8 month golden retreiver

Question
Hi,
I have an 8 month old Female Golden Retriever named Jasmine. My question is whenever she sees someone that she doesn't know she starts to bark and makes this funny noise (its not a growling noise because I have never seen her teeth when she has done this). Her tail is not wagging at this time either. This concerns me because all of the reading and researching I have done say that they are very friendly dogs even to people they don't know. Her bark is very loud and intimidating and I can see that it scares people. This becomes a problem when we are out walking or someone comes to the door she will continue to bark.  Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way to control this? Once she knows you, she is great. Its just getting the barking out of the way. Besides this she is excellent in all other aspects. Thanks, Linda

Answer
If you are in charge, then she shouldn't need to bark. 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

Having people give her treats may help too.