I don't think I have been pushing him at all. Since we got Brody in February, we have had a grand total of 6, count 'em, 6, visitors to the house. (Three of those have been the same person on different occasions). That means people who have come all the way inside and stayed more than a couple of minutes. The two who got bitten were just coming to the door, one was outside the gate, the other had just put her foot inside. Neither of them was trying to pet Brody, the one girl was letting him sniff her hand. When strangers come to the door, ie, salesmen, Jehovah's Witnesses, neighbors telling us our headlights are on, the homeless guy collecting bottles, etc. I usually put Brody in his crate for the safety of the stranger as I am usually the one to answer the door and can't hold him back at the same time. The layout of our house wouldn't suit the use of a baby gate or ex-pen. Yesterday a friend of my daughter's (who has met Brody 3 times) needed to come inside to change her clothes, so I took Brody to an upstairs room and closed the door. He still barked at the sound of her voice, but he would take food and lie down.
When he met my parents the other day, he was totally in control of distance. He didn't pull on the leash, I kept it loose, but just let him move toward them as HE initiated. My dad just sat in the car, looking straight ahead, chatting quietly, and lowered his hand so Brody could approach, which he did. When he wanted to back off, I let him. When he wanted to move forward, I let him. He was mostly relaxed, but cautious. My little daughter and I were nervous, but the leash was slack, and we just carried on a quiet conversation the whole time, giving Brody treats and verbal praise for any movements toward Grandpa. ON HIS OWN, Brody moved close enough to sniff his hand, then his lower arm and eventually gave a couple of licks. We didn't over-react in our excitement, just treats and happy "good boy". The same with my mom, but she actually stepped out of the car. He sniffed her over but good, up and down her legs, back and front, then her hands. She was great, just stood there quietly even though she really wanted to crouch down and pet him. She was the one who had talked of euthanizing, not me. I had told her that if I returned him to the SPCA, that's what would happen, and she was trying to console me that it would be painless. She is a dog lover, but not to the extent that I am. She is concerned that my love for my dog is clouding my judgement, and I am putting other people's safety at risk because of it. I was so happy that the meeting with them went well, so that she wouldn't have any misconceived ideas about how "bad" Brody is. At one point, after he had been sniffing my dad's hand, Brody walked over to where my 11 year old daughter was sitting and just lay down with his head on her lap. She was about 7 feet away from Grandpa.
What I am most concerned about right now is how to help Brody feel calm and unthreatened when anyone comes to the door. There are still times when he will bark and rush to the door when it opens, even when it is a family member who didn't need to knock before entering. I want him to look first, bark later, if at all, rather than always barking at the opening of the door. I don't want him to feel the need to protect us from anyone, but how do I let him know that HE is safe? He knows the names of all our family members, as well as the sounds of our cars pulling up to the house. If I hear or see someone coming home, I will say "Daddy's home," in what I believe is a calm, cheerful voice, but he will bark anyway. If I don't say anything, he will bark at the sound of the gate, the door, and the sight of the person coming in. It's not an aggressive, scary bark, or an alert bark, but it is a little low and growly, similar to his "talking". He never barks at me or my three youngest, only my husband and two oldest kids. I feel like if I react to someone arriving by pulling Brody aside and making him sit and feeding him that my timing is sometimes off and I don't know that I am reinforcing the right behavior.