Scared German Shepherd

Question
I have a six month old german shepherd bitch.  she has always been scared of children (hiding behind my legs and barking), i am slowly getting her over this by introducing children with treats.  she has now become scared of all people she doesnt see on a regular basis and strangers. again she hides behind my legs on walks and jumps at the slightest noise.  have you any advice on how i can get her over this please?

Answer
Keep up what you are doing.  It is quite normal for dogs to go through fear stages although often it is earlier at about 4 months.  Work at building her confidence.  Start with obedience training.  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/  As you praise the dog for following your commands, it will build its confidence.  

Play tug of war with the dog and lose.  However at the end of the game, take the rope or toy and put it up, less the dog becomes confused about who is top dog.  Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds.   Ones I made  lasted much better.   Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the foot.  Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope. Melt the ends, and tie  knots in it.   Get them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer.  Watch carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart.

Finally, make sure it has a den to live in.  If you are not using a crate, buy one.  The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house.  It relaxes, it feels safe in its den.  It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self.  Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.  Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open.  I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling.  Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew.  Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate.  Praise it for going
in.  Feed it in the crate.  This is also an easy way to maintain order at
feeding time for more than one dog.

How you react to children and strangers will be even more important as you become established as leader.  She should take her lead from you.  Control your emotions.  You can't hide your stress from your dog.  It will only confirm they are to be feared.  Greet the people as warmly as is appropriate.  Keep up a happy chatter.  Don't coddle her, it only rewards her for showing fear.  

Let the breeder know about the problem.  Quite likely it comes from poor breeding or failure to expose the puppies to children and other strangers before they are 12 weeks old.  I see many questions here on breeding dogs from those without a clue on how to breed dogs.  After a dog is 12 weeks old, it is much more difficult to undo the harm from poor socialization.