Badly neglected dog, advice seeked

[Kordolar]

I've recently come in the possession of a 1 1/2 year old mutt, only breeds can tell that's in her are shepherd/husk but the vet thinks there's more by her looks. Regardless for the duration of her life she's was just kept in a 6 x 6 pen outside with 2 other dogs, colar on so tight that it rubbed the skin off her neck, and never once going to a vet.

So, now she's with me. 2 vet appointments later, 1 for her neck, the 2nd to get her vacinations, 3rd will be a follow-up on the vacinnes, and 4th will hopefully to have her spaded. She's doing great physically, I and the vet was very surprised she came up negative for heartworm and lime disease, but she is extremely skittish. I had to carry her to and from the vet just to get her there, tail between the legs the whole time. It's very understandable considering probably everything she's experiencing now with me is new. As it stands I just try to make sure she has everything she needs and give her as much attention I can during the day to, hopefully, win her over. She hasn't responded to treats at all, she won't take them directly from me but if I put them in her food bowl and walk away she'll grab it and take it to her spot.

Just looking for advice if anyone has any. I'm currently just going to stick with what I'm doing and hope I can at least get her to not be afraid around me and the g/f. Thanks.

[Sudilar]

Thank you for saving that poor dog. It is going to take a lot of time and patience to win this unfortunate pup over, but it can be done. Good luck to you.

http://www.doggiedoor.com/confiden.shtml

[ramanth]

Bless you for taking in the poor soul and good luck to you!

[aly]

You're wonderful for saving the dog :)

Time and patience are the main things. This dog hasn't been exposed to anything in the oustide world. Just imagine how scary is must be to have everything so new and different all at once. She will definately come around and your love and caring will help her. You will see her develop into a confident, happy dog and it will be the best feeling in the world.

Just remember to take things slow. Sounds like you're doing wonderfully.

[AnnieOCFP]

Thank you for rescuing this unfortunate creature!

I hope you are keeping her near you most of the time. I would talk to her constantly--doesn't matter what you say--she won't care. Get her used to the sound of your voice. Get her used to the sight of you, always near.

99% of all dogs LOVE food! If she's afraid to take it from you, then put it in a bowl near her and stand back. Gradually, get the bowl closer and closer to you, and finally right to your hand.

She is going to hate the vet, so just accept that and move on.

Love her, be patient with her, treat her only with kindness. Never, ever use force on her for training. Your hands give only pleasure. Once she bonds with you and trusts you, a quiet cross word should be enough to correct her. For now, I wouldn't even correct her behavior at all. Just get her to trust you.

Even though she is 18 months old, she is socially and behaviorly a puppy. She has seen nothing in her life but a small pen. She is going to be afraid of everything and skittish, just like a new puppy.

Good luck!!

[Karen]

Thank you so very much for caring enough to take her in. You are an angel for her. Patience, patience, love and patience. Keep up what you are doing, and as she gets more comfortable with you, you can start socializing her more.

I would guess that she has been beaten in the past, her not taking a treat from your hand is a pretty string indicator that hands near her have had bad consequnces in the past. But the more you are around her, the more she will begin to trust you.

Her behhavior reminds me of a rescue my older brother had. She was a 9-or 10-month-old black Great Dane mix who had been beaten any time she barked. Danes are not very barky, either. Well, my brother found out and took her home, and my 4-year-old niece named her "Princess." I visited them about two weeks after she came home. Her coat was getting it's shine back, and she was never afraid of my brother or niece, but I was a stranger. We were standing in their kitchen talking, and this tall, too-skinny black dog came through the doorway. My brother cautioned me, so I crouched dow, so I was less scary, and quietly called her. Well, her tail wagged, and you could se she WANTED to some over, but her legs wouldn't move, and she just couldn't come over, she was too afraid. Just about broke my heart ... well, the next time I visited, two months later, Princess met me at the door, wagged and "Boof"ed my arrival. She was a whole new dog!

Time, love, and time were what helped her, and what will help your new girl. What's her name?

[Kordolar]

I wish I could of taken all 3 but I unfortunately don't have enough room for 3 medium sized dogs. After looking the 3 over I felt Belle was the least likely to get adopted. The other female was extremely playful and would make a good dog for someone and the mother of them was very patient; just sat next to ya and waited to be given attention. I hope the animal control guy was true to his word and took the 2 as strays. Where I live if the owner gives up thier animals to animal control they are put to sleep immediately, if they are taken as strays they are put up for adoption. This is what the owner of the 3 told me, hence why I took at least 1 of them, and the animal control guy assured me he was going to log them as strays.

I've already established that there will be no disciplining of Belle except for biting. I originally had a fear that she might bite out of fear but she's already proven me wrong on that one. For being as scared as she is about, well, everything she has shown no signs of aggression and just takes whatever it is. Be it me picking her up and carrying her or having a the vet get a anal sample or giving her, her first ever bath(yuck).

She's actually proving to be a very good dog as it is. She has yet to go to the bathroom in the house except for the first weekend when I was afraid to let her go into the back yard cause I thought I'd never be able to get her back inside. Now she just whines and I just open the door and move away, she'll do her business and come back. I suppose being outside her whole life that's just where she wants to go.

I've been debating whether I should force her to spend time with me. She stays in the main room I stay in which is basicly the dining/entertainment area. The room is seperated by a island mini-bar with the dining table and chairs on one side, which she has claimed as her area and the futon spread out as a bed/tv/computer/etc on the other. I'm usually by the computer or on the futon. One day I did pick her up and put her on the futon with me. I've yet to do it again since I was concerned that, that wouldn't be the best approach. So I've just left her to her spot, I can see her from the computer, she can see me and I just go over to her every so often and giving her attention.

As of now I've had her for alittle more than 2 weeks. She's taking to my g/f pretty well. She actually will, eventually, go to her when she calls her. For me, if I call her she usually does laps around the table and the general expession is "I want to come but I'm scared". It is alittle disheartening to walk up to her and have her go immediately submissive but I understand and know it will take time.

If you didn't catch it her name is Belle :)

[lv4dogs]

Welcome! Thank you for saving her. It sounds like you have a good start! I would continue to work slow & steady w/ her. If she seems to improve then get worse just back up a step in training & start again. Maybe offer a really tasty treat (little pieces of leftover meats or freeze dried liver treats for dogs). Once she has overcome her fear of new surroundings & things then enroll in a puppy class for socialization & some basic obedience and then follow w/ a basic obedience class. Make sure it is w/ a reputable trainer, especially w/ her being timid.
Spend a lot of time w/ her but not TOO much as w/ her condition she might encounter seperation anxiety when you leave.
After her vaccines are given try to get her out often to get her used to new things.
What is her name? I love mutts! I have a couple that came from a shelter off death row & everyday I guess another breed that might be mixed in. It is a fun guessing game.

[mugsy]

Another Pet Talk hero!!!!! Yeah for you! My best advice having had a couple of skittish ones. Is just like the others have said. Talk to her a lot in a very soft gentle tone and spend as much time as possible in the same room. She WILL come around with some love and patience. I would also try and sleep as close to her as possible. That's what Mike does with all of our new ones. He spends the first couple of nights in the living room on the couch with them and they respond very well. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Adge Gibbs]

You'll do fine. Just take it slow. My dog was pretty bad off when I got him and every once in a while, he still gets pretty timid around people with certain body types, but it passes quickly.

Just be patient and understand that if she starts to retreat into a shell, understand that she isn't rejecting you. I've had my dog for a few years now and it has taken a lot of work and a lot of praise to get him to where he is now.

Much luck, but I'm sure it will work out. You sound like you have a good heart.

[C J]

I found a puppy in a ditch 4 years ago. She was the most terror-stricken dog I've ever laid eyes on. The vet pointed out some signs of former abuse on her you wouldn't want to hear about. She was not a candidate for adoption. I couldn't even bathe her without her screaming and rolling her eyes, fighting, etc. Two things that worked best for us in helping Bingo, as we named her, were tons of lavish praise, & the efforts of our Lab, who mothered Bingo & patiently taught her to play & smile again.
If you can find one or 2 things your timid dog does well that you can praise him for, I would load on the praise every single day & make a great big fuss. One thing Bingo does now is go & get her collar every morning & bring it to one of us. Sometimes she does it before we tell her to. Her big eyes are happy & expectant because she knows she will get a full minute or 2 of total praise & positive attention, just for her. Praise also got her to accept being bathed (after about 18 months of giving it). Today she will jump into the tub for her bath when I tell her to. She is not the same dog at all, & those 2 things are what did it for us. I hope Bingo's story might be of some help to you.

[mugsy]

What an inspirational story CJ...Bingo is lucky to have you and you're lucky to have her.

[manda99]

Originally posted by mugsy
What an inspirational story CJ...Bingo is lucky to have you and you're lucky to have her.


I couldn't agree more.

[anna_66]

It was so wonderful of you to take this dog in:)
We also took in a dog this year (6/27/02), the first one we've never raised from a puppy & had a hand in molding (she came with her own, sometimes strange personality:)).
Huney obviously had been hit & kicked, she was scared to death of my husband, but not too bad with me. She has never pottied in the house (she has free run) and never destroyed anything (except maybe a stuffed animal or two:rolleyes: ) We never talked mean to her, so now her only problem is she thinks she's never bad, and she rarely ever is!
All in all she has been the most wonderful dog! She's totally gotten over her shyness of Mark & she loves him to death! We took her to obedience school & she was a quick study. She loves other dogs, but still not too sure about people, but she's slowly getting there.
I hope you will have as much luck with Belle as we've had with our little Huney Bun (that's a pic of her in my signature-the beautiful looking chow!)!
Do you have a pic of Belle? We'd love to see her!

[HoneyBunny]

My dog was a similar story except no abuse & no neglect after the first 6 months of her life. She's a year old and we've had her almost 2 weeks. She spent her whole life outside and has never had much individual attention. She was afraid of us when we first got her and did many of the same things that your dog is doing. She warmed up to us in only 3 days... probably because there was no former abuse. She loves us so much and wants to be with us all the time, but she does have a particular spot in our living room that she spends most of her time in. She warmed up to me faster than my husband and to his sisters and mom faster than his dad (still hasn't quite warmed up to dad yet). My father-in-law who has raised about 7 or 8 dogs says that most dogs warm up to women faster than men for some reason. I imagine that it has to do with the way society has taught us to carry ourselves. Women must act in a less threatening way than men in dog language without even realizing it. One thing that helped with us was not forcing anything (except things you have to like going to the vet) on our dog. If she got scared or whined about something we were trying to get her to do, we just stopped pushing. They will go to the bathroom when they need to, eat when they need to, and ask for attention when they need it. It just takes time for them to get comfortable with a new environment and new friends. You are a true hero for rescuing this dog because many people would have passed her by as unadoptable. Just keep feeding her and being kind to her and she'll warm up. Listen to me, giving advice with the signature I have. Ha! :rolleyes:

[C J]

I thought of two other things that helped us with our timid Bingo. Maybe one or both might help you too....To this day Bingo has a hard time with new situations or even little changes in her regular routine. So maybe if you establish a comfortable routine & adhere to it religiously it might give your dog the security of knowing what to expect.
One trick Bingo loves doing is to go & get her food dish at supper time & take it to her eating place, set it down, then sit next to it and wait for us to fill it with food. She thrives on the praise she always gets for doing her trick; her big eyes light up & she gives tons of happy kisses. But if we are in a hurry & just grab a dish & set it down for her, Bingo looks upset and sometimes won't eat all of her food. So we have learned that her routine & her praise are both very important to Bingo's well being.
We also don't raise our voices around Bingo. Though she has come a VERY long way since I found her, there are still remnants of whatever happened to her before I found her. We discovered that Bingo's confidence is shattered if she hears yelling. Recently we had friends over watching a football game & we did yell a bit until we saw that Bingo was tucking her little stubby tail & cowering and looking fearfully around the room. We immediately reassured her and toned it down, but she remained nervous for quite a while afterward. So we learned another lesson from that. Again, I'm hoping some part of this might help you with your timid one. It's a real joy to watch them gain confidence & see their true personality emerge....good luck!