New German Shepherd Mommy - please help

[chandlersmom]

Hey all!
I recently rescued a GSD who was emaciated and dumped on the side of a busy street. The woman who found him nursed him back to health the most she could, and I rescued him from her. I was told he was one year old or less, because she used to work for the SPCA and went by his teeth. She also said that he had gotten bit on the ear when her other dog tried to eat some of his food while he was regaining his strength from starving. So after I rescued him, I took him to the vet, got him neutered, got his ear checked out, scanned him for a microchip, and got a real age estimate. Needless to say, his ear had a pretty nasty ear infection, and he's at least 4 or 5 years old.

Not what I was expecting when I signed on to take this fella. I was expecting a pretty young dog/puppy that would be easier to train. So when I found this out I got a little nervous. He's obviously had a horrible life, and needs love, but he might also have a name that he's used to and things he was brought up on. I just am clueless on this guy. He's the sweetest dog, ever. He knows how to sit, for the most part he's house trained, he does however break my arm everytime he's on a leash but that's because he had no lead training.

All in all, I need to know what to expect. He's neutered, we have medicine for his ear, he's kennel trained (walks right into it on his own) but does cry when we leave him there while we're at work. (We tried to leave him out but he chewed on the door handle.) I just need some helpful optimistic insight for this guy.

PS- We have a mini dachshund, maltese/yorkie, and a couple cats who he gets along with well.

Thank you so much!