The native lady I got George from seemed to care for him very much, sh contacts me weekly asking how he is doing... So if he was abused it was definitely not by her...However he did have a few scars on him from other dogs and I think kids with BB guns...as he had circular tufts of hair and skin come free about 2 weeks after I got him.......chances are he was harrased when he was chained up outside.... However when we got George he was well groomed with perfectly manicured nails, so i do know he was taken care of pretty good, his original owner was a very nice lady who loved him very much....according to her George was always very shy and reluctant with strangers... Anyways an update George's behavior..... He is doing excelent ! the other day we had a new guest come over and George did not make strange one bit, within 10 minutes he was sleeping at my friends feet ! However my freind followed my instructions unlike some of my other guests.... Before my freind came over I instructed him over the phone, first thing was to ignore the dog, second was do not make eye contact, third was when he went to pet george he uses a palm up approach and pet George under the chin and on the chest...My friend followed my instructions perfectly and George was perfectly fine and didn't play shy one bit..... George investigated at first, then decided he wanted to be petted and after that he fell asleep on my friends feet...... Too many of my other friends tried to look George in the eyes, or pet him immediately on the top of the head....Another odd thing is George doesn't like to have strangers call his name, he seems to take offence to that...as if only his masters can call him by name LOL !! George also started obedience class yesterday, he did very well except when people let their pushy dogs get in George's face, then he seemed to get agitated by what I gather from his body language....If a dog or a person is polite George is fine, but if a person or dog is too pushy George doesn't seem to happy....... George was also the most obedient dog in the class, which was very good as it was our first class and we had already missed 2 weeks worth of classes, I guess all the time I have spent with George so far has paid off... when we got him he knew nothing, not he sits, downs, stays, shakes, and will reliably call back offleash...George seems to be very intelligent......George did exclent at the class, however at the very end he seemed to have enough, and when we were leaving the building George couldn't get outside fast enough...needless to say I felt how strong he is for the very first time ...WOW I have never been pulled by a dog like that before, he is insanely strong, much stronger then I anticipated WOW.... I am a burly 200 lb guy and it was all I could do to hold George back as he was trying to make his escape from the training studio..George is still a puppy and has alot more growing to do... I can imagine he is going to be extremely powerful when he's full grown...I was thinking i was going to try him in weight pulling and see if he likes it.... the dog definitely has the physical capabilities ! All in all George is coming out of his shell very well, I have spent hours upon hours working with him, giving him love and affection, as well as socializing him every opportunity I get...He is definitely getting more confident and relaxed, and shows a great desire to please his masters.... I do however read a little that he may at times be dog aggressive based on his body language at the training center..a Big Irish Wolfhound was yanking his master around and the Wolfhound got right into George's face...George reared back and looked like he was going to take a snap..i immediately called George and redirected his attention.... I may be way off base as its very hard to read george as he is so naturally mean looking , he's cute but he does have a very sour expression.....many of my guests have said he is the most intimidating looking dog they have ever met....However so far al he's been is gentle Oh another thing that happened is on day 3 of owning George he did attack my 13 yr old GSD, however the GSd provoked it and pushed George to the point he reacted..George didn't hurt Roskoe, he just used his weight and pushed Roskoe to the ground, I yelled at george and he stopped immediately and has never done it again...He even lets the old dog pretend to be alpha LOL !!! so far George is doing very good considering his past and how short of a time we have had him...