Increasing my dogs confidence -easily bullied

We adopted a beautiful German shepherd-husky cross about 8 months ago. She was under weight and had clearly been mistreated. We strongly suspect she has been beaten also (she would initially cower when our hands were raised). She was initially very aloof as a dog (in my limited experience this is not a shepherd trait and perhaps reflective of her past). She didn't really like contact or "cuddles". Over the months she has got closer and closer, responds we'll to basic commands and is also very good off lead. She is gorgeous, incredibly tough physically, but exceptional with people and other dogs (in that she tends to be aloof rather than jumping up on people). I have never seen her show any aggression with anyone or any animal, though she will bark if people come to the door. My concern is that something in her past has undermined her confidence. I am not confident she would protect my wife/daughter if they were challenged (I think she would run). She is also readily bullied by other dogs. Where this most clearly manifests itself is when I go running with her. We take a toy but if another dog approaches her, without aggression, she will immediately drop her toy and allow the other dog to run off with it. I then have to retrieve it. She will literally lay on the ground and let another dog bite her or try to hide between my legs. This even with dogs a fraction of her size. I know it's a fine line trying to make a powerful dog such as this "more aggressive" but it breaks my heart to see her crouch down and let small dogs literally walk over her. Any advice welcome.

How old is she?

I adopted (if you can call someone selling you dog for £150 because they no longer want him- adoption) my German Shepherd x Labrador Retriever, when he was 10 months old. Short story- People with three young kids (one 2 year old) bought him when he was 10 weeks old, 7-8 months later, they decided to sell him on pets4home, because they have no time for such an active dog. Nice to know people put any interest in what kind of breed cross they take. I'm not saying they were bad for him. They loved him a lot, they were all crying when i came to pick him up. But soon i realised his life was probably mostly their garden and tennis ball. Strong obsession on balls. First day i realized they didn't walk him a lot... Everything outside was new and almost scary- he didn't have any confidence or so in outside world. even wind moving bushes was scary, new shape on a road, plastic bag in a grass. I didn't have to wait long until he bonded with us- it was immediate switch- ok now you're my family i follow you. So when i was confident he knows we're pack now i started introducing him to new dogs and new situations. Start- Alaskan Malamute started barking at him- he was ready to run away, he was so terrified, he almost pulled me on street, other dog barking- the same situation. Now- we're in park, we met a friendly dog. Dog wanted to play Dexter didn't have a single idea what to do- he went on his back, tail between legs- just gave up. Situations were repeating and dogs started bullying him. I was protecting him and telling dog away but not cuddling him and feeling sorry, i started encouraging him to be polite but not show belly to every single dog. I chose dogs he could play with, that were not picking up on him but playing and teaching dog interactions (owners who have well behaved dogs are always willing to help in situation). I never interrupted when older dog was disciplining my dog- they have a right to do it, when he misbehaves. When he was with older dog he was more confident meeting other dogs and he was doing exactly same things other dog would do. I'm sure partially all this extremely submissive behaviour was because he was still very young lad, but partially because no one ever encouraged him to interact with many different dogs and situations. Now he's 16 months old- he never goes on his back unless it's a big and senior dog- he's very respectful towards bigger and much older dogs (well once he knows it's a nice dog he might become overexcited, starts jumping and gets reprimanded by the dog ) . He never attacked other dog, only once we had a trouble when both dogs were off leash and GSD/Husky girl, his age, started really bullying him, he came to me and she came after him and we had a bit of fight, as he had enough and it was near me. Wasn't difficult for me to stop him- i just grabbed his harness and he switched instantly, but the other owner with gsd/husky had a problem holding her. Otherwise- no problems- actually he acts really really great with misbehaving dogs. We met a pack of dogs- 3 of them size of my dogs head and other one- new from shelter was fearful agressive, he was charging my dog and running away, all the time. Dexter was just standing next to me and looking at him like he was crazy and then just ignoring, sniffing little dogs (little chihuahua was even telling him who's the boss hihi). Dogs pulling people towards my dog and yapping- he's just walking and watching what they're doing and looks like he's thinking why they act like that ;p He's confident with all types of dogs now, but i need to control him, because he easily gets overexcited and other dogs don't like this kind of energy unless they are the same. Now he's very good and gentle with puppies. Once we met chihuahua puppy and he was so surprised and didn't know what to do with this little thing hanging on his neck other puppy was a bit scared of him so he lay down to puppies level and licked his face

So from Omega dog he went to be teacher He's showing to be well balanced dog around misbehaving dogs, well not always- i still must remember he's like a teenager and he will still have his stupid moments, that's why control is a must. But i believe in few years i can have a puppy and he will teach him to be a good dog and to behave around other dogs.

To sum up- my only advise is: expose her to many new situations, expose her to new dogs, as long as she's not confident choose well behaved dogs to interact. Be her leader and show her with you she's safe and don't have to worry. If other dog attacked my dog it was me who would step up and tell him off (but i'm confident to the point i'm not afraid dog will attack me, if you're not don't try this)... and tell his owner off as well hihi

And I would not be worried, that your dog will run away if her pack is at danger- even omega dog is fighting for his pack survival. I'm 100% sure even my Dex is so submissive with humans and animals, once any of us is in danger he will react in a matter of second. How i know? Once a dog jumped on me in a playful way, but i wasn't happy about him jumping to my face and Dexter wasn't either- he was there between us straight away and with one bark he made this dog go away (you must know this typical GSD strong "woof"). At home we can't play rough with each other because dog doesn't like it- he will try to separate us and bark, once i was pretending i'm going to hit my boyfriend and dog stopped himself from a bite in last minute, realizing it's me and then acting like he's sorry he even thought about it. But i know if it was a stranger he would go for this hand. He doesn't react to people unless they are hiding in bushes (some kids smoking weed in bushes or something), he does not attack he's letting me know it might be a danger there. Once my boyfriends brother was very sick in bed and he was so protective over him that time, even me opening the door made him run to it barking until he saw me there- he never does that.

My dog does not really love cuddles, unless you scratch his belly or brush him he prefers playful interactions, or will cuddle when going to sleep.

Sorry this post is so long ) )

I just used to have a dog that you have and he's different dog after 6months

Hi - many thanks for taking the time to write such a long response. To answer a few questions, she is approx 2.5 years old. All we know of her past is that she was rescued from the "streets of Oxfordshire" by the police. She spent then several weeks in dog kennels and then a re-homing kennel. Thats all we know of her. I have just taken her for a another long walk in the woods. She looks like a big scary wolf this time of year but, yet again, when a small dog (not much larger than one of her bones!) approach her she immediately cowered, dropped her toy and walked away. Its not a big deal and i appreciate that, if she were the opposite (ie aggressive) i would have bigger problems BUT it is a little like watching one of your children being bullied in the playground so i would like to help her. Maybe she will grow out of it but i am not sure.

Can i ask you how do you react to her behavior?

and i had the same worries.... Though my dog was younger, so it was definitely much easier to fix this. Looks like she's born Omega and past didn't help her- i mean being in kennels, being caught on the street- so probably chased... I know that my dog would be in really poor situation if he got lost, as without us he's still very timid and being alone on the street would probably traumatize him... But it goes to one point- with his pack he has no worries, he can be his crazy self, knowing we're there when he's unsure We never let him feel that we are sorry for him, he has to deal with situations, with us standing back and being calm. Even on a walks in the beginning i would encourage him to be in front of us and i still let him do this in new environment, encouraging curiosity. For us- it helped

and try this idea:

http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk

so people are aware and have a chance to take their dog on leash to introduce dogs in right way.

Ask other owners for help. Walk dogs together. Let her have dog friends she can trust

Hi Xena

Thanks again. In terms of how i react - if she is jumped on and i can see the other dogs are non aggressive and just want to play, i go to her and encourage her to get up and run off with me. If there is any sign of aggression then i immediately intervene physically (this is rare as i can normally tell before it gets to this point). When a playful dog runs up to her and she drops her toy i verbally encourage her to go and get it or at least follow it. In the end i end up chasing after "playful" dog to retrieve her toy or wait until its owners do this for me. I NEVER chastise her and immediately afterwards she is charging around as aggressively chasing her toy as before. The yellow dog thing looks interesting but probably fatally damaged by the need for other owners to both know what this means and to care.