maltese aggresion

Question
PLEASE HELP, I have a very loving and sweet female (spayed) maltese. She is good with my young children and myself. The problem arose when my husband just resently returned from Iraq. She seems to be very scared of him and has attempted to nip, possibly bite him. He has given her treats and talks softly to her as well as petting her while I hold her. She won't allow him to her unless i have her, even then she is very uncomfortable. She sees him with our other dogs who love him dearly.I know it's only been a few day's but her aggresion is very scary. what can we do to help her accept him as family like she has us. Also she is shy in town , I have taken her out weekly since she 4 months old. That is when she came to live with us.She has also been aggressive toward the male vet. I changed to a female and she is better. The groomer say's she is no trouble. Any help would be appriciated, I love her so much, but my husband can hardly sit next to me without hearing a growl or threatening bark.

Answer
Your dog is afraid of men FOR A REASON, and we don't know what that reason is.  It could be many things (mishandling by the puppy mill breeder as the Maltese is a huge puppy mill product, mishandling by a male groomer, a male vet, all before you got her).  Please reassure your husband that this dog does not hate or fear HIM, it's his sex!  And thank him for me for his service to our country!

Give this dog some time; if she shows any aggression toward your husband while she is on your lap, stand up and walk away from her; if she shows any aggression when in your presence, turn your back to her.  DO NOT force her to accept petting from him while you hold her, this is subjecting her to the feared object (a man.)  It will only make it worse.  Your husband should ignore any and all growling, barking, etc. and go on with his normal behavior toward you and the other dogs.  He should not back away nor should he confront, simply stay where he is and ignore it (you don't want her to learn any more about aggression because he withdraws.)  It may take some time (possibly months) for her to accept him without fear.  Please do as I have suggested for the next two weeks and then REPOST (remind me of the original problem) with any improvement; if it should get WORSE, repost immediately.  What we do NOT want is this dog to develop any active fear aggression (actual biting).  Dogs learn from observing one another; it's quite possible that, not being forced to interact with your husband while seeing the other dogs freely doing so will, all by itself, help her to feel more comfortable.  Whatever fear response she has acquired toward men is STRONG and only time and patience will help adjust it.  there are things we can do to hurry this along, but right now I'd just like you to follow the above given advice and then report back.