[mwaters]

Hi Folks,

I am hoping those of you who have taken on ownership of 'older' dogs can share your experiences here as this is new to me and I'm trying to help out a friend.

Background: One of our club members has imported a dog (GSD) from Belgium. The dog was about 7 months old when she came over. She was purchased to be his next Schutzund partner. She has had some basic foundation work done (more bitework than I would have liked to have seen on a pup this young but too late for that now) but I suspect her life was mostly in a kennel or on the training field.

The challenge: The dog has been here for a couple of months now and has just gone through her first heat cycle. She is showing signs of poor socialization and insecurity around people. This in itself I have successfully dealt with before but where we are running into trouble is her lack of bond with her new owner. She doesn't see him as safe or look to him for help when she is worried.

I have never seen a dog that has not formed some sort of bond with the handler after two months of living together. He has done lots of stuff with her, feeds her by hand, lots of walks together, trips to the pet store, fun clicker obedience/tricks. She will hang around him if the leash is on but I suspect if it was off she would be happy to head out and not look back! He seems to spend a whole lot of time trying to 'get her to like him'.

Questions: Have any of you who have aquired an older dog had a hard time bonding? What other things could this handler do to help bond with her?

I must admit I am very surprised with her behaviour. I don't know for sure what her living conditions were like before she came over but it really seems to me that she was never given the opportunity to bond with people.

I'd love to hear your experiences and suggestions so I can pass them on.

Thanks
Melissa