Re: Dog advice
My wife is the big dog expert in the house, so I'm turning it over to her.
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I agree with others who point out that he's lucky to have someone who is home most of the time. 8 hours by himself is fine... think of dogs whose owners work outside the home. Our dogs are home alone probably 10+ hours a day, admittedly with a dog walker coming mid-day.
If his response to your being stressed is moving away, that's certainly not the worst response! Does he have a crate or some other 'safe' space he can go to (my dogs still haven't figured out that if I'm yelling at the TV, it's because of the baseball game, not them). It's great that you notice that... Really, it sounds like you are doing a LOT right! You can tell when he's stressed, and you let him know that it's not him.
BTW, it's entirely possible that he wasn't abused, but he's just a sensitive soul. Rotties (he looks part rottweiller) are quite sensitive to people, especially their 'masters'. I think he's pretty lucky... gets exercise, his 'person' is around a lot of the time, and realizes that structure is important, exercise is important.
He is in GREAT shape, BTW. Really wonderful looking dog (there are soooooo many fat dogs out there so it's wonderful to see a fit dog).
You're right not to 'comfort' him too much - the wrong thing to do IMHO would be "oh no, POOR BABY POOR DOG" b/c then he WOULD start thinking "ooh, I should cower, this IS something to get worried about" but a calm "it's OK" and calling him over seems pretty appropriate to me.
Lots of dogs live with far less attention and less devoted owners, so I think you're doing OK.
And as for your schedule... if he can adjust, that's great (one of my dogs could do that. the other gets up at 7 AM NO MATTER WHAT.).
Good luck - I think he sounds like a lucky dog, personally.
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