Scared or Protective

Question
I have an almost 11 mos. old female german shepherd, when ever she sees some she doesn't recognize she immediately backs up and sits on my feet and "alerts" on them, other times when we are in our front yard and there are people around she KNOWS she will stand between them and myself and will actually lean into me.  Is this insecurity on her part or something else?

Answer
I think she is taking on too much responsibility for the pack.  She needs to understand it is your job to control those people.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm