Ive had dogs all my life big and small never a problem, What is it now are we too soft? are we trying to humanise our dogs? Even when dogs roamed the streets I was never scared!
Are you scared of your own dog because of her sudden aggression?
If you are, it is actually making things worse. If it is really a fear aggression, your dog takes your fear and it triggers her fear aggression.
It might be hard for you to be confident once you have seen her attacking your son but please remember YOU might be sending her fearful signals. She is as afraid as you are if not more.
You raised her from puppyhood, right? Does she get aggressive to you? Can you take her food away, tell her to get off the couch, open her mouth to look at her teeth, clip her nails, give her a bath, etc.?
If you can't, I suggest you start building bonding relationship with her from all over again. Go to obedience classes, do basic trainings with her every day so that she will look at you as a calm, confident and fair leader.
I agree with you how you can ignore your dog when she is about to attack someone. I would rather control her behavior than ignoring her. Once you gain her attention to what you tell her to do, you can control her bad behaviors. If she is about to attack to your son, for example, call her to you and calm her down. Have your son to squat down and throw a treat at her, and just walk away. She will soon learn that when your son comes a good thing will happen.
As KOPcaroline said try to desensitize her with what she is afraid of. Have your son feed her meals and take her for walks. All dogs will attach to people who feed them and take them for walks. It might take a while so start with baby steps so that she will realize that your son is a good guy, nothing to be scared of.
You have had a lot of experience living with dogs so you should be able to correct her behaviors. I believe everything boils down to mutual trust and relationship with your dog. Let us know how it goes.
