Say what you want. One thing I dont tolerate is a dog that growls at people when it shouldnt. A dog that does this is dealt with swiftly and is put into its place right now, thats how it is a pack. I dont baby them and use verbal scolding, neither would a pack member. I use my body and my voice to put a dog in its place same with a pack member. No I dont beat them but they are put down into submission with a firm hand. People fail to realize these are pack animals and when they are growing up in the pack they constantly challenge pack members until they are put in their place and know where their place is. Some catch on faster than others but they all learn otherwise its like Pixie said they find another pack/home.

Kids are able to get right into both my dogs face when eating or chewing on a bone without me having to worry because they know biting or gorwling is not allowed. Instead they move off and come back when the kids are not around or pickup their bone and go away.

Sorry, my misunderstanding.  It is just when you said:

"I use my body and my voice to put a dog in its place same with a pack member. No I dont beat them but they are put down into submission with a firm hand"

That sounds pretty physical and potentially loud to me.  I also was not trying to say you shouldn't do what you do as I do not have a clear picture of what your correction entails, but only that there may be alternatives that could work equally well.  The pack order and aggression in dogs is something that is of great interest to me and is something I have done allot of reading/and studying on.  As an instructor I see various forms of aggression in dogs pretty regularly and I personally like to head it off at the pass before anyone gets hurt, and correct the behaviour as quickly as possible.  Reading the dog is important because the signs are always there.  We as humans do not always recognize them.  Anyway, the book is a good book for those that are interested.

Thanks Francine, I appreciate your constructive input.

I tried that before we had shorthairs and maybe it's just because the other dog is a border collie but keeping them off the furniture is pretty much unenforceable (we also have a cat...the dogs just wouldn't get it), it just leads to trouble when I get home. What I did last night was change my approach as I think the growling might be more out of fear/uncertainty than agression/dominance. Instead of coming to her with excitement and a more rough style of petting I remained very relaxed and started gently. This worked much better and we were able to work up to a more excited state of mind where she can express her excitement verbally without starting with the growly tone, dilated pupils and partially open mouth. Bear in mind she is a shelter dog so we have not had the pleasure of bringing her up from a pup and she probably comes with a few issues, likely including a mistrust of men. I figure if I can get the trust up I might not have this problem.

I crated her for kicks for about 10 minutes as well last night. This probably helped reinforce my leadership role as she seemed a better dog when she came out.

For what it's worth only Michigan growls.