Socialization young is the best, but since you said that he doesn't have a problem with people coming up to him, I think she's got a good chance of getting him to be more social.
I have a German shepherd who came to me when she was about five months old. I picked her up from the airport and she was the most frightened puppy I've ever seen. She huddled at the back of the kennel with her face pressed against the back, unwilling to even look at me.
I got her home and couldn't get her out of the kennel - had to reach in and finally drag her out. She was just petrified of everything. Within a short time she decided I was her angel and she clung to me like crazy, but it still took her more than a week to acknowledge that there were other dogs in the house. If they came to her, she'd freeze and look away. Finally she started warming up to them.
But she was scared to death of people. If anyone tried to approach her or handle her, her tail would go between her legs, her ears would go back and she would shrink away in pure terror. It was so hard to watch. But I gradually brought her out of it by never reinforcing her fears and using a lot of reward anytime she did something that showed progress (stepping away from me, looking at someone without showing fear, etc.). I took her to classes and would stand against the wall so she couldn't hide behind me, and just reinforce a lot for positive moves on her part.
After awhile (she was more than a year old) she decided she could approach certain people (who would then give her really good treats). But she was still scared of most people. It wasn't until I put her in agility that she really came out of her shell. She was probably three years old then. All the high reinforcement and fun in agility just made her thrive in some ways. People being at the end of obstacles to give her treats, people encouraging her, etc. - she got to the point that when I'd let her out of the kennel to do her run, she'd first go over and hug up to someone for petting .. *L* .. which I let her do, because the main goal was to get her more comfortable with people.
Tori is a very athletic girl and I considered trialing her in agility because she is quick and did well - unless she got stressed, and then she'd run into a tunnel and hide .. *L* .. kind of defeats the purpose! So I never trialed her. But she hasn't forgotten how good people were and she is a very sweet and loving dog now.
So yes, I think your friend could possibly make her dog more social. She will need to put in some effort to expose her dog to friendly, trustworthy people who will help her through the slow steps to gaining confidence in her dog. A positive training class may be a good way, although many training classes don't encourage socialization and can sometimes offer stress. The agility class I was in was perfect for Tori because of the high level of reinforcement (and virtually no punishment). And because the class instructors and helpers were the ones putting the treats down on the targets and were usually right there when the dogs got their treats, Tori learned to associate the people with great things.
Good luck to your friend!
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
