The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that there are approximately 4.5 million dog bites annually in the United States. Although that's a small portion compared to the number of dogs in the US, for families with aggressive dogs that number can be daunting as they try to avoid adding to those statistics.
Most families find themselves with an aggressive dog by accident and don't know how to handle the aggression. Without direction, many mistakes can be made that actually make the aggression worse. First things first, you should always muzzle train your dog immediately after you recognize she is more likely to bite if she hasn't been trained already.
At home, start to teach your dog the "touch" command. Just hold your hand out, say 'touch', and reward her as soon as she touches her nose to your hand. Once your dog understands that, ask her to touch things other than your hand. Point to your couch, your shoe, hold out your car keys, or anything else and ask her to touch that instead of your hand. After your dog understands touching something you send her to, it is time to find someone who you trust - and who is calm in stressful situations.
If your dog's aggression is not too severe, just have her approach (muzzled) and touch the other person's hand and retreat. Once she does, give her the reward (you, not the other person). Only give rewards for positive behaviors, not aggressive ones. If that is too much for your dog, then have her touch items getting incrementally closer to your person until she can touch the person. If your dog starts to react at a distance, just move back a bit and repeat. This process takes time and patience.
Once you are having several consistent, positive results, you can try without the muzzle IF both you and the other person are comfortable with it. As your dog relaxes, which happens at different rates for different dogs, you can start to add some petting. You will need to repeat this with as many people as you know and are comfortable with until you're getting consistent results with new people.
Always read your dog's body language as a predictor of her behavior and remember that aggression will need management - you will need to continue working with your dog.
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