Thank you, Popcorn. Deana is a Sato (Puerto Rican feral dog) that I fostered 3 years ago. She is a Golden/GSD mix and 75 lbs. She was born in a ditch on the side of the road near Ponce, P.R. Her pregnant mother was struck by a car, a passerby saw the accident and witnessed the mother deliver a litter of 9 pups. Only 2 survived, Deana and her sister Tina. An elderly man took them home and bottle fed them, hoping to raise them to guard his chickens. Unfortunately he had no idea how to socialize orphaned pups, so they grew up without the nurture of a Momma dog to teach them "dog stuff' (bite inhibition, respect for other dogs and humans, boundaries, etc.)
Long story short, at 9 months they were terrorizing him and killing his chickens. Luckily, his neighbor was a volunteer for Save-A-Sato who brought them to the shelter. They were eventually shipped to the shelter in MA., where I was a rescue coordinator for the Sato program. They arrived together huddled in the back of a single crate and they looked from outside like one huge dog. We determined that separating them would be their only hope to socialize and place them. Deana came home with me, Tina went with another coordinator.
I got a 9 month dog, who was alternately huddled in a crate or or was snapping like an alligator if you tried to remove her from the crate. She refused to eat, howled all day/night in mournful tone and pee'd as soon as she was released from the crate. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She was teathered to me for the next 2 months, she was fed from my hand. She was walked with a special halter because she would back out or buck out of any collar placed on her neck. I did the NILIF program, gave her her own room in my house eventually and slowly introduced her to my dogs.
My GSD girl was a kennel 'nanny' before she was rehomed to me. I have to credit her with taking up the pack socialization work. You can't undervalue the role of a confident bitch in getting a sense of appropriate behavior and calming a terrified pup. I was handicapped by my human perspective on dog social order. She 'got it done' much more efficiently than I could have. (Good Girl, Lili!)
Eventually, Deana was taken everywhere I went that dogs were allowed. We took shy/reactive dog training classes. Fast forward eight months, I had a nice but shy dog dog, well trained enough to go to her new home.
For the last 2 plus years she has been a companion to my ex-husband who suffered PTSD and multiple medical problems. We were divorced but remained friends, we had weekly conversations about Deana's behaviors. Unfortunately, he was far more permissive and lenient with her than I would have been, but it worked for them.
Three weeks ago, he passed away suddenly at home. Deana's howling alerted his neighbors. He was found on his bed with Deana standing over him. She was taken away by the paramedics and spent a night at the Animal Control Officer's kennel iin Boston (a noisy and stinky place) until I was able to get her. Her marking behaviors took place on her first night at my home. Clearly it was regression/fear/ and a measure of grief.
We'll get back to her baseline by the same method we got her socailized trained the first time. The take away is: use all the tools in your toolbox, don't get frustrated and anxious if your dog has setbacks, determine which methods are working and which aren't, expect periods of regression and never be afraid to network with others if you can't fix a problem. There is no shame in saying "I need help to fix this." And remember dogs are dogs, they try really hard to accomodate our needs but at the end of the day...they're dogs and they do dog things that sometimes make us crazy. Pick your battles carefully or you'll drive yourself and your dog crazy.
I don't come on here very often - but there are some people that I genuinely really like here so I drop in now and then to quick read on anyone I don't run into in other places 
