How to deal with a semi-feral dog?

The day after New Years we spotted a pregnant dog outside of my neighborhood. After a few failed attempts at getting her she disappeared for 3 weeks. Then she popped up again, no longer pregnant. We finally managed to catch her by putting her pups in a carrier then sneaking up on it and closing the door with her inside. We now have her and her 4 little bundles of joy. They are now at their cutest at 5 1/2 weeks old, but she is still very leery of us. She hides in her kennel and only comes out to eat and potty. The closest she will come to us is to take a treat from our hands. We've dealt with skittish dogs before, but they were approachable and affectionate, just abused/neglected. She's never acted aggressively towards us, just scared. Does anyone out there have experiance with dogs like this? What can we do to help her become more trusting and approachable? How long does it take to "tame" a semi feral dog?

Thanks

Give her lots of time. You're less threatening to her if you're at her level---like sitting down. Spend time just sitting near her, not attempting to engage her in anything. Read a book, play with the pups if she doesn't mind, anything that doesn't involve her. Eventually, she will come to you. It has to be on her terms. Once she does come to you, don't make sudden movements. Talk quietly to her, reach out slowly to touch her.

It will take a lot of patience, but one she comes around, it will speed up. If she will take treats gently, she's already got a good start.

There is no set time limit. She could turn around in a week or take six months. I would guess that a month of daily conditioning will be enough.

Do you sit nearby while she eats? If not, try sitting several feet away and DON'T MOVE! When she seems comfortable with that, move a foot closer. Continue doing this until she's comfortable with you being within arm's length. By this time she'll know who's providing the food.

Good luck! And keep us posted on your progress.

Mary

We sit in the room with her and when we give her treats she usually sits there and watches us while we play with the pups. If we watch her she goes back into her crate to hide. She won't eat her food while we are in there, but she'll come out and finish up the puppy mush while we play with the pups. She's never had a problem with us touching the pups, but if we try moving any blankets or towels in her area, she grabs them and tries to pull them away from us. I think she probably belonged to someone at one point, but she probably was ignored most of her life. Thanks for the pointers, I'll try to keep everyone updated if I don't lose internet access again.

I don't have any advice, but I want to wish you good luck! I hope you find them all good homes, and that the mom learns to trust you. :)

just keep trying and don't give up!:D

That sounds just like Buddy was when I got him! He had been living in an old barn by himself, they didn't know how long he was there, he was only a year old at the time.
When I brought him home he wouldn't leave his crate except to eat and potty (like you said) little by little, he would get more and more brave. Walk a little further into the living room when we were watching TV. But when ever one of us would get up, he'd run back into him crate. I spent every second I could sitting next to his crate, talking to him, giving him treats anything and everything I could to win him over (I also slept next to his crate the first 2 nights he was at my house) :o

I would lay down right in front of his crate with the door open and talk to him for hours. I can't remember how long it took before he was better, (well... he's still afraid of my hubby, but he's the only person he's still THAT afraid of... I think it has more to do with Buddy wanting to protect me from him)

Buddy was the same way.... wouldn't only get close enough to take a treat and keep on running, it just takes time! And even if I'd told you that it took 6 months for him to come around, every dog is different, so you never know how long it will take!!

Good Luck, and don't give up!! I've had Buddy now for 13 months and I'm still not giving up on him ...... praying one day he will like my hubby and we all can live a "normal" life!!

I won't give up on her. I just have a feeling it's going to be really hard to get her adopted out. If we didn't have so many other fosters it would be so much easier to work with her and give her more of the one-on-one she needs. Fortunately we got to her and the puppies before they learned fear. They were pee pad trained at 3 weeks old. :D They still try to use them, if they haven't torn them up already. :rolleyes: