I have only rehomed a dog once- that was a imported shepherd, that had no clue with children, I had a 5 year old, and also didn't act like a 'pack member' but rather spent the entire time trying to be the alpha- in a house that was already established. He went to live in a single dog home, and adored. ( I am sure people thought I was crazy for placing a fully trained adult healthy dog..)
Galina came here for training orginally- to see if I could do something with her. Galina was afraid of larger dogs- actually most of the Borzois regardless of size. She only played with the whippets, and when too big to do that safely anymore, the breeder started looking at options. Had she not been drop dead beautiful, she would have been spayed immediatly, without trying.. Her favorite previous game at the other house was " dodge the borzoi"... Bringing her here- with a owner constantly at home, only one other female Femka that was spayed and smaller, and of course- having her brother- the one she use to play with all the time as a puppy, made a world of good for her. She went from leash trained, but would drop to the ground around another borzoi or bigger dog- to a big show off in the ring. I credit some of it to my positive show training ( I teach the dogs- they are God in the ring! Everything is JUST BEAUTIFUL in movements), but also- quite frankly- I believe she came out of her shell so quick because of her brother Zubin. Zubin isnt afraid of a thing- NOTHING- and no one or no dog is a 'stranger' to him..
I have 2 out of 4 dogs that were the product of being rehomed- Femka and Galina.. ( Femkas story will break your heart!). Galina however- as a result of working with her, training her, and mostly letting her figure out - another big dog is FUN(!!)- I got the benefit of a beautiful show bitch, and silly companion..
I am not sure if we had gotten to the end of that first month with Galina- had there not been obvious improvement what would have happened- would she have stayed still or not- it never got to that point. I actually rather doubt she would of, as I was thinking about this last night on applesmom question. The main reason she stayed is that she is such a perfect playmate for Zubin. Femka is starting to show her age- and Zubin is so much bigger than little Femka. Typical young male puppy- with lots of " Bravado" - Femka and Zubin do not play that much- not like Zubin and Galina-. And Galina starts the games more than Zubin.
One more thing here- I obviously had shepherds for a very long time- and at least half were committed for police work etc. However- although it was hard to see them go when they entered into training- although they were my pups- my approach was more like " fostering a seeing eye dog". They had a job to do, and I was proud my dogs could do it. In a state where Malinois are used more than shepherds for this type of work- to me it was pride to put the shepherd back into the fields they use to excell at. Did I cry when my 8month-12 month old left for their " career"- yes- was I proud- MORE SO!