Hi Florence, I have read that book, it's a great book and a lot of help with most of my shelter dogs. This dog is a bit of a learning curve for me though, because when he arrived he was almost in a shut down state, the only time when he wasn't shut down was when he was running away. He is better now

I'm going to start rewarding even smaller movements from him then. I've got lots more to try with him this week, so I'm feeling a bit more hopeful.

Thanks for your input.

Great to hear you've already had success with him
I'm sure if you just continue like this patiently you'll eventually get through to him, sounds like you're doing great work!

Hi Zoobooy and welcome!

You've already had some excellent suggestions above. I agree with a lot, especially from what Florence and Chlosmum have said. Some dogs are stubborn, some dogs are less biddable, some dogs are really just not interested in training, some have issues with all of these, and for some, trust is a big thing.

We have a Japanese Akita Inu, a notoriously reserved, independent, stubborn, headstrong breed, a rescue, abandoned at 11 months, adopted out and returned three times. We didn't get him until he was 18 months old, and cor was he a handful. I will cut a long story short: it took months to work out how to address his weird behavioural issues, and over a year before he would look me in the eye properly, even once his behaviour improved.

Over a year.

You've said you don't know your dogs' history, and you know the breed characteristics you may be encountering. I do think that when dogs such as these, whether through breeding or individual temperament or whatever, are abandoned, abused, or tossed about, they-- who naturally like to form close relationships with their families-- will become reluctant to do so. They'll distance themselves. It takes time and patience to heal these wounds. Don't look for miracles. Look for little, day to day improvements. Dogs remember the past but they live in the moment-- build on what you've got in the moment, put in the time it takes, suffer the occasional bruises. You will get there.

Hi and welcome

You say the dog is food orientated, have you tried food searches with him? You don't need much space, he will always be rewarded (by finding the food) and he can work away from you so not too much contact... this can also help in learning to trust you.

I have seen dogs almost catatonic gain confidence and come to life by using their greatest asset

Food searches are one of my favourite tools and it almost never fails to calm my dog down after she's been startled or got over aroused! But it works the opposite way as well, giving dogs more confidence to come out of their shell

This isn't something you don't already know, but I volunteer at a shelter too and one thing I do with the more shy/reserved dogs is just sit with my back to the dog or with my side to the dog and focus on something else like reading blogs on my phone. I hold extremely smelly, highly valued treats and then give them to the dog when he/she finally comes over to investigate.

You may be past that point with this dog, but for me, using real meatballs, pieces of chicken or whatever it might be and then ignoring the dog really helps because then they are the one initiating the interaction.

I enjoyed reading this thread and seeing how much you care about some of these more "challenging" shelter dogs.