On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:58:44 -0600 (CST) K.B. Cunningham whittled these words:

A brief history. I got her as a pup, and she was the runt of the
litter. All the other puppies ran to me, jumping on me; etc, except for
Holly. She was very timid, and was slinking at the back of the pen. I
could tell that she wanted to approach, but was very apprehensive..
Anyhow, I could relate to her, and she was the one I chose.

So she has basic fears to start with

I have a huge fenced in yard, so she made herself at home, and we
quickly bonded. I'd just gotten divorced a couple of years prior to her
arrival, so I was pretty much the only regular human contact she had for
awhile.

And you did nothing to try to moderate those fears by gently exposing her
and helping her develop coping skills.

She never was a "people" dog, and would not approach anyone who
entered the yard even if I accompanied them. She'd bark at the meter
reader, but never got too close to him, staying at the back of the yard.

And you let her practice and cement fearful behavior.

Holly loves to play frisbee, and after I noticed her limping
periodically; I took her to the vet. He diagnosed her with a partially
torn ACL, and recommended confining her indoors, to see if it would heal
on its own.

OK, now to the problem. Holly had been in the house for very brief
periods in the past. In fact, she seemed to relish it; and I'd have to
literally drag her outside.

Of course she relished it. She's of a breed that was created and designed
to work with humans.

She's been pretty much an indoor dog for
the past couple of weeks, and she's been really good; no accidents, no
digging in the trash; but now she's developed a biting habit. I first
noticed it when I had a coworker over for dinner. She basically just
snuck underneath the table, and nipped him on the leg as he was eating.
No threatening gestures on his part, no growling or defensive behavior
on hers.

Typical of fearful behavior.

My girlfriend, who I THOUGHT that Holly had grown to accept
was the latest victim. A few days earlier, Holly had been all over her,
relishing her affection. Yesterday, my girlfriend had just gotten here,
and was standing at the front door, Holly approached her, and bit her
twice on the leg.

I'm assuming that she's developed a sense of territorialism, inside my
house; and is thus acting accordingly.

Not being terrirorial. She has just never learned to cope with other
people.

I can't have her biting people,
but I don't want to put her back into the fence until I've given her
leg a chance to heal. Most dogs that I've known about biting someone,
gave some indication of their intent, but Holly's approach is very
subtle.

What should I do when she bites, scold her, or swat her with newspaper?

Scold yourself for setting her up for failure. She's fearful. SColding
and swating will make her worse, not better.

I don't want her to be that no one can care for her when I go on
vacations etc. As I stated, I thought my friend had successfuly bonded
with her; in fact, she'd taken care of Holly when I've been out of town
in the past, with no problems.

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

With the help of a skilled trainer or behaviorist you can come up with a
program that will keep her manageable. You aren't going to change her
basic nature. Had you worked with her earlier you might have bade a
bigger improvement than is likely now. In the meanwhile be fair to her -
don't put her in a position where she can bite someone. Either control
her on leash or put her ina another room and close the door.

Diane Blackman