I have recently adopted a a young DDB male named George... he is now 1 yr old, we adopted him Nov 15 /09..... please forgive my poor writing style, I am a much better reader then I am a writer..... anyways I will give a little history on George... George was raised on a native American reserve here in Canada, he was raised by people of different skin color and language , he was fed raw wild meat and lived mostly outdoors...He has ben previously attacked by a female DDB and has scars to prove it...for some reason George was kenneled with a full grown female, I guess George got a little frisky and she was not in the mood....LOL.... anyways the owner was leaving the reserve and going back to school and could not find anywhere to live where she could properly house George, so she placed an add looking for a new home... we answered the add and made arrangements to meet... On first meeting George was very shy and distrustful of us ( me and my GF), but after a 1/2 hour we had gained his trust enough to get him into our car... George was fine once inside the car, he eagerly would take treats and food from us.... However once we got home George played strange very badly, it took us 4 hours to convince him to come inside the house... here in Manitoba November weather is very cold, so I think George was looking for warmth more then companionship...... Anyways George has slowly gotten over his shyness of us, and now is fully comfortable with us as his master..her is very loving, gentle and attentive.... He is very stubborn and dignified when it comes to training, but he has slowly taken quite well to training..he now knows sit, stay, shake, hell, and off leash recall ( all with little or no distractions tho )..when we got George he didn't know anything except basic house training.... So as a whole I am very impressed with George, he is much smarter then he lets on it seems, as when there is food involved he is extremely willing to do whatever you wish...with no food he is much less attentive..he doesn't misbehave, but he doesn't jump thru hoops either.... Anyways the odd behavior has to do with guests...George is very hand shy of other people, even with people who see George every other day..It always seems George is on his guard , now I am unsure if he is scared, or just very distrustful...He will shy away from a hand left to linger in fron of him, however if a person just pets him George is fine.... He seems to crave our guests attention as we will not leave them alone..however even when he is getting petted he can sometimes spook if the person makes a fast movement or does something he does not like...George will not run away, instead he will quickly doge the offending hand ( or whatever) and then come right back looking for more pets.... Oddly enough if a person does not pet him, George will sometimes bark at them..George tends to stare everyone directly in the eyes, if a person holds a stare with no physical contact george will huff and sometimes bark.... However if the person is petting him he is fine with staring....... Now I have made much progress in George's behavior, but i only want to discuss the general behavior and what opinion people have on it..... George will also tend to always keep our guests in sight, he feels its his duty to constantly stare, unwavering and steady...... Its very odd tha George seems so hand shy at times, yet is compelled to constantly pester our guests, even if he gets spooked, he is back instantly looking for attention... He has barked at several of our guests, as welll as a odd looking jowl huff..however he has made no sign of growling,snarling or showing his teeth, nor has he nipped or anything like that.... Another odd thing is George likes to muzzle up to people, he just loves to push with his nose, mouth closed,calm demeanor with no sign of aggression..He just seems compelled to push into our guests with his face.....He will come from behind the couch and muzzle the back of a persons head, almost like a shove... This behavior makes me nervous as I am unsure what his intentions are... He seems like he is extremely curious, yet at the same time very wary of any possible threat..... He loves getting attention, but seems very wary of the people is seeking attention from........ Goerge is also intolerant of people being in parts of our house he is not accustomed to..for some reason he is perfectly fine with our guests when they are int he living room or dining room, however one day my buddy was using a phone in our sunroom and George seemed agitated by that...He stood on alert and watched my friend every second he was in the sunroom, guests almost never enter our sunroom and it seemed George was none to happpy about it...George even challenged my friend when he attempted to leave the sunroom..this is only 5 minutes after they were playing tuggy in the living room...... In the living room George and my friend were best friends, however once my friend stepped out of those boundaries George became a gaurd dog.... George made no physical threat or anything like that...he just stood tall in the doorway and gave my friend a huge deep chested Woof !......... That same friend was visiting one evening for several hours..George and him were playing for hours and all was fine, George was his best friend for the most part...a little hand shy, but more wary then skittish... However when my friend decided ti was time to leave he went outside and started his car (-40C weather ) George seen my friend off with a happy tail wagging farewell....However 5 minutes later my freind came back into my house after he started his car and George would not let him enter the main house..George stood about 5 feet from the door and barked at my friend in a defensive posture,,head up, tail straight out...only after I called George was my friend able to reenter my house..... Before I called George down my friend tried making peace with George, but George would have none of it... he was not going to let my friend enter... I found this odd considering these 2 had been playing all evening..my friend is a dog lover like me and is usually very good with winning a dogs trust.... I have never had a dog before that is like this and I find this hot/cold behavior very unsettling... I may be panicking as George has never shown teeth,snarled or snapped...all he does stare,bark and stand firm..nobody of course has ever engaged George any further so I have no idea what would happen if they pushed the issue... George is more then friendly when people are in his comfort zone ( living room,dining room,leash) but he doesn't seem to fond of allowing guests free roam of our house, nor does he seem to like guests reentering our house without me being there...even if a guest has been with us all evening....He will sometimes be hand shy and maybe skittish if a hand is raised in a threatening manner, however he does not run away or hide, instead he maneuvers to a more acceptable position and continues to investigate or play with our guests.. he always seems to prefer to have a better tactical position then the guest...But even with this odd behavior he seems very calm and relaxed... He just doesn't like anyone to be in a position where they may be able to strike him ei hand above his head, fast movement etc...If a guests plays by George's rules he is very loving and affectionate and playful with no sign of fear or nervousness.. I am unsure of George's past, so I have no idea what these odd behaviors are... I have sen a marked improvement in George and have been meaning to make this post for the last few weeks.... even tho i see a improvement I still would like to get some advice..... I will add that if something spooks George, like a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer, George will dart away to safety, yet instantly come back to investigate... It seems like the worse something spooks him the more he's compelled to investigate....Its rather odd, as usually if a dog is scared of something they avoid it..Not George, he seems compelled to face his fears so to speak......