Behaviour Issues, Multi Options

[MixedUp]

As most we adopted a rescue from a shelter approx 2 months ago. 1 1/2 year old Female St. Bernard Hound mix. About 55 lbs. Had her spayed about a month ago. Very sweet dog, calm for the most part.

Problems are
We have had submissive peeing issues which are getting better by ignoring for 5 to 10 min when we get home till we greet her. Keeping excitement levels low. Keeping our voices down, etc.

She will not sit by our side when watching TV or on the computer, or outside. Will follow us through the house so were not out of sight however. Give her a treat and she comes to ya no problem for that and petting, but gets board of it quickly and walks away to go lay down.

Seem threatened when strangers walk up to greet her. If she's off leash she's not as scared, but when tied out the hair on her back stands up, she seems tense and sometimes you can hear a low grumble. If I let her off leash the behavior goes away, but I can't keep running over to quickly to untie her when someone comes to visit. There is a leash law here after all.

Gets along real well with our 7 yr old daughter. But if she has a friend over the dog will sit and watch out of the corner of her eye. Sometimes follow along sniffing what she can for a few inches. You can see she's uncomfortable. And she really doesn't want to play with our daughter. She'd rather find a place she can go lay down and be by herself.

She also gets along real well with our cat, wants to play etc. But sometimes she plays a bit too rough and gets the cats neck in her mouth and will just hold her there. I've told her "leave it" and she does. But continues to want to do this when they play. The cat seems to care less, but I still don't want the dog doing this. Accidents can happen.

I always try to keep an eye out for her body language so I can get a feel of what she thinking. At this point I'm keeping the commands simple, Leave it, No, and keeping praises high with treats and good girls. But is there something else I could be doing to help her overcome these behaviors?

[JMM]

1. Keep up with your work on the submissive peeing. It sounds good.
2. So long as her behavior is calm when you are just hanging out, I would not force the dog to interact. You can offer her incentive (holding a bone for her to chew on for example), but don't force it. Not all dogs are lovey-touchy...but she is still relatively new to your home, so ya never know.
3. Sounds like you have a bit of a fear issue with strangers. It is very common for this to be an on-leash issue. Your dog is afraid. When there is no leash, your dog can feel comfortable to run and escape if she desires. When leashed, she is forced to fight (fight vs. flight). Here are a couple of books to help you through. Getting a trainer with experience in behavior modification for fearful and reactive dogs would be very helpful.
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB586
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB878
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB799
4. Do not force interaction with the kids. I would encourage her curiosity (let the kids toss treats to her), but allow her to stay out of the situation. Your dog is being smart for staying out of a situation that makes her uncomfortable. Increase the positive associations and respect your dog's smarts.
5. This sounds like pretty normal play, but it is not possible to tell without seeing it in person (or a good video). Your dog's body language will tell if it is just play or if a more serious switch has been hit.
6. The more positive, fun training you do, the more your bond will deepen. Keep that up. Taking a basic obedience or CGC prep class would be a great experience. Relax, enjoy, keep things up, take your time. Get the books above and work through them with your dog. They will give you lots of insights.