Good morning,

I am working with a local German Shepherd rescue, and have been fostering and working with those dogs for over a year now. I have a 4 year old GSD female, who I trained since she was 7 months, and was certified for police work (protection/patrol) work last year. As part of my rescue work, I train some of the foster dogs in basic obedience prior to them being adopted, to better their chances of fitting in at their new homes.

We have a dog in our program, who has been with us for over a year now. This dog has no interest in anyone other than the person who has been fostering it for that entire time. The dog also has digestive problems that can lead to explosive diarrhea is the diet is changed in the slightest manner. As part of my efforts to figure out how to better the mental condition of this dog, I collected information from everyone who has had any meaningful contact with the dog, and have handled the dog and interacted with it myself.

Below is my analysis of the dogs behavior. I am looking for some suggestions, exercises, training, etc... to help this dog mentally. I was not involved with pulling the dog into the program int he first place, only to try and improve the dog at this point.

Background:
The dog came from a local shelter. Shelter noted bad case of diarrhea and the dog would walk on a leash like a horse being led somewhere, neither falling behind nor pulling. Shelter evaluation gives a picture of a shy dog that interacted some, but was quiet and reserved.

Current Behavioral Conditions:
The dog is currently emotionally dependent on the fosterer. This displays itself in a number of ways.

There is Separation Anxiety when the dog is removed from the fosterer, for even short periods of time. This is displayed by the dog in mannerisms that range from ignoring people trying to interact with it to pacing and visible anxiety when the fosterer is not present. The dog does not display destructive behavior, just dramatic behavior change.

The dog has been taken to a neighbor’s house on a regular basis recently and has come to know these people and their dog. Nightstar will play with this dog and interact with the dog and people when the fosterer is present. This relationship has been built up by repetitive visits with the people and their dog. This has continued for several weeks and is continuing.

In general, the dog will willingly interact with other people so long as interest in reward is sustained.

Example: the dog will want to interact with you if it wants a treat; once the treat is given the dog will not want to interact. If no reward is offered, the dog will seldom seek out interaction from any person other than the fosterer.

If taken from the fosterer the dog will ignore people and dogs in an effort to interact with only the fosterer. The dog will sometimes settle after a period of approx. 30-60 minutes, but will also continue to have periods of looking for the fosterer. During the 30-60 minutes the dog will accept interaction, but not solicit any attention. This occurs with dogs, people the dog knows and strangers. The dog is tolerant of being pet, touched, etc. and is tolerant of this type of activity, but does not seek it out from anyone other than the fosterer.

If people are introduced while the fosterer is present, the dog will look to the fosterer for all attention and direction, even when coaxed by the fosterer. Either with or without the fosterer present the dog has not been observed displaying any overtly aggressive behavior with dogs or people; growling, baring or teeth, posturing or barking in an aggressive manner have not been seen.

When introduced to other dogs without the fosterer present, the dog will allow the introduction and will sniff the other dog. This activity is described as putting up with the introduction and not being against it, but the dog does not seek out this activity nor does it show interest in meeting the other dog.

When the dog was taken from the foster home over night, it refused interaction with dogs or people at the other house. It free rode in the car without issue, although it would not settle for more than about 10 minutes, then would pace around the car like it was looking for something/someone or trying to get out.
At the house it did not solicit any type of interaction from the people; instead it spent much of the time pacing at the door it had been brought into the house through. It allowed people to pet it and walk it, but would not solicit any type of attention. It met the family dogs, but did not sniff or have any interest in meeting the other dogs. It allowed the dogs to sniff it, but not have any interest and attempted to avoid the situation. When the person went to feed the dog, the dog was interested and did interact immediately prior to feeding. Once fed, the dog ignored the people and dogs during eating. After eating, the dog returned to similar behavior of ignoring people and dogs, instead pacing at the door.

The dog slept throughout the night in a crate in the person’s room quietly. There was no destructive behavior observed as part of the SA. At one point the dog bolted out an opened door and ran approx. 1/4 mile with the people following. This was described as trying to avoid them even when they closed in as opposed to a game of chase or “come catch me”. The dog was caught by issuing two stern “come” commands. The dog then came in a manner that was described as “reluctant but like it had no other choice”. The dog did not growl or challenge anyone at the house or act in an otherwise aggressive manner. It would simply refuse to interact and did not at any point (other than feeding time) solicit any type of attention from dogs or food.

The dog was returned to the fosterer. The person has gone to the foster home on 5-6 occasions to visit. Once the front door is opened the dog barks at people. The barking was characterized as alarm barking, “like I am an intruder”, barking at me and also into the air. Even after the dog realized it knew the person coming to the house, the barking continued until the fosterer provided the dog a treat. The person went and sat on the couch. The dog will then bark at the person on the couch continually until they also provide the dog a treat. The interaction then stops with the person, and the dog’s attention returns to the fosterer. When the person goes to leave, the dog accompanies the fosterer outside and then back into the house (off leash) making no attempt to leave or escape. On different occasions involving different non-residents of the house; the dog will alarm bark at a non-resident and when approached in a normal “I am going inside” fashion, the dog stops barking and there is no further unwanted behavior. There has also been occasions where a non-resident has knocked on the door of the house and the dog has not barked at all.

On different occasions the dog has gone out to another house and displayed similar behavior. This person noticed the behavior and made a conscious effort to grab the dog by its collar and to put some pressure on the dog to see if it would redirect the behavior toward her. It did not redirect toward her and did not display any aggression or reactivity. The dog just continued to pace and look for a way to escape, and tried not to interact with the people in the house or the dogs.

Maybe I misunderstood your question/issue, but it seems like this is a generally well-behaved dog who ignores strangers/other dogs, and also people it knows except for its caregiver. (nice! I wish my dogs were like that.)

Is the issue you wish to address the separation anxiety, or the lack of interest in associating with people other than the caregiver? I am sure there are people out there would not mind a dog who ignores people. However they might not want a dog who is actually anxious in their absence.

The issue is that the dog is more than not interested, it refuses interaction with anyone other than the fosterer, who is not going to adopt the dog. When it is taken from the fosterer's presence, the dog will only look for that person, and avoids any other interaction. Most dogs that we deal with want to be with the fosterer, but will willingly accept being pet and handled by other people as well as showing interest in meeting other dogs.... that is not the case with this dog. This dog refuses interaction but in an "avoidance" type behavior more than a "I am not interested" behavior. While ignoring strangers and other dogs is not necessarily a bad thing, this dog avoids almost all interaction, even when coaxed by the fosterer.

So the issue is the Sep.Anx along with the anti-social behavior with or without the fosterer present.

Apologies if you mentioned this but I'm curious just how long the dog was ever away from the fosterer? A few hours, a few days, a few weeks?

The longest the dog has been away from the fosterer is about 30 hours. This is when the dog went to a different house over night and at one point escaped out the door. It has gone out a couple of times for a day trip, but never longer then that. The dog shows such a dramatic reaction, that most people have not wanted to keep the dog longer then that because it avoids them completely when they have him.

Also, the dog was 4 years old when picked up at the shelter, and entered our program a year and a couple of months ago. Dog is currently 5 years 3 months old.

Sounds like perfect GSD temperment to me, I wish my dog was like that also.

I have a dog like that; and its so hard to find shepherds that are truly reserved with everyone but the owner. Im almost interested in the dog myself...
that seperation anxiety doesnt sound bad at all. I would be disappointed if my dog didt give a rip when I came and went...
seriously, i just read your last post; I want that dog! =D so loyal! sounds like a gem.

I want that dog too! They are very very hard to find these days. How can that foster family not want to keep him?!

Well it is not a matter of the Foster home not wanting to keep him, she will foster him as long as possible, she just won't adopt him (not sure what the difference is after 500+ days with him in the program)... it boils down to the dog being in the program for over a year now, medical bills being ($125 a month)for digestive meds, and him not wanting to interact with anyone really makes it hard for people to want to adopt him. They see a dog that only wants to be with the fosterer and not paying any attention to anyone else... some people don't make the connection that the dog will "love them" at some point, but it will take 3 weeks or so until he feels comfortable... and if we get people like that, they can't afford the medical bills, etc.

So I am trying to find ways to make the dog more sociable to make him more attractive to people who might be interested. He is a good looking dog and we have had people interested in him, but them when they meet him they can't even tell what he is like, because he is so into avoidance of them.

This is a new situation for me, because I do not try and make dogs "sell-able" in rescue work... I take the stance that "the dog is what it is" so people know what they are getting into... but this dog needs some work to get him a new home.

Here is his picture

oh my goodness, I want the dog worse than anything in this world!! how could this happen, what have I don to deserve it...why? Holy Cow, is all i can say. hey what rescue are you with?
seriously, i wish i could indefinitly foster her, and its a female to top it off.... this is agony.