Fear biting

Question
My female GSD had a litter of pups 3 yrs ago.  She rejected one of the pups the 2nd day, so I took over and tube fed then bottle fed him.  We decided to keep him and he has grown into a big, well mannered part of our family living in our home.  My problem is we can't board him.  He gets so upset when we get out of sight that we were told he is a fear biter and it would not be good to leave him.  A vet boarding place I checked into said they would have to keep him heavily sedated and he probably wouldn't eat or drink.  Not an option if gone for a week.  What can we do to help him?

Answer
Hi Linda,  GSD's are high anxiety dogs anyway, so when you have one like this, it can be even harder.  Have you tried a pet sitter?  If someone could stay in your home and watch him while you are gone, it would probably make it a lot easier for him.   I would have the pet sitter take him for walks off and on for a couple of weeks before actually staying there so the dog gets use to interacting with them.  You could go on the walks at first, then slowly back out of going on the walks.  Get the dog to slowly adjust to the pet sitter.  A kennel situation would definitely be out of the question.  Hope this helps,  Good Luck.

Dawn