About Duke

Duke is a foster dog with VGSR. He has been in the rescue for over 2 years and is almost 6 years old. In that time Duke has been adopted out 4 times. Each time he has come back to the rescue. Obviously Duke has issues. I will try and explain some of them here and the rest will come out over time. In the 7 months I have fostered Duke I have finally learned how to manage all the major issues. That is the key, managing the issues because most of them will never go away.
Trust:
Duke's biggest issue is trust. It takes a long time to earn it and I think that point came in January, just after I thought I had found the perfect home for him, when he got returned. What tipped me to the fact that I had earned it was when I could finally grab the scruff of his neck without him turning to bite me (he has snapped at me on many occasions but has never gotten me - he has bitten 3 of his previous fosters but never drawn blood). That is also about that time that Duke stopped engaging me in staring contests (more on that later).
Stranger aggression:
Duke does not like to be the center of attention. The best (and only) way to meet Duke is to ignore him. He will come up to you, in his own time, and get you to pay attention to him but it has to be on his terms. Almost everyone I have introduced him to, when following the "rules", has not had any problem with him. If you do not follow his rules, he can get snappy and will possibly never like you.
Dominance:
Duke will try his best to be the dominant force in the house. Once he feels he has dominance, he will be next to impossible to deal with. He will growl at you, bark at you, and likely snap and/or bite you. His biggest weapon in his search for dominance is the staring contest. He is a professional and has incredible patience when he wants to. I have timed a couple of contests with him at 5 minutes. Mostly I got caught while getting dressed and putting on my socks in the morning. Since January there have been very few stare-downs, and most of them were started by me. A common way for dogs to express dominance is at feeding time. Since Duke is not terribly food motivated, this has not been much of an issue for him, lucky for me. One other way I establish dominance over him is if I tell him to sit, I will not let up until he sits and stays. He then can not move until I tell him to. Even if I tell him to do the most trivial thing, if he does not do it I will make him. He now knows that when I tell him to do something, he must do it.
Cars:
Duke REALLY loves cars. When he is out for a walk, if a car comes by and does not stop to give him a ride, he totally loses his mind. I have finally found a way to manage this but if a car catches me by surprise, he still reacts. I think he wants a ride because he is always trying to sneak past me into the garage so he can go for a ride in the car. On the odd occasion when he gets out of the house, opening the car door will bring Duke running.

While Duke has the above issues (and many others that I won't list here), he does have many good points that really do make him worth the effort once you have his trust.
Duke is a very loving dog. He loves a good cuddle and belly rub (which has only happened in the last 2-3 weeks). He will always be at your side when indoors (if he gets out, it's play time and without a car, he is very tough to catch).
He is protective. I have no fear when I walk him. He will get between me and anyone who approaches me and looks for my reaction to them. Same when anyone comes to the door. If I invite them in, Duke will allow it. If someone came in uninvited I have no doubt they would regret it.
He is playful. He can get mouthy when he plays but will stop pretty much immediately when told to. He loves to chase tennis balls and is good at bringing them back (not perfect but good at it).
He does not chew things he is not supposed to. I leave my shoes, sneakers, slippers (although there was one casualty), and other things lying around and know that Duke will not chew them. I do not crate him at night and nothing in the bedroom has been chewed or even touched. When I am at work, I crate him because he will pee on the carpet right after I leave for whatever reason. He did counter surf (and will for a big enough treat) but I have learned how to stop that.
He does not have much of a prey drive. When walking he does not charge after any of the small animals we come across. He will pay attention to the foxes though.

In all, Duke is a great dog. He is just VERY high maintenance. He will make a great addition to the right home (with NO kids, cats, or small dogs - just to be safe)

Duke's write up at VGSR can be found at:
http://www.shepherdrescue.org/availableDogs.php#av2292