adopted dog feels uncomfortable

Question
We just adopted a 10 month old beautiful black lab. We are unsure of his previous owners realtionship with him. Anyways, when brought him home he came inside but will not follow any commands and seems very afraid of going outside. We are not sure if he was abused prior to our taking him in and we are also wondering if its to late to get him to adjust to his new loving family and not be afraid. And if so how do we go about it? Thank you for your time!

Answer
You may want to see if there is an AllExperts section on adopted/rescue dogs as I don't know much about that aspect of the dog.  I have either bought puppies or bred my own dogs.  This is not really a LABRADOR RETRIEVER issue.

However, if the adoption was VERY recent, you will need to give the dog some time to adjust.  Just because it may have lived with another family in their house, doesn't mean that it won't need an adjustment period in your home.  

I would do some research and google "bringing home an adopted dog" and see if you can find any websites.

For example, this is one article I found that looked good:  http://dogs.about.com/od/adoptionrescuesshelters/a/adopted_adult.htm

I would also get enrolled in an obedience class so that you can work on your bond with your new dog.  

Good Luck.