u/Ok_Antelope2362

I know there's no way to know for sure without a DNA test, but since it's not currently in the budget, I thought I'd ask the experts in this sub. I suspect our rescue dog Ziggy is at least part ASD. He's about 6 years old and we've had him for a year tomorrow (🎉). He was an owner surrender but the shelter knew nothing about him and had him down as a shepherd mix. He's only 76lbs, so I know he can't be full ASD. No double dew claws. But here's what I've observed in the past year:

• He has a looooong tail that curls up over his back when he's on alert, a thick coat that sheds like nobody's business, and the loosest neck skin of any dog I've ever known.
• He is super chill. I expected the recommended 3-3-3 adjustment period for bringing a new dog home, but he just kind of accepted everything as his new normal without batting an eye. He was in the shelter for 590 days before we got him, so I was fully expecting his personality to change a bit as he settled in, but he's been the same easygoing, goofy dog since day one.
• He's amazing with our other dog, Maisie (F GSD/heeler) and liked other dogs at the shelter (he was OBSESSED with some puppies they had while he was there), but he has a beef with the dog (M GSD) who lives on the other side of our privacy fence and won't disengage unless we physically move him.
• He's extremely intelligent and we only have to teach him an expectation once or twice and he'll meet that expectation flawlessly forever (except not trying to eat the dog next door), but he's also stubborn and willful when learning new things or when we need him to move out of the way. He's in the way 89% of the time because he always wants to be wherever we are.
• He's the sweetest, gentlest, lovebug AND fiercely protective. We have to put the dogs outside when people come over to the house because he's not welcoming to strangers (honestly, neither is Maisie, which doesn't help). When I take the pups outside to play, Maisie will chase the ball and Ziggy will sit a yard away with his back to me, watching the world around us. If anything catches his attention, he's off like a shot to patrol the fence and bark, then returns to his position as sentry.
• He can curl up into a surprisingly small donut for such a big dog.
• He has the softest mouth. When Maisie takes a treat, you've got to count your fingers afterward to make sure they're all still there. When Zig takes treats, you barely notice. When we first got him, he would sometimes "mouth" me when I was doing things he didn't like (like trimming his nails). He never bit down, just put his mouth gently around my hand to try to get me to stop.
• He doesn't dig, but he has destroyed a few things when we've been away from the house. Thankfully nothing precious.
• We have a magnetic screen on our back door. When the weather is nice, I'll leave the door open so the dogs can come and go as they please (I work from home), but if he starts barking incessantly, I'll call them inside and put up a gate so they'll stay quiet for a bit. If something gets his attention, he'll run to the back door, discover that he can't go outside, then make the silliest whiny noise all the way back to my office to complain about his captivity. He makes the same noise when he starts to bark at the mailman and I assure him we're safe.
• He is TERRIFIED of fireworks and thunderstorms. This dog would take on a pack of armed vigilantes if they even looked at me wrong, but at the first distant rumble of thunder, he'll climb onto my lap and refuse to move.
• He is incredibly strong and has no leash manners yet. (We've worked on it a bit, but tore my meniscus and had to postpone leash training until after my recovery.)

Anyway, now that I've written a whole book, I'd love to hear support or opposition for my theory about his breeding. And if y'all think he could be an ASD mix, advice is always welcome. I'm experienced with dogs, but he's my first LGD-type dog and I know they're a breed apart. He's a perfect angel 97% of the time, but that last 3% can be a little stressful. Like, any tips for helping him be more accepting of strangers? We're a bit (unintentionally) reclusive, so we don't have people over very often. And I'll admit that since we've gotten him, I'm even more hesitant to have people over because I know he's intimidating.

We are currently living in town. I know a more rural setting would be better for him if he is an ASD (or any LGD breed) and we actually are working on purchasing property to start a farm (my background is in ag), but I couldn't leave him in the shelter just because our situation isn't 100% perfect for a dog like him. Hopefully in a year or two, we'll have property and livestock for him to guard, but for now, he gets to sleep on the couch and protect me from the evil mailman. I do also know that he killed his previous owners' chickens, so poultry guarding is definitely out. I hope he'll be good with sheep, but advice for introducing him to livestock would be greatly appreciated.