Our Rotti is very similar - people have said we should have her put down :| the thing is, she is very sweet to us and people she knows. I know exactly what you're feeling. But I refuse to give up on this cute little animal that I carried outside to poop in the middle of the night, KWIM? She's never being abused or neglected by us, and we've had her since 8 weeks. She went to puppy schools and we did everything you're supposed to. But she is just anti-social..

However, she was the runt and I think picked on by other dogs and I suspected treated badly by the huge bloke we got her off - she is terrified of men. It took her about a year to stop growling at my dad with her ears back - now she jumps on his lap for cuddles!

It DOES get better. But with a lot of patience, consistency and frustration. I don't think our Rotti will ever be the perfect socialised dog you see off lead at the beach.. but I found Bark Busters really helped. It took about 6 months to see changes, and again, she's not perfect. She growls with her ears back and tail between her legs when she sees an unfamiliar dog or person. Thankfully she's not the 'attack' type, she warns people not to come close, then when she's ready she goes up (cautiously) for pats. We've concluded though, just in case, that she is to remain on lead at the park at all times (unless we literally are the only ones there).

I highly recommend, if you have a friend with a dog, that you let them become buddies. My dogs socialised with my mums 2 dogs since 12 weeks old and see them weekly. When we go to the park with them, she is with her friends and plays happily, not getting distracted by other dogs. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to play with other dogs very well, she jumps on their backs and growls playfully but the recipient dog sees this as an aggresive attack, so naturally archs up then start to fight her and she fights back. Even though I can truly tell she was trying to play - she does this with our Ridgeback and my mum's border collies - they've learnt that's how she plays and they happily go with it.

The strangest thing is that she loves kids (not that I would EVER have any dog unsupervised with a child). It's just bizarre how well she is with small people given how she reacts to everything else with a heartbeat. I've accepted she will never be perfect and we have to be constantly vigilant.

Anyway, what I'm saying is I know exactly how you feel. The hardest thing is defending your pet to people that say they need to be put down. You start to doubt yourself. Don't give up on your boy. You might just have to be like us, the people with the crazy growling dog that pees itself and spits when you come too close but I love coming home to her insessant licking, I really do