Well it's been a week and a half since Vincent joined us and it's been one of the easiest settling-in periods we've ever had with a foster dog. We are still monitoring him closely in all situations but the trust is building and he is starting to relax when outside, even looking back to check-in if he is unsure about something, which is a very good sign.
As I type, the bin-men are outside making a hell of a racket emptying the wheelie bins (usually a time for guarding breeds to raise the alarm) and as he rested at my feet, he merely lifted his head to look at me to see what I was going to do, then laid back down to relax when I completely ignored them. This was of course quietly reinforced with a 'good lad' and a gentle tickle with my toes! If I had got up to close the door or went to grab his collar to prevent any guarding behaviour, I would probably have created the very problem I wanted to avoid by changing my own behaviour as a response to the outside stimulus.
As I always tell clients when they get a new dog, these first couple of weeks are ESSENTIAL to get desired patterns of behaviour in place from the get-go as it's a lot tougher to modify behaviour once it's become established.
