WE MADE CONTACT!!!!!!

Amazing! All your patience has paid off...do you think the other will follow suit?

[]wow that is a big dog but hes gorgeous and i could tell you the name of the breed, god but i cant think of it right now......if that breed isnt right i'd say red lab mixed with some other longer haired breed, he would be smaller if it was german shepard though
congratulations!!

Yay!  That's must be so rewarding for you.  Hopefully Bear will see that you didn't kill Rusty and will come around too.  Did you see if he has any dark spots on his tounge?  That'd be a dead give away for a Chow Mix.

I know! It's just too cool   Nice Easter surprise for us   No spots on his tongue and he doesn't have the really puffy, dense fur of a chow.  He has a big "waddle" down his neck and chest.  Not sure what breed that's from.  You could tell he was nervous but still didn't act aggressive at all.  After all that petting, he left and went somewhere for a nap.  His mind is probably digesting.  I sure hope Bear sees that it went OK.  I've been trying to pet and love on my dogs when they are watching, hoping it would do something.  He seems most wary of me which is unusual but maybe a woman wasn't nice to him.  Go figure!

I still think Leonberger. I am glad you finally made contact.

Looks like a match!   Hey, they had one of them on Martha Stewart!  (I googled the  breed and saw something on that)

That looks pretty close but it says they aren't black so not sure about Bear.....
 
We're pretty much back to square one as of last night, wouldn't let anyone near them when they came to eat....... but we'll keep working on it.

what you could try dana is on a nice day when he's outside you could go out with treats and a book or something and sit and read, or let him see that you have a rope or something in your hand then turn your hands away and mess with it so he can see you're hands moving and he might get curious and investigate to see what you're doing, or see if you have food in your lap. the first time he might not investigate but if you keep doing it he'll get curious and try to see what you're doing then when he walks up to you give him a treat and he will associate you with good things and quiet and he'll be a little more trusting of you,
of course all dogs are different and that might not work the first few times, but its a good way to build trust is let him come to you
congrats!! 

We did get to pet Rusty today.  He was lying by his juniper bush home when it quit raining and we were leaving to go somewhere so Kelly got some ham scraps and we drove over by him and she coaxed him over.  He wagged his tail and we loved on him and fed him although he isn't really comfortable enough to gobble down the treats, kind of turns his head away, then very politely takes them.  We had to go back and wash our hands because he was muddy, then came back and petted him and when Kelly walked up to him, he didn't even get up, just wagged.  Bear took off from under the bush and over the hill but hopefully saw Rusty wagging.  Then we were partway down the road when she realized she forgot something so we had to go back home and of course stop and pet him again.  When I came back, he was lying under the edge of  bush so I drove over there and he wagged at first but Bear was in the bush and took off and then I wasn't sure if i heard growling (I'm hearing impaired so I wasn't sure) and he quit wagging so I just squatted there and talked to him and didn't pet him.  We'll see...... Next time I have Kelly out there with her good ears!  Everytime I am near him, I am amazed at how huge his skull/shoulders, neck are! 

[quote=tripleluckyprince]

what you could try dana is on a nice day when he's outside you could go out with treats and a book or something and sit and read, or let him see that you have a rope or something in your hand then turn your hands away and mess with it so he can see you're hands moving and he might get curious and investigate to see what you're doing, or see if you have food in your lap. the first time he might not investigate but if you keep doing it he'll get curious and try to see what you're doing then when he walks up to you give him a treat and he will associate you with good things and quiet and he'll be a little more trusting of you,
of course all dogs are different and that might not work the first few times, but its a good way to build trust is let him come to you
congrats!! 


For some reason, I immediately thought "Turkey Fryer"  Do you have a turkey fryer?  That would draw them in![8D]

rofl!  Turkey fryer has a special meaning for me!  And my dogs are attracted to it.

Dana, I'm glad you're careful.  I think it's interesting you think they may have been abused by a woman.  Sometimes - like with my fear biter - they don't WANT to and will nearly beg you not to make them, but they are going to bite if they are cornered.  It's strange saying how good natured my Major is when he's trying to rip your hand off - like the other day, I had a muzzle on him to FINALLY trim his nails.  He was horrible but once we were done and he got HIS turn at treats, he seemed so proud of himself that he "did it".  It took a while but his nails got trimmed.  I hate what must have been done to him to make him this way.

I know, it kills me too to think of what must have happened to Bear to make him so fearful that even when we are petting Rusty, he can't be within 50 feet, has to scurry away   We've learned you can't throw treats to them either or both of them startle and run.
 
I figured the juniper is his "home" and didn't want to make him feel cornered in there, if he wanted to be petted he'd come to me. 
 
When it warms up some, I'll go sit there.  I've got the food bowls up against the front of my house, right by a patio table and chairs.

Kelly went out this morning with bits of cheese sticks and left over ham and got Rusty to start acting a little goofy, licking her and wagging his tail and thumping his hind leg when she would hit just the right spot and actually following her and approaching her.  We put an enormous collar on him and tried some leading lessons.  He doesn't appear to have ever been on leash before so we did pull, get a couple steps out of him, reward, repeat   She was out there for about 30 min.  Bear went away initially, then lurked about 40 feet out from the bush, watching and pacing back and forth.  That's progress from a couple days ago because he would just disappear into the field so at least now he's hanging around and watching.

YAY!