Much like people, an adult dog from a bad home who was raised poorly and has bad habits will be difficult to re-train.
Exactly right. My next door neighbor who already had an Australian Shepherd adopted a border collie last September from a rescue. Was told the dog was "shy" around other people but that she quickly adapted.
Boy, was that ever wrong! This poor sweet little border collie had been so abused she was deathly afraid of people. The only reason she took to my neighbor was because of my neighbor's Australian Shepherd, which quickly befriended her.
When I met Sasha (the border collie) she panic barked, hid behind my neighbor and then made several attempts to nip at me. It was pretty bad. So I did some research on how to break Sasha of her behavior, which was to ignore her.
The second meeting with Sasha went like a charm. As she panic barked behind my neighbor I sat down on the ground and ignored her barking and didn't once look at her while I talked to my neighbor.
Within 5-7 minutes she was next to me, sniffing, looking and started wagging her tail. As I reached out slowly she let me pet her for a minute before going back to my neighbor. I continued sitting there, ignoring her and let her approach me on her terms. It didn't take long for her to come back to me, sniff, let me pet her and she licked my face. We've been best buddies since (she runs to me when she's outside) and I've helped introduce her to other neighbors to get her accustomed to them.
It's been a long haul correcting Sasha's behavior and she's a sweetie now. Some days my neighbor brings her over and I have her for the day while she works. Sasha is my "therapy" as I've been without my Teddy for the last 3 years now. I love this little girl Sasha like she's my own. Dammit, she stole my heart.
I guess I'm more patient with dogs than people. I've had them all my life except for the past three years now and I somehow relate to them better than most people. I'm definitely a dog person.