I posted a few weeks ago about my czech gsd that seemed to be developing some fear aggression. He's coming up on 14 months now. I've been taking the advice of everyone that responded and we seemed to be making some strides. Much more relaxed around people, no problems walking in crowded parking lots, bringing lots of people to the house and doing all we can to solve this. Of course, I have done those things all his life. But lately I've been stepping it up a bit. Just a few minutes ago I walked into my room where he was sleeping, and he came walking to me wagging his tail as usual, then apparently he must have not recognized me in the dark and he bolted....whining the whole time. That has never ever happened and I can't describe how it made me feel.
Anyone have a comment? Have I simply got a coward on my hands here, or is there some hope? His pedigree is great, he comes from a reputable kennel, but this....I don't know what to make of it.

Eek, Alan. Sorry you're having these problems. Your previous posts showed some similarities between your dog and mine, so maybe I can try to help. Mine turned 2 this month, and has been really slow to mature, so perhaps he's a decent match in terms of age. He went through a period where he wanted nothing to do with anyone, and would try to go into avoidance at first, and if the person followed him, he'd bark. This behavior really upset me because I'd always tried to take him lots of places and expose him to lots of people. I don't care if my dog likes strangers, but I don't want him to cower, either. I was really getting discouraged, so I asked the forum for trainers who could evaluate this and let me know what I had on my hands. I'd had him to one "trainer" who simply tried to sell me one of *his* dogs. Anyway, I was encouraged by the later evaluation. He thought that the dog was showing a specific fear, and was not weak-nerved in general, and that we could work past it. I can't tell you how much better he's getting as he gets older. He still isn't overtly friendly with strangers, but he politely ignores them, in a calm manner now, instead of trying to stay away, and then staring at them and barking defensively. Just last night I had him at my Grandmother's for a family dinner, and he saw a few of my uncles whom he hadn't seen since he was a tiny puppy. A year ago, he would've been under a coffee table in the farthest room-last night he was under the kitchen table, sleeping calmly. I was amazed. I would've kicked him out of the kitchen if I hadn't been so excited that he was preferring to be around us instead of hiding. I know I'm rambling a bit, but I know how you feel. I think another thing that helps is to ignore the dog when he does this, especially to someone else. Comforting him or showing him there's nothing to be afraid of may condition him to display that behavior if he wants to be coddled. I just ignored mine if he started to look apprehensive or fearful, and went about what I was doing (talking to a stranger, etc.) Within a minute or two, he'd cautiously come closer until he was satisfied that all was well. I made the mistake of allowing someone (a "trainer")to try to force him to acknowledge and face his fears (sounds like I took him to a shrink <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> and that was a huge disaster. It's taken me months to start to get him to stop associating any building with a man in it and barking dogs as a very bad place. Feel free to PM me if you want-I know how frustrating this can be!

Alan, it sounds like you have made progress. You do need to control his environment to prevent these situations from happening in the future. Your dog learned that a) it's ok to run away and b) running away makes the "monsters" go away.

Use a crate whenever possible and keep your dog onleash with you the rest of the time.

If he tries to bolt like thatin the future and you have him on leash, just hold the leash until he quiets. Let him sit or lay for a moment, then continue whatever you were doing and pretend that nothing ever happened.

This may not be a magic formula, but it's a good place to start and find out a little more without doing any damage.