Any advice on how I can socialize my panicky pooch?

[Mad Mel]

Pepper, my four year-old poodle-labradoodle has always been terrified around people.
She came to me when she was a few months old. She was severely malnourished, neglected, and abused by the woman she came from's husband.
It's taken these four years to even get Pepper to be okay around me, my mother, father, and stepdad. She still gets scared around my dad or stepdad if either of them makes any sudden moves.

Now if I'm walking her and we walk by someone she immediately gets frightened. She'll jump and bark at them then try to hide behind my legs. If my aunt or cousin or something go see her when she's in her run she'll bark this alarmed-sounding bark and jump at the door then run away.

She also doesn't act too appropriately around dogs. There's a mean dog that's often loose on one of the roads we walk. If I ever see him out I'll turn around and walk us quickly away, but the dog tends to follow us.

Once he was close to Pepper and I, and I didn't notice. His hackles were raised and he was snarling and Pepper just tried to start playing with him. I had to pick her up and basically run away so he wouldn't attack her.

I'm just at a loss to do. She's a pretty hefty girl so I'm worried she'll hurt someone with her jumping and backing away. She's knocked the wind out of my mother, and let many scratches and bruises on my belly. (I'm still trying to teach her not to jump up, though I'm not having much luck.) It took so much time and dedication for even me to gain her trust, I just don't know what to do.

[xander]

i would sujest havin a friend round, some1 new that she hasnt met yet, and let your friend play with her alot, while you are there, and et her used to new people and slowly bring different friends and see how she gets on and maybe then she will get used to it all, it must be hard because it sounds like she never experienced secondary socialisation (relatives and friends) x

[Penguin]

I agree with the above post. Let your dog get comfy with a few people at a time..sooner or later it will become more social. With the other dogs try having a fence between the two dogs and let your dog know that its okay.

[Toast]

Yeah, you do need to do it slowly. Try to get her comfortable while testing her limits, and feed her treats the whole time. Gradually get into harder situations for her while feeding her treats the whole time. Eventually she will start to associate the scary situations with a good thing - the reward. You can also try teaching her tricks as that will improve her confidence.