Sounds like you are going way to fast with him.
After getting him groomed what I'd first do is give him a week off, minimum walks if he needs to be walked to potty skip walks if he doesn't. Don't make him see anyone but y'all and give his body a chance to get rid of all the stress hormones. Those hormones will make his reactions 100 x worse and every time he turns into a raging lunatic more are added to his system. He may also benefit from some type of anti anxiety medicine.
After that take working with him very, very, slowly. You need to find a very high value treat that he simply loves and use that to work with him, break it up into little bitty pieces since you will need to use a lot of them. Stay as far back from people as you need to so that he's noticed the person but is not reacting and at that point start giving him treats, I've also found using a marker word (I use yes) to be very helpful with my people fearing dog. I tell him yes as soon as he's noticed the person and give him a treat. The yes gets him to look back at me since he knows a treat is coming. As he's comfortable and happy to see people at one distance you can move a couple steps closer the next time y'all stop someone. If he reacts negatively then you're to close.
When he reacts to someone it's to late to use the treats because he's to upset to learn that the people are good and causing you to give him treats. He's in flight or fight mode and has choosen to fight. The thing to do then is walk him away, I use the Let's Go cue with my boy. Let's Go! and we turn and go in the other direction. It's important to train Let's Go before using it so that the dog knows what's expected. When a walk goes completely wrong and my boy has decided to react to every person he sees we end the walk early and try again later (usually the next day).
Do not reprimand him for his reaction no matter how bad, I know that's a lot to ask. It's counterproductive though, what it does is teach him that people are evil and cause bad things to happen. 10 to 1 he may associate your reprimand with his action, or he may not, but he WILL associate it with the person he was reacting to. When that happens it undoes all your hard work. When he reacts simply get him out of the area and try to figure out how to better manage things so that he does not feel he has to act like that.
Can you confine him to a room with a very nice treat, bully stick, great chew, stuffed kong, while you have guest over? That'll be the easiest solution for now. He'll learn that when guest come over he gets a really nice treat and does not have to face them.
If you enjoy having a lot of guest over, then he's probably not the dog for you. I know that my boy would be perfectly miserable if I was like that and my home would be a very poor fit for him. There's nothing wrong with admitting it and letting him find a home better suited to him. No use making you, your spouse, and the dog miserable trying to make it work.
After getting him groomed what I'd first do is give him a week off, minimum walks if he needs to be walked to potty skip walks if he doesn't. Don't make him see anyone but y'all and give his body a chance to get rid of all the stress hormones. Those hormones will make his reactions 100 x worse and every time he turns into a raging lunatic more are added to his system. He may also benefit from some type of anti anxiety medicine.
After that take working with him very, very, slowly. You need to find a very high value treat that he simply loves and use that to work with him, break it up into little bitty pieces since you will need to use a lot of them. Stay as far back from people as you need to so that he's noticed the person but is not reacting and at that point start giving him treats, I've also found using a marker word (I use yes) to be very helpful with my people fearing dog. I tell him yes as soon as he's noticed the person and give him a treat. The yes gets him to look back at me since he knows a treat is coming. As he's comfortable and happy to see people at one distance you can move a couple steps closer the next time y'all stop someone. If he reacts negatively then you're to close.
When he reacts to someone it's to late to use the treats because he's to upset to learn that the people are good and causing you to give him treats. He's in flight or fight mode and has choosen to fight. The thing to do then is walk him away, I use the Let's Go cue with my boy. Let's Go! and we turn and go in the other direction. It's important to train Let's Go before using it so that the dog knows what's expected. When a walk goes completely wrong and my boy has decided to react to every person he sees we end the walk early and try again later (usually the next day).
Do not reprimand him for his reaction no matter how bad, I know that's a lot to ask. It's counterproductive though, what it does is teach him that people are evil and cause bad things to happen. 10 to 1 he may associate your reprimand with his action, or he may not, but he WILL associate it with the person he was reacting to. When that happens it undoes all your hard work. When he reacts simply get him out of the area and try to figure out how to better manage things so that he does not feel he has to act like that.
Can you confine him to a room with a very nice treat, bully stick, great chew, stuffed kong, while you have guest over? That'll be the easiest solution for now. He'll learn that when guest come over he gets a really nice treat and does not have to face them.
If you enjoy having a lot of guest over, then he's probably not the dog for you. I know that my boy would be perfectly miserable if I was like that and my home would be a very poor fit for him. There's nothing wrong with admitting it and letting him find a home better suited to him. No use making you, your spouse, and the dog miserable trying to make it work.
