I was in the same situation with my female GSD a few years ago. I got her while my husband was gone on deployment. He had met her briefly before she came to live with us, and he was gone for many months after she had been in our home.

Our trainer at the time recommended we have them meet on neutral ground. I dropped him off a half mile or so from the house in an area we never traveled on our walks. I went home, got her, and walked to where he was waiting. We chatted a bit, walked home, and just treated him like a guest in the home. You could see the confused look on her face when the "guest" stayed overnight though. Other methods would work too, but I did think it made for a nice meeting. He's gone a lot and we never did that on subsequent reunions.

I basically followed something like Alyssa suggested. She had a few days just to observe him, and then he started feeding her. He started going with us on walks after about a week. After about two weeks, give or take, he started playing little fetch games with her. It all went very smoothly.

The trainer did bring up one other point I think is important. You're welcoming back someone you're intimate with. Well, at any rate, I'm assuming you'll do things with him you wouldn't with a guest. Even after things are going well, you should consider crating her when you're going to have that kind of time together. Pida did very well with my husband from the start, but especially in the first few days, she was very suspicious about exactly what he was doing to me. You could see her think about it and try to work it out in her mind, but I'm not sure I would have trusted the decision she might have come to if left loose while I was distracted. Like the trainer said, that would be a bad position for him to take a bite in.

Best wishes and I hope you enjoy the time with your husband. It seems as though they are gone all too often these days.

Michelle

LMAO

Good points.

Heck, even a dog that knows both parties well can sometimes get... concerned that someone is getting hurt.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

LMAO

Good points.

Heck, even a dog that knows both parties well can sometimes get... concerned that someone is getting hurt.

lol.... We sure didn't want to have to try to explain an injury like that to medical. Can you just imagine the incident report?

lmao, he would insist on home treatment so he wouldnt have to explain it. Thanks agiain for all this super advice. Its been a long 15 months. i crate her anytime im not able to give sufficient attention to anyway so we will be fine on that aspect lol.

Edited by Erin Croley (03/06/2009 02:16 PM)
Edit reason: add, he used to be a medic