The luckiest dog of the week.

Wow! You have certainly made me think about a few things. Several items have my concern. My daughters and I just adopted a beautiful male German Shepherd from the shelter. He is approximately 2 years old, and a sweetheart. We have had him for one week. He has not shown any aggressive behavior at all, as a matter of fact my daughters call him a "wus." We found him last Monday, a very sad sight in the shelter, laying in the pen, and no response. The guy at the shelter said that he walked like an old man, and gave way to the smaller animals. It seemed to us that he had given up on life. We took him outside, (after a great deal of coaxing to get him out of the pen), he stretched, and seemed to perk up. After we took him back inside, they told us that it was his last day, that he would be put to sleep. That made our decision, we decided to take him. The shelter workers then told us that in order to adopt him, we would need a fenced yard or a kennel, and they would not hold him past the 20th. That was on a Monday evening about 4:30, I had to work a double shift the next day, then the 20th. The girls and I found a Home Depot on the way home, found a kennel that we would need to put together and did so. We brought "Buddy" home on Wed. the 20th. I picked him up, and had a great deal of trouble getting him to come out of his pen. He finally came out, but then went into another pen that was open. I coaxed him out with beef jerky, put the collar on him, then tried the car. He did not want to get in, and not knowing the dog, I was not going to force him, then a blue dog-catcher van drove by, and he hopped right in. On the drive home, it seemed like he was smiling. Once home, he got out of the car, started sniffing the air, and looking around. We got to the front door, and he just sat there. Looking around, sniffing, and sitting. Finally, I guess he had sniffed enough, out of the blue he came in. We do have a cat named "Zoey" who has kittens about 6 weeks old, so I was concerned for their safety. "Buddy" was terrified of them, and Zoey. He is just now getting over being scared to death of them, but still backs away when they are too close. Also, when Zoey is between him and us, he will not walk past her, he barks for us to come get him and take him past her. He does not bark at all except for that, or when the girls leave for school in the morning. He apparently does not like to see people leave him. He was a stray when the shelter received him, does this have anything to do with his behavior? He also is pooping in the family room, even after being outside. He is otherwise extremely well behaved, and seems to be in some ways testing what is okay and what is not. He really seems to be a sweetheart, and my main concerns are: is this a dog to be trusted around other people? and can we get him housebroken?

He sits, comes when called, and does not beg at the table, so I am assuming that he has had some training. Also, how can we tell if he will be aggressive?? He is just now really warming up to us, and wags his tail a lot He has not even tried to hurt the kittens, but rather in my opinion watches them out of curiosity and concern. My daughters are 14 and 15 and know not to tease or be mean to him. He also does not mind if you take food away from him, and will actually back up and wait if the kittens are in the way. We do not want a mean dog, and some of your articles worried me. This dog is really sweet so far, and I would like to know if I have anything to be worried about.

Thank you, Cecelia

P. S. When we walk him, he does not walk like an old man, he actually trots, and loves it! I also know that all of this is new to him, and strange, but he really is wagging his tail a lot!