First bite...

Get a GOOD trainer or a behaviorist to eval your dog in your home.  As a stranger, he/she should see the behavior your dog exhibits.  Without a lot of info, this sounds generally like a fear-biter.  But I'm not a behaviorist, never seen your dog, so I have no idea.  You need a pro trainer, in-person to eval, imo.  Go to [linkhttp://www.dogpro.org]www.dogpro.org[/link] and you can find a good one in your area.

I've seen dogs get a LOT more protective when their "mom" is pregnant -- when my kid sis got pregnant, her goofy black shepherd, who we used to joke would take burglers to the silverware and kiss them while they wrapped it up, suddenly started growling at strangers when they came in the house...once, when she was upstairs sleeping and one of my bro-in-law's friendss went to go up to the bathroom, the dog actually stood at the top of the steps barring his way, snarling. And she'd met this guy before and had gotten along fine with him.

So yes, her pregnancy could have something to do with it. Dogs seem to sense that there is a change, or a vulnerability, and they often react by becoming more protective. The problem is, once the baby is born, the dog may well get even MORE protective. My sister's dog would place herself between all strangers and the baby and would not allow anyone to get close who wasn't family, unless my sister physically handed the baby to that person in the dog's sight.

Thankfully, the dog had been trained previous to this, and with a few refresher lessons, we were able to fix the problem.

Protective behavior isn't uncommon, but biting is never acceptable, and you need to act NOW before this behavior accelerates. You need more than just some basic obedience, you need a good trainer who will help to ensure you have total control of your dog. Your dog doesn't have to like everyone who comes to visit, but YOU get to decide who can and can't go in the house, not the dog, and the dog needs to defer to you on this. A good trainer will help you with this; in the meanwhile, you might want to crate the dog or confine the dog to a separate part of the house when people come visit.

If the dog nipped him once, she shouldn't have been given a second opportunity. The more times a dog bites someone, the faster the dog will skip right over the growling to this behavior, so you need to nip this in the bud by removing the opportunity for it to happen again until you've worked with a trainer or behaviorist.

If you're seeing other behaviors that seem out of character, a vet trip could be in order, though it sounds like your dog is reacting to the pregnancy, and has taken it in her head that she is now in charge of deciding who can/can't visit.

Get the dog back to class before the baby is born -- you want to get good control over your dog before the baby is brought into the house, or the overly protective behavior will likely be magnified by the new baby.

Good luck with it!

Jan

Thanks for the info thus far...

Something we really hadn't considered was that we are completely redoing the flooring in our house....so the father-in-law was operating air guns, mider saws, etc. Lots of loud, uncommon noises. We thought we had put the dogs into a separate room but the door wasn't completely closed. Also, the house is in near-total disarray....and a few handlers have mentioned that the dog may be viewing this work as an attack on her territory. So, we can see some of these as extenuating circumstances that pushed the "uncomfortable" limit.

Still, biting is NOT acceptable...afterwards we took the dogs to out mothers' house, where they seemed far less agitated. They played completely fine with my nephews, mother, sister, etc. It was like a night-and-day difference. She was back to her "normal" behavior. We do believe she is uncomfortable around tall, deep-voiced men...but not always. She was a rescue, so she may have been abused by similar men.

We have limited funds available; are there any books or other media that can help us re-train our dog?

Also, should be try to invest in a behaviorist or a trainer? Any difference?
Should we get her a muzzle?


Thanks,
k

I think you should simply confine your dog when there are strangers, or "scary people" about.  The problem for you will come when your as yet unborn child begins to invite the neighborhood kids over.  Dogs that bite children get PTS pretty quickly.  If you start now, you may be able to give this dog  more confidence.  Get a copy of "The Cautious Canine" by Patricia McConnell.  Also, enroll her in class with a good positive reinforcement trainer.  You can find one at www.apdt.com.  BTW, dogs that nip from behind are often from the herding group, or are just fearful dogs that are trying to get the "thing" to go away a bit faster.  They sense that you are not protecting them, so they must do the job themselves - not what you want them to believe.  Enrolling in class, and learning the language of leadership (notice I did not mention "dominance"!!!) will help your dog to feel more confident in *you*, and thus learn to rely on you to prevent harm from coming her way.  After you take her to a couple of classes as a refresher, you may want to take agility lessons - I find that it's a great confidence builder for the dogs - and it's a lot of fun for the humans.
Changes in pack life (pregnancies, renovations, moving, divorce) are all very stressful to a fearful or sensitive dog.  Do your best to minimize the impact to her.  Also, get some tapes, and start *now* to desensitize her to the noises babies make.  In a dog's mind, children and babies are not the same beings.  Great books for prospective parents:
"Raising Puppies and Kids Together"  and "Childproofing Your Dog".

If someone unexpectedly drove up to your house with a bulldozer and started up-ending your environment, you'd be confused and defensive, too.  Don't set her up to fail - get professional input to help her acclimate to these changes.  Your MIL's environment isn't in upheaval, hence it was easier to just settle in and enjoy herself.
 
If you're worried about money, remember that a good, results-oriented trainer is cheaper than a lawyer when your dog bites, or your family members need plastic surgery.  Many good trainers (particularly from dogpro.org) will allow for a free assessment of your dog.  Call around to them.  Particularly where you have a baby on the way, you need to stop this from escalating, which means you need results faster than if you'd addressed this earlier in her life.

We're in the process of contacting some trainers, and we're keeping the pups away while the house is being worked on...reduce the stress, and all.

We're also getting some tapes of baby noises to help with the transition in the coming months, so they can acclimate to the unexpected.

Also, I'd love to know any links where we can search for different trainers in our area!

Thanks,
k