Greetings all,
I'm writing because I just brought home a "rescue" of sorts. He's a German Shepherd that was advertised as free. I had been without a dog for a little bit now, so I decided to go check him out.
I found him in a 12x12 chain link kennel. He is 19 months old, adopted when he was three. From what I could gather, I don't think he had been out of the kennel much. And has had very little human interaction. The entire kennel smelled of his waste.
The owner gave me papers showing (apparently, I've never owned a purebred) that he is continental kennel club eligible, with the breeders information. (side note: does anyone know if it's possible to check and see if this breeder is reputable?). For whatever that's worth.
Anyway, I brought him home, and thought it would be a good idea to let him get used to the back yard first. Just getting him back there was a challenge. Once back there, I let him off leash to let him get used to his new space. While I was next to him he would not move. So I went inside. Now I'm going out every 30 minutes or so, so that he gets used to me being there. He will not come anywhere near me.
I realize it's going to be a slow process to socialize him, but can anyone give any tips and advice?

Thanks,
Bryan

Whenever you are around him, keep a handful of treats (or just really tasty kibble) in your pocket. Start off by calling him and treating him when he comes to you. Treat him whenever he starts to relax in your presence. Treat him if he lets you pet him. Treat him while you're brushing him. Treat him for letting you put the leash on him. Take the treats with you on the walk, treat him every few feet that he is walking well, etc, etc.-- you get the idea. Be patient, it will take time. And praise! Lots of praise-- eventually, you will be able to substitute praise for treats.

Our problem is even before that. Right now he'll barely let me lightly touch him, with absolutely no sudden movement. If I move fast at all, he'll jump and run away. He's not even food motivated. I try to give him treats, and he is completely disinterested.

Worried about him.

It would really help if you understood counter conditioning, desensitization, triggers and thresholds. You can start by taking social pressure off the dog, that means no eye contact, no talking to the dog, being very careful with your body language. In order for the dog to start to feel good about you he first needs to stop feeling afraid. The dog does not need to do anything to get treats from you, when a dog is afraid they learn best by classical conditioning, not operant, so by association, if every time you walk past the dog a piece of cheese descends from the heavens the dog may soon come to see you as the indicator that something wonderful is about to happen. This is the start, but there's lots more to understand, way more than an online forum can help you with. One challenge you may face with this dog in the future is that he becomes comfortable with you but not other people and like other GSD discover that they can control their surroundings with some scary barks or snaps. Once you establish a positive trusting relationship with this dog you need to then work on helping the dog deal with all its other fears, and I'm going to guess it will have many. I put up the fearfuldogs.com website to help folks like you learn to work with your dog.