Timid/scared of people

Question
Let me start out by saying I work as a receptionist at a vet clinic. We had a breeder come in saying that she wanted to put down a 9 month old AKC registered Siberian Husky because she failed her eye exam and was not breeding material. Needless to say, I decided to give her a second chance. I had her spayed, vaccinated, chipped, and treated with revolution the following Monday.

She is a fantastic dog, but she is afraid of almost all people. When I first got her, she was terrified of mostly everything. We have worked on it by praising, so now she is able to walk comfortably through doorways without cowering and her tail tucked. She loved to ride in the truck with me, and acts like a normal 9 month old puppy at home.

However, when I take her to the clinic with me, if another person is spotted, the tail tucks and she begins to cower. We have enrolled her in classes at Petsmart to work on her socialization, but she doesn't walk when she is scared of all the people in the store and cowers on the ground like everyone is going to grab a stick at the same time and beat her senseless.

I talked to the breeder, and all the older adults are very sociable, as well as the puppies, but the ones in her age range act around the same, scared of all people!! Is there anything I can do to help her problem besides the socialization classes and just taking her everywhere with me (which she loves to go, but doesn't like the people). I have only had her for a little over a week, but I just want to work on making her happy around people and not so stressed out. I know it may take a while, so any advice would be helpful!

Answer
It sounds as if you're trying all the right things, but IMO, Petsmart may not be your best bet if the training is traditional on-leash using corrections.  The last thing I like to see is a scared dog being corrected for something in the presence of a trigger that frightens them.  So, if that is the case, you may want to switch classes to something more positive.  With shy dogs, I like to have the dog make the first move when in close proximity to people, but I go one step further, and play a game I call (not my own invention, maybe Trish McConnell, can't remember at the moment) "open bar - closed bar".  At any rate, the object is to feed the dog many tiny bits of meat upon the approach of a human.  (Dog does NOT interact with the person at this point.) The millisecond that the person goes out of sight, the bar closes - no more food.  All you are trying to do is change the dog's emotional response to the sight of people.  Make sure that the food you use is really high value, and that you don't place her so close to people that she is too anxious to eat it.  My guess is that if the breeder is telling you the truth, this will pass.  But, there's no harm in doing the conditioning anyway.  I would not force people on her, rather, tell them to toss a treat onto the ground where she can reach it.  She should soon look forward to being approached by those "slot machines".