Dear Cesar,

We recently rescued a dog from the local shelter, he's called Woody and he's a Lurcher (I don't know if you use term Lurcher in the US, but in the UK a Lurcher is a sighthound crossed with another dog, usually a herding dog or terrier). We believe he's a Greyhound / Lab cross. He was picked up as a stray. We've had him about 4 weeks now.

He's a very gentle and affectionate dog and his rehabilitation in coming on great, but we have a few problems we could really do with advice with. He's very submissive, perhaps overly so, but the biggest problem is that he will, if given the chance run out the door and no amount of commands no matter how assertive we are, he'll run off like a rocket. Having Greyhound in him, it is impossible to catch up to him. He'll ALWAYS return several hours later. But he acts scared to come back through the door in to the house. It takes hours and hours of coaxing him with food and treats to get him back in the house and when he finally does come into the house, he expects to be punished by rolling on his back and shaking.

He also has a problem with other dogs, he gets very worked up when going past other dogs, but he's coming from a very nervous angle and not an aggressive one. He's not an aggressive dog.

It goes without saying, we are following Cesar's Way to the letter, but perhaps there is something we are missing. We can't have a door open without having Woody on a leash.

Are we just being impatient and should we just give him more time, considering he is a stray?

It's also important that I mention that he is very respectful of us and the house. He walks on leash very well when there are no dogs; he's excellent with the small pets and is very respectful around food. However, despite this respectfulness, his tail stays between his legs a lot of the time.

Any advice would be very gratefully received!

When I saw the episode with Luna, I could relate, because I recently adopted a 3 year old German Sheperd/unknown mix, Cora, who had a fear of everything. She was caught while pregnant and had her pups the next day. She remained at the SPCA for 3 months and was adopted once but returned within a week. I was told that she most likely never lived in a home and any sudden noise scared her. She would freeze on the spot and shake and she had never barked. She would stare at thin air and avoid all eye contact. When i brought her home she was scared of my cat, who gently decided to take her under his wings. I noticed that his calm energy relaxed her as well as long walks, music, watching The Dog Whisperer ;) and she LOVES chasing rabbits. I also started socializing her with other dogs. So after three months of great progress we finally decided to get a puppy, a Golden Retriever/Great Pyrenees, Clayton. After only two weeks, he finally got her to bark, at him, but at least we know she has it in her. Cora is still on a long road to recovery and still shies away from some human attention, but she's getting there. Our main problem now is the Clay won't leave our poor cat alone and that is dangerous for both of them :(, he's only 11 weeks, but he begins puppy obedience classes on Sunday...

Thanks to The Dog Whisperer I was able to cure Cora from her fear of cars, other dogs, cats, loud noises, even vacuums and baths. I learned not to baby her fears, to reward wanted behavior and streghthen her trust in me through our daily walks and stimulated her with knew challenges that allowed her confidence to grow :)