I am the guardian of a dog with tonnes of 'baggage'! Before we adopted her at 8 months old, she spent 4 months in a wonderful foster home, but the first four months of her life living with street kid! She is very mistrustful and protective. Nothing as dramatic as with Duncan, but always the potential to get that way.

Talus (our pooch) has come a long way in the past 12 months that we have had her in our lives. We all have alot more to learn and much more behaviour modifications to make. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!) this task will be ongoing and a part of every day. It makes us richer for having to make it routine. No, we don't dogs that we can just forget about and assume they will be excellent with everyone and everything, but I love my dog as much as I'm sure you love Duncan and it's worth it.

Our vet (a homeopathic vet) suggested a great book that I ran out an purchased and am currently reading. It is called "Purely Positive Training" by Sheila Booth. I recommend it. Further training and behaviour modification with a trained animal behaviourist will ultimately be the key though. Try contacting them with details via e-mail. This might get you a smidgen of info for free and help to calm your nerves in the interim.

We have just begun to take Talus to her Homeopathic vet. He is wonderful! Talus is still scared of him, but he managed to examine her back leg (without medication) by simply massaging her back and giving her a treat with Rescue Remedy on it. He wants to see about treating Talus' behaviour imbalances with Homeopathic remedies. He just finished treating a dog with agressive behaviour and says that the dog is at least %50 less aggressive than before the remedies.

Just something for you to think about. Another thing to consider is feeding Duncan on a raw meat and veggie diet. I think it has helped Talus quite a bit over feeding her kibble. Ya, they both cost a bit more than the usual methods but well worth it when it comes to your 'baby'!

Try contacting sierrak9.com for information on behavioural issues. This person is a trainer of police dogs and worked with our dog in the very beginning.

Food for thought, hope it helps. Lisa