Shepherd behavior

Question
We have just adopted a Sherherd mix from SOS-PENPALS. She was in a litter of 8 found in a cardboard box by a dumpter I believe at 8 weeks old. They all had good dispositions except one that was very shy. They suspect they are mixed with a shorted-legged bread like Corgi since 4 of them have short legs. Ours, a female, 4 months old, has been with us 24 hours, and we need advice. She growls softly at a couple of our children sometimes when they aproach her. We have a 6.5 year old male nuetered Lab/Retriever mix and three spayed cats that she has already bonded with. She likes to play with the cats and shares her bowl with the dog. I don't want her to have aggresive behavoir since we often have friends over. What steps can we take starting now to overcome this? Can you recommend any good books or websites to help us?  

Answer
HI AMY
THE LITTLE ONE IS FRIGHTENED TO DEATH, IT HAS THE ONLY DEFENSE OF GROWLING AND BARING TEETH.  DOGS WERE NOT BLESSED WITH CLAWS, FANGS, ETC.
THEY FEEL SCARED SO THEY LOWLY GROWL TO FEEL IT IS PROTECTING ITSELF.  JUST GIVE THIS PUPPY TONS OF HUGS, PATS ON THE HEAD AND BACK, WHEN FEEDING IT, MAKE YOUR HANDS PART OF THE DISH AND FOOD, RUB ITS FACE, PLAY IN THE FOOD, LET IT KNOW YOUR NOT GOING TO TAKE IT BUT THAT IT NEED NOT FEAR OF LOOSING THE FOOD BY HUMAN HANDS AND FINGERS.
GO TO WWW.DOGSBESTFRIEND.COM, BUY EITHER THE BOOK OR VIDEO ON HOW TO RAISE A NEW PUPPY BY THE MONKS OF NEW SKETE, IT IS ALSO ON MY SITE ON FAVORITE LINKS PAGE.  THEY ARE WONDERFUL IN TRAINING POSITEVELY AND USING GOOD OBEDIENCE IN RAISING THE PUPPY RIGHT.  I RECOMMEND THEM HIGHLY AND MY TRAINER FOLLOWS THEIR FOOTSTEPS ALSO.

WARM REGARDS
JOJO
WWW.SCHREKNHAUS.COM
IF U NEED FURTHER HELP, LET ME KNOW.