hi
we have just given a new home to a lovely but frightened 8 yr old Golden Retriever.
For the past year and a half he has lived in the garage of a family who took him infollowing the sudden death of his owner but found their own little dogs would not accept him and attacked him.
He has taken to my wife and I and is house and lead trained but now he regards our sitting room as his home.his garage and when we sit in there to watch tv or read etc he overbreathes for hours on end and dashes between us. as soon as we leave the room he settles down! It's an accident that we did not realise this on day one .trying to put him in a room of his own just makes him unhappy and he whinges uietly to himself. In addition he will only eat and drink in the sitting room and so will only go into the garden through the patio door. he clearly is very insecure and we want to help him settle with us. he has only been with us a couple of days but we are sure we can help him. Has anyone else had this sort of thingand how did you help the dog? Retrievers are very stubborn it seems to us and he is determined to stay as he is!

Think you probable have to be harsh to be kind. Decide how you wish this dog to fit into your lives, which he surely must, and then do not allow him to deviate from your wishes. Against all proverbs old dog can learn new tricks, so feed him where you wish and give him a bed and make him use it. Of course he is unsettled because you have totally changed his world but dogs soon learn which way works best for them so within a short while, if you are firm, he will understand how thing are to be done and you should all live happily together.

When I got my rescue dog it took me 3 months to train her into the pet I wanted . Be very matter of fact with her using gestures and quiet words.
I'm sure he will settle down soon- it will take time for him to realise this is his life now.
Give him his dinner where ever you want to feed him.  I used to feed my girl when I was doing the dishes so she was not alone as she would leave her dinner before and just follow me around into every room.. 

We got a 4yr old male (lab cross) from a shelter. For the first week or two he really was quite a nervous of us, it was obvious that he just didn't feel comfortable with us and the new surroundings. Patience & kindness worked wonders, but we also made sure the rules were clear, we felt that it took about 6 months for him to really appear to be setlled and get over some of his old habbits (like running aorund the house barking whenever the Eastenders or Neighbours theme tune was on TV). This dog is still with us, he's 14 years old now and has been a fantastic dog :)
The time it will take for your dog to setlle in will depend on him, it could be a week or 2, it could be a couple of months. I would suggest ignoring any behavior that you don't want (ie. the panting while your in the room with him). Concentrate on praise for any wanted beahviour. Also, however temping, don't force affection on him it will only make him more nervous. He will learn that you all love him & mean him no harm, you can help by encouraging him, but it can't be forced.

Congratulations on your new addition :-) It is very very early days if he has only been with you a couple of days, this must be a very confusing time for him and he has clearly had a very rough couple of years.  I would be forgetting about training and boundaries etc etc for the first couple of weeks, and let what is sure to be a very confused little doggie gain trust and confidence in you and his surroundings.  It is unlikley that he has decided that he wants to stay as is and much more likely that that room is where he feels most confident for what ever reason.  Try moving his food bowl nearer the living room door each day and then in the door way then in the hall/next room.  Just give him time to find his feet and I'm sure things will settle into place as you get to know each other.

You could also get him a DAP collar, which can be really beneficial for calming and relaxing dogs in stressful situations.  Can be bought online or at some vets.

Nearly 9 years ago, I rehomed an ex operational GSD from the Police.  He had lots of issues when I first got him.
He had only ever been in his pen (on his own), or working (mainly in the back of the dog section van again on his own). 
He wasn't house trained, in fact the only time I think he had ever been in a house was on drug busts, because the first thing he used to try & do was trash the sofas!
Initially he was kept outside in a pen & kennel that the police had insisted on us having.  I used to bring him in for a half hour 2/3 times a day to start with.
He would try & trash any/all soft furnishings (looking for drugs!), jump up & run along kitchen work surfaces, he was also food & toy aggressive. He was an absolute nightmare to be honest!
I found it really useful to have him on his lead in the house in the early days with him,  I could control his behavour much better. He had zilch in manners, but his obedience was immaculate.
I used to carry on with my regular household tasks or sit & watch t.v. with him being made to lay nicely beside me on lead.  He quickly realised how to behave inside & to go to the loo outside thank goodness.
I would say that within about 6 months his food & toy aggression had also been sorted, but that's another story & way more complicated.
One of the things that I noticed about him during his early days with us, was the look of pure relief when he was back in his pen.  He simply wasn't used to lots of company, which sounds a bit like your golden.
Nearly nine years on, he is still with me, he'll be twelve in September.  He lives permanently inside & is the perfect pet & companion to me.  He totally adores my three children & is a complete pleasure to live with.

If I had your golden, I would set basic rules, with a regular time frame (so he knows what to expect to start with) such as fed in the kitchen, out the back door to the loo, no going on the sofa, etc. and I would put him on his lead inside to get him to his food, to the back door, etc. 
I would also have him on lead laying quietly beside me not only in the front room, but other rooms in your house that you relax in, as well as in the garden.  I would again do 2/3 half hour sessions of this every day & gradually build up the time, as I did with my boy.  Which IMO is not too long for them to cope with initially, but long enough to get the hang of different rooms & bonding with you.
In between the sessions I would just leave him be if that is what he's wanting.  I should imagine he's completely overwhelmed with continuous company after being by himself for such a long time.
If he likes playing fetch, I would do lots & lots of this, as it will help with the bonding.
With my GSD, I used to fetch him out his pen every hour or so for a 10 min game of fetch.  He quickly learned to look forward to me coming and that human companionship was a good thing, as he loved & still does his ball. 
You could do a similar sort of thing with your golden.  Every hour of so take him from your front room out the back door ,into the garden, on lead initially, for a play. 
The idea is to get him to associate positive, happy, fun experiences with you, while at the same time, understanding that there are simple basic rules that need to be followed.
One very important thing to remember is that whatever you ask him to do, you must be prepared to make him follow through what you've asked of him.  If you don't follow through & give up, he is learning that by doing a certain behaviour gets him what he wants, so he's training you!
Good luck!
 

Wow, what a fantastic story and so well done to you for putting so much time and effort into your GSD. Everything you have spoken about seems so much like common sense and I can understand how it worked. You should be extremely pleased with yourself.

That is a lovely story. I am sure it must have taken a lot of work & dedication from you, you should be very proud of yourself, this has to inspitartion for anybody with a dog with some behaviour problems :)

Ahh, thank you both for your kind words.  I can honestly say that it's been an honour & a privilege to share our lives with him, at least it was after my 57th nervous breakdown!
I just wanted to try to relay to the original poster, that it's much better that they come to you, rather than you going to them.  It's really a very delicate balance to try to acheive with a dog that has been isolated for long periods of time.
I think the bonding is the key thing, I know from my experience once my boy had bonded with me, everything else more or less fell into place.
A couple of nice memories of this when it happened.
I was hanging out the washing, normally I would have had him out with me, but as we were expecting visitors I'd left him in his pen.  I just happened to glance down & there he was, he must have jumped out of his pen to get to me. Now we live in a 10 acre unfenced field, in the middle of nowhere, he could have just legged it, I didn't hear him jump out, but he didn't, he chose to come to me. 
The next memory is of me leaving him at home while I went to do the weekly supermarket shop.  I was about 5 minutes from home when I happened to look in my rear view mirror - there he was running after my car!  How in the world 50kgs of GSD had managed to get through the kitchen window that I'd left open so he wouldn't get hot, is beyond me.
Then fast forward another year, he'd been to the vet's to have a couple of cysts removed & the GA had given him a bit of a funny tummy, so I had done him some scrambled eggs.  There he was, my previously very food aggressive hound, sat there waiting for me to spoon feed his eggs to him.
He was very hard work to start with, but the rewards have been immense. He is and will always be my "heart" dog.
Funnily enough, the issue that caused the Police to rehome him, I found the easiest to sort.
He had this fixation with rabbits, and a couple of times he'd abandoned his handler while he was in the middle of an arrest!  The second time this happened, I think things nearly got out of hand, as there were several youths involved, & my boy cleared off in hot pursuit of a .............rabbit! His handler completely lost faith in him.
To be fair the Police tried really hard to stop this behaviour without success.
They'd purchased him as a pup, from Police lines, he'd been with the same handler the entire time & he passed his training with distinction.  On paper he was the "perfect" working dog.
I managed to curb his rabbit obsession with chocolate buttons & a humongous amount of time sat in our field, furthest from the road, just letting him chase them out of his system.

I really hope that my posts help Thetwopeas see how rewarding it can be to help a dog that has lost it's way in life.  The pleasure that you will get out of seeing a once traumatized dog transformed into your best friend is indescribable

No great advice but just give it time. This dog is obviously going to take a while to feel part of a family again after being ostracised to the garage. He may feel safer in the lounge as it is small and like the garage was. With lots of love and TLC and strong clear boundaries you could have yourself a wonderful dog.
Well done on giving him a chance and the opportunity to have a loving home finally.
Look forward to hearing your success story in the future
x

Hello everyone
Thanks so much for all the advice and guidance..we have to say we were overwhelmed by the love and confidence passed on to us.
As a result of the advice and much use of the much quoted 'tlc' and 'patience' we can honestly say we know we have made the right choice in giving Sandy a new loving home. In only two weeks he has now accepted that we do not go into the garden only through the lounge patio door,that there is a second room in the house which tho' not a garage is alovely place to sleep all night,that very slowly learning that it is OK to go into the kitchen (of which he was terrified) in order to reach the garden and to be fed from his own bowl without taking each seperate mouthful back to bed to eat. In addition there are  signs that a Golden Retriever has a wonderful sense of fun and play and although this must have been lost in the previous existence it is coming back...and being brushed is great fun and to be enjoyed. There's a way to go but we are finding he is a great companion and starting to trust not just us but visiting members of the family who once given our approval are OK to be approached for a bit of fuss. Must stop now.it's time for walkies....very healthy not just for Sandy but also The Two Peas. bless you all
2Ps and Sandy

It's so great to hear such a lovely up-date.  Sounds like you and he are already becoming a real team and that what ever approach you have taken it is working with him. I hope you have many happy years together, oh and yes, Goldens do have a great sense of fun :-)

Fantastic news. So glad Sandy is now learning what it is like to have a loving family.

Good news that progress is being made. It'll take time to overcome his past but patience and calm consistence will win through. He's a lucky dog!

Oh yes, goldens their fun. :) I'm glad Sandy if finding his way back to being a happy dog in his new loving home and learning to trust again.

It is fantastic to hear of so much progress allready :)
You should be feeling very proud of yourselfs. It sounds like Sandy has really found a lovely home that deserves him and with so much progress allready things can only get better :)

What great news in such a short time.  I am sure in another few months you will have a very loving and devoted companion who has learnt to trust and enjoy life.