff us and then run away when we tried to pet him. (He's on an invisible fence)

BINGO - this is a fearful dog; shy, anxious, whatever U wanna call it.
how old was he when U got him? where did he come from?
i would also suggest scrapping the shock-fence; shock in any form is strongly associated with aggression, aggro is the single most-common un-intended side-effect or after-effect of the use of shock.
whether it is a so-called remote-training collar, a shock-fence or an anti-bark shock-collar, all of them vastly increase the odds of bites to ppl, or fights with other dogs, whether in-house dogs or non-household dogs.

if U want info on shock + risks including aggro, go to
Truly Dog Friendly About Truly Dog Friendly

the links on the lower-right also include good training-tips.

for more info on shock + dogs:
Say No to Shock Collars

if U cannot afford a hard-fence, an overhead trolley with a drop-line is a safe alternative; if the Lab and the Silky are not such soft or anxious dogs as he is, AND they are safely-confined by the shock-fence, then they MAY - i stress *may* - be able to cope with the shock-fence.

but i would strongly advocate permanently-retiring the shock-collar on the Pointer, immediately.

i had to split my reply - i will post Part II.
--- terry

[leashedForLife]

...he does absolutely love us... comes... and nuzzles...
it took him a while to warm up...

wonderful! good, that is a hopeful thing.

With stranger dogs (when) hunting, he shows almost no interest... when they come up to sniff... he... ignores them and keeps on his way.

definitely unusual behavior, but without seeing the Pointer during this non-encounter / non-reaction, its hard to say if he is more-engrossed in hunting than interested in the dogs, or if hes un-comfortable- worried or scared by them, + simply avoids or ignores them, displacing worry into hunting.

When dogs walk in front of our house he... run(s) to the edge of the invisible fence and... points the other dogs.

this MAY shape his behavior toward non-family dogs; IF he gets either warning-beeps or actual shocks when he approaches, this can create serious defensive aggro toward other dogs - ALL other dogs.

the scenario works like this:
he sees another dog, and is curious -
dogs are normally social, and enjoy meeting, greeting + dog-play. he approaches the shock-fence, gets a beep (about to be zapped, watch out!) or a shock (i see a dog, i approach with no aggro-intent, i get HURT!...)
he has to BLAME someone or something for being hurt - the other dog is the obvious suspect, since when a dog shows-up, all he has to do is walk near them, and WHAM! zzzap!

by associating the presence of other dogs with either fear (beep = expectation of pain) or actual pain (the shock), or the AREA where he has been shocked in the past -- the edge of the yard...

we thus prime the dog to react with PRO-active aggro, to make the other dogs move away, and prevent any more fear (beeps), pain (shocks), or reduce his anxiety (get them and him away from the shock-area).

this could be why he has no interest whatever in other dogs while hunting - he expects to be zapped if he approaches or interacts-with other dogs.


Q -
was he shock-trained for hunting?
if so, there are 3 possible scenarios re shock-training -

A: shock was used by a PRO to PROOF
-------------------------------------------------------------
he already hunted very well; shock ONLY punished non-compliance in a well-known, rehearsed and enthusiastic cued-behavior: hunting.
this is the least-aversive scenario, but accuracy in timing, limited use of shock, and potent use of rewards - opps to hunt + fetch, praise, enjoyment of the process - is still required, and aggression can still be a subsequent effect of the use of shock, even as a PROOFING tool.


B: shock was used by a PRO **to TRAIN**
------------------------------------------------------------
a worse scenario -
shock used to INSTALL behavior, often from day-1 and lesson-1; not merely to tell the dog, U *must* do what U already KNOW how to do, but to PUNISH the dog into correct behavior from ignorance...
IMO an oxymoronic way to teach or train.

the risk of subsequent aggro is much-higher - especially if the PRO was inaccurate, did not minimize shock, and did not put many possible POSITIVE experiences in training, to help counter-balance zaps for innocent errors.


C: shock was used by a NON-Pro to PROOF
------------------------------------------------------
the dog already knew how to hunt, did it well, and was only PUNISHED for non-performance of something they enjoyed + were very good at, even before Shock! was used.

this has a higher-risk of fallout than with pros, but with luck and good, happy experiences in the learning process, prior and DURING proofing, the dog MAY escape without a lot of damage.

however, accuracy of the app of shock, using it minimally, and making sure more happy events than un-happy events are in each session, still apply.

this has a larger risk of aggro subsequent; how risky depends entirely on the skill of the handler operating the remote. (shrug)


D: shock used by a NON-Pro to **TRAIN**
-----------------------------------------------------
actually installing behavior in a naive dog, hunting from instinct only, and who has no idea what the H*** they are doing.

the dog is being =taught= i use the term loosely :---( to hunt, with little prior opportunity to attempt it,
and they are being zapped for wrong performance - which as they are not practiced or fluent,
s pretty much guaranteed to come up.
this is patently unfair, with a vast likelihood of major fallout.

a dog who does not know what is expected, with limited prior experience in hunting or fetch, will make many-more mistakes than a dog with many chances to practice hunting + fetch...
so that dog will be PUNISHED much-more than the experienced dog.

to make matters worse, the dog is being *taught* by a Non-Pro - who can be PREDICTED
to make more mistakes in timing, application, intensity and duration of the shock / punishment.

this 4th version has the Worst-Possible potential for serious aggro and other un-planned, un-intended consequences, and is a very high-risk.

AGGRO subsequent to the use of shock can arise up to Two-Years after the use of shock has actually stopped; dogs have long memories. the past association of pain with specific scenarios, can trigger defensive bites or aggro in those formerly-associated contexts.

so the approach of a non-family dog to the yard, or worse, the INVASION of the yard by a non-family dog, can trigger extreme aggro in the resident-dog, who has a long history of being beeped (threatened) or shocked (punished + hurt) when non-family dogs approached the yard, and the resident-dog approached the boundary.

You say that he should figure things out himself?

i think i actually said that You, the adult family-members, need to figure-out WHAT precisely is scaring / worrying / threatening to him, and begin a DS/CC program of B-Mod to get him more-comfy with that stim, setting, or scenario.

How exactly can I get him to that without punishing him?

the book *Click to Calm* is an excellent resource -
buy or borrow it (Inter-library loan?). this has actual STEP-by-STEP protocols for B-Mod in the back of the book; real training plans, ready to use.

the Yahoo-Group == shy-k9s == is an excellent source of support and has archives, links, and files on their web-pages; i would suggest joining, read a LOT of the archives, learn about thresholds, triggers, distance and other criteria of exposure, and read in the files and links.
many, many ppl in shy-k9s are dealing with the same set of behavioral + emotional responses in their dogs; they are empathic + supportive.

the website FEARFULDOGS.COM is a wealth of info.

the book *Help for Ur Shy Dog* is an excellent, cheap, overall text.
at $12 brand-new, it is a gold-mine; i would buy it and read it cover to cover. used copies are often available on Libris or Amazon.

Turiid Rugaas and Barb Handelman have websites with fantastic photos of dog body-language; without a solid understanding of what this tail action or angle says about the dogs emotional state and intention, U are not going to be able to begin B-mod. ears, posture, body-tension, mouth open vs mouth closed, panting (stress, excitement panic?), HOLDING their breath, freezing, etc, are all invaluable telltales of how the dog is FEELING in this moment.

U cannot dictate how the dog feels - but U can empathize, re-direct, reduce stress, associate Good Things (treats, play, non-threatening touch...) with formerly negative experiences, etc.

dogs have remarkably plastic behavior - they are capable of huge change.
please do not write-off the dog, who after all was only WARNING the person,
i cannot cope with what U are doing - please stop that,
and back-off, i do not want to bite!

he did his best to communicate - it is up to us big-brained humans with opposable thumbs to do no less, communicate that we do not intend to harm, and help him to be more comfortable with whatever his fears / worries might be.

REMEMBER -consequences- drive behavior; was it rewarded or not?
anything REWARDED tends to be repeated; anything NOT rewarded tends to self-extinguish.
(barking is a self-rewarding behavior; so is escape!)

...if you need any other info please let me know.

see the Qs above, plus ? which humans LIVE in the house?

i think there is every chance that in 4 to 6-mos, U can have a happier, more relaxed, more-interactive and sociable dog, less stressed by non-family folks near him, and more confident overall.
unfortunately, there IS a heritable strain of fear / shyness in Pointers, so he probably will not be a really happy-go-lucky dog, even with massive b-Mod - but he can become much happier and less anxious, even so!


have patience, go at the dogs speed, and progress is assured; do not try to hustle, the faster U go, the behinder U will get, as the dog will be too stressed to learn. many short, happy, successful reps are WAY more powerful + effective lessons, vs any ineffective + stressful marathons.

let me know if U need a referral to a good pos-R local trainer or behaviorist - i will do my best to find someone less than an hour away, with credentials.

special note:
please do NOT use any Cesar-Millan type or other dominance techniques, or the misconstrued wolf-pack stuff that was popularized 20 to 30 years ago; such methods are enormously stressful and confrontational, and have a huge risk of intensification of aggro + escalating dangerous behavior.

try to re-cast every UN-wanted behavior in terms of, What do i WANT instead?
skip punishment, teach desired behaviors + reward them.
MANAGEMENT is key, do not expect off-leash compliance until the dog has been well-taught and well-proofed.

i will await further info; Happy B-Mod!
--- terry

[herpguy]

Wow Terry,
I really appreciate the time and effort that you put into helping me to solve this problem.
To answer your questions:
For the scenarios of aggression, for 2 of the incidents, where no family member was present, I am not sure what exactly happened, but I think what happened is that he went up to the people and started growling at them. For the episode with the teenage girl, she went to pet him, and he growled and air snapped. She pulled away. His ears were pulled this time. He then ran away. As for the last time, with the young girl, he was at first walking around the neighbor, showing interest, then he seemed like he was going up to sniff, and then he started growling. After he was shooed away he then came back and was snarling. Her father picked her up quickly. At this point he was dragged into his cage.

do they have activities with ppl?
The dog here comes up and nuzzles with family members a lot. When other people come over he usually picks one person that he stays with the whole time. We also play fetch with him fairly often.

do they have activities with other dogs?
He really only has opportunities to play with our two dogs. A twelve year old chocolate lab/irish setter, and a 7 year old silky terrier. They are both very healthy, active dogs. They really don't play as much as simply sniffing and cuddling.

how old was he when U got him? where did he come from?
He was about 6 months old when we got him, so a little older than we usually get dogs. He was bought at a reputable local pointer kennel. Honestly though I could tell that before we got him he really wasn't socialized much with humans, though he was kept with a brother.

was he shock-trained for hunting?
He is a very strong-willed dog, and therefore he was hard to train. When hunting, he would range out way too far, so the only way to reach him was with a shock collar. Besides that, it really was only used as punishment for behavior.

Another thing that I might add as well is that he loves attention from members of the family. He always comes up to us and will just sit there and wag his tail while we pet him.

Again thanks a lot Terry for your help thus far.
-Dave

[leashedForLife]

I really appreciate the time and effort that you put into helping me to solve this problem.

hey, dog-owner! :--)

i expect You to expend *More* time + effort -
after all, he is not my dog - realistically, U have more emotional investment in him, or ought to have.

Step one is finding a competent pos-R trainer near U, or if there are NONE, getting one of the books -
Preferably TWO, Help for Ur Shy Dog, AND Click To Calm - and beginning the B-Mod protocol in the back of the book. thats $12 + S+H for the 1st book brand-new, plus Interlibrary loan and maybe $3 postage for borrowing the 2nd - certainly affordable.

if U buy help for Ur shy dog USED, U can get it for as little as $3.

...for 2 of the incidents, where no family member was present, I am not sure what exactly happened, but I think what happened...

Whoops!
stop right there - either U KNOW what happened, or U are speculating. speculation is IMO worse than useless; positing that the dog was DELIBERATELY aggro is what got us here, after all - he is AFRAID, not consciously choosing to be VICIOUS - but scared. no more speculation - U do not know; leave it at that.

For the episode with the teenage girl, she went to pet him, and he growled and air snapped. She pulled away. His ears were pulled this time. He then ran away.

as i said before - punishing Warnings only gets rid of warnings -
U need to be aware of the dogs FEELINGS before he is pushed into any confrontations like this; if the teen-girl was savvy about dogs and dog body-lingo she would not have triggered the snap - since she would have STOPPED her own escalating approach before he had to do that.

pulling his ears in retrospect only associated pain with what was already a frightening experience; this does not advance the cause. he was scared of the girl; he warned her to stop - and air-snap is a warning, NOT a threat - and then he was hurt for it. not a good sequence, and a bad lesson.

...with the young girl, he was at first walking around the neighbor, showing interest, then he seemed like he was going up to sniff, and then he started growling. After he was shooed away he then came back and was snarling. Her father picked her up quickly. At this point he was dragged into his cage.

if U are going to introduce him to any non-family, i would have him on-leash; if he is unwilling to approach them, or seems uncomfortable (tail down, head down, avoids eye contact, etc), then just ask him to SIT behind + beside U as a mere witness to a friendly interchange between U and the visitor(s) - and do NOT allow any direct contact, in those cases. he is just there to see that these ppl are not threats - them TOUCHING him is too intrusive. notice that i said ASK him to sit - he is scared, his reaction to them already indicates that; SITTING is vulnerable, he may not be able to SIT in their presence.

in that case, get him behind U, so he has some social distance, and LET him stand... if + when he relaxes a bit, he will sit on his own.
REWARD him simply for being there, and NOT bolting - anything calm + standing his ground is hard work, he DESERVES a reward, and NEEDS a positive association with non-family.

do not be cheap about it - skinless chicken-breast in 1/8th inch to 1/4th inch cubes are the LOWEST value treat that i would be using here; my preference would be some real training-caviar, like WELLNESS venison chips (Mother Hubbard) - i cut each chip into 8 to 12 pieces before i start handing them out, and dogs will STILL work for them!
that is an approx 1/8th inch square by 1/16th inch THICK -
so U know it has GOT to be good stuff, if such small pieces are valuable.

He was about 6-MO when we got him... (from) a reputable local pointer kennel...
I could tell that before we got him he really wasn't socialized much with humans, though he was kept with a brother.

that explains a lot -
he was kennel-reared + kennel-kept, with minimal socialization.
since U knew that he was not socialized with humans + was fearful, WHY did U wait until now to decide that something needed to be done?

waiting until he snapped or bit, and then blaming the dog for the circs he was forced to deal with, seems IMO to be punishing the wrong party.
a B-Mod program begun when U brought him home, could have avoided all of this drama, and made him much more comfortable with ppl in general.

He is a very strong-willed dog, and therefore he was hard to train. When hunting, he would range out way too far, so the only way to reach him was with a shock collar.

PLEASE do not insult my intelligence by saying SHOCK was the only way to reach him - trainers were still training rangy dogs ** Before ** shock collars were ever invented.
a long-line would have accomplished the result - WITHOUT the concomittent RISK * OF * AGGRO that is well-known as a side-effect of shock.

U have not even mentioned *removing the shock-collar for the underground fence * -
which i presume means that U intend to keep using it.
in which case, i quit; the dog will continue to be punished if he approaches the yard-boundary to meet other non-family dogs, or when ppl push him TOWARD the shock-fence...
tell me, where WAS the dog when he snapped at the teen? NEAR THE FENCE boundary?
any chance he may have been ZAPPED by the collar, for violating the boundary as she approached him and he moved away?

i can confidently predict that the dog will continue to fear ppl, and his DEFENSIVE behavior will escalate, so long as the shock fence is in use.
and so long as no real B-Mod is undertaken, he will continue to fear ppl;
sooner or later, the dog will feel so threatened that he will be FORCED to bite, with force -
and then a person will be hurt, and the dog will be dead.

there is nothing more that i can do from here - it is up to U.
i repeat - i believe that RETIRING the shock-collar for the zap-fence is imperative, in order to allow this fearful dog to relax for effective B-Mod.

take care,
--- terry