Old dog biting

Question
I have a 12yr old dalmatian, that is biting children who visit.  She never has liked men, and has chased the mailman, UPS man, etc.  Now when children come over she bites them, but doesn't break the skin.  Yesterday a neighbor girl came over and quietly got off her bike and stood outside the garage door, and the dog just flew at her and acted like she was going to eat her.  If I hadn't seen it from the kitchen I wouldn't have believed my dog could be so vicious. It left a couple of slight red scratches that didn't break the skin at all.  I scolded the dog and gave her a couple of slaps on the rump.
 We got the dog at 6 weeks, and never trained her.  She has always been hyper.  She is a female, and not spayed.  I think she is also getting hard of hearing, but otherwise very healthy and energetic.
 Other than locking her in the garage(One of my kids always lets her out by accident) what can I do to stop her from biting people.

Answer
Hi Lisa,

This is a hard question to answer.   Even at the age of 12, I think it may still be a good idea to take her to training classes.  It would help her interact with different people - men and children included.  They have group classes at Petsmart but I think you may need to go to a more specialized trainer.  

Many dogs will chase the UPS man, mailman, etc --- and it is the owners responsibility to ensure the dog is secure so they can't do this.  She sees them as intruders and this does not concern me as much as it does with her going after the children. It is very very common.  This one can surely be prevented by keeping her secure.  

I would definitely keep this dog crated or in another room in the house where your child would not let her out by accident when you have visiting children for now.  It sounds like an accident is likely to happen if this continues and for everyone's sake, it can hopefully be prevented.  

If training is not something that seems like an option to you, I would work at socializing her by taking her for lots and lots of leash walks and have people approach her.

If you think she is hard of hearing, which I understand is common in dalmations, she may be reacting out of fear.  She may feel that the people are sneaking up on her since she doesn't hear them coming from far away as a normal dog would.     With the children you know well who visit, maybe they could clap loudly or call her name when they approach to be sure she isn't startled.  I'm sure that is easier said than done.

I hope something I said will help you a little.