Help with new rescue dog please!

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natalia

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Hi,

Being a sucker for waifs and strays I've been given a little 9 month old yorkie x jack Russell bitch. She came from the gypsies and was dumped off at our yard yesterday from white van. She is very very nervous. We have had her in the house now over night and she still hasn't gone to the toilet! Taken her outside every couple of hours (including 2 am!) to see but nothing! What can I do!? She is very jumpy and cowers when you go near her. I'm hoping she comes out of her shell as otherwise she won't be able to stay and I'll have to find her a quieter home / lifestyle. I want a dog that will come with me in the lorry, be safe running round the yard etc. any ideas to build confidence? We are planning on going to some training classes but I'm unsure when to start these as don't want to scare her even more!
 
Give her time.. She will probably be fine, my bichon frise was a rehomed one and she didn't go to the toilet at first either! It took about 7 months to get her fully house trained too but she is an older dog..
 
Aww bless you for taking her in and giving her a good home.

I would start with the vet to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with her and get the injections etc done.

As for the rest I'm not a dog expert but Marzipan got a similar little guy from the travellers, he was the same but also had an old broken leg which had not been treated and was very lame.

He is now the most beautiful little dog, into everything and very friendly, good with the horses. So they do come round with the right home

Good luck to you and your new girl, has she got a name yet.
 
We've called her Sydni. She is quite sweet, just a bit worried about the loo thing! My equine bet will be in tomorrow so I'll have her micro chipped and vaccinated. She's been wormed, bathed and deflead all ready! I'm
Just looking forward to all the rugs from equiport I can buy to match the horses! Lol.
 
Slow down there! She needs time and peace and quiet to settle :)

Let her have a secure little den - a crate with a blanket over it is ideal, or position her bed under a table or in a similarly enclosed spot so she can feel secure. Resist the temptation to fuss her - let her take the lead at the moment. Be calm and quiet, don't force yourself on her. She needs time to regain her confidence and realise you won't hurt her.

Some dogs just don't like to go in unfamiliar places - she'll go eventually.
 
We have put her bed under a chair in the lounge. She slept in it all last night quite happily. I'm just trying to let her come to me and not force her. She has to spend all day on lead at the yard currently though as she can't run off. Would it be a good idea to get her a crate to go In the tack room or somewhere else quiet?
 
Took my rescue nearly a year to settle into home life properly and that was from kennels. Give her time- she'll come round!
 
Sorry but it may never fully resolve.Lucy,a rescue at 8 months,will never I'm afraid be fully house trained.We just accept that in times of worry or stress there will be accidents,she knows it's wrong but can't help herself.So we just ignore it but good luck.
 
lexiedhb said:
Took my rescue nearly a year to settle into home life properly and that was from kennels. Give her time- she'll come round!
Click to expand...

Totally concur with this. When we took on Dougal 4 and a half years ago, he had sep/anx issues and would toilet in the house. We worked with him gently and slowly but the best piece of advice I got was from a friend with a lot of rescue dog experience. He said 'Don't hurry him. It can take up to 2 years for a dog to finally settle and their full personality to come out.

It sounded an extraordinary length of time, but he was right. After a year or so Dougal was fine, but during the next year he blossomed even more.

However even up to recently he would have the occasional accident in the house when alone (even only for 20 mins or so) UNTIL we got him a little pal, Katy the border terrier. He instantly seemed happier when she moved in - I wish we'd got a second one years ago! Now we have fretting, no accidents. A happy Dougal :)

It may not take your little dog that long, but give her time.
 
I agree with the others. It is going to take a long time. Don't rush her. We rehomed a 2 year old staffyx in October, she was picked up as a stray and she was very very nervous. When we took her to the vets she threw herself on the floor shaking.

Wasn't very house trained, had separation anxiety had no training at all and not been scoialised with people, dogs or horses. It has taken this long to get her comfortable with people in our house and being left. And to be able to walk her out on a lead without pulling like a train and the basic comands like sit and stay. I didn't start taking her to dog training classes until the January and we still a corner of the hall away from the rest of the dogs.

We stiill have a long way to go to get her better socialised with dogs and horses. But is fine with most people now.

She still trys to get at other dogs when she's out, but according to the behaviourist we had out. She want's to socialise with the other dogs, but doesn't unerstand how to so kicks off.

Take time. I think were not getting anywhere some times. But when I look at how bad she was when we got her, she's come a very long way.
 
I've had my rescue girl about 6 months and she is still a work in progress. Very nervous and shy but overtime is getting better and better.

The thing is we don't know what trauma's they've been through and time is all she needs.
 
Well done for taking her in, she just needs time to settle, just treat her as a normal dog and dont pander to her. Establish a routine for her as that will give her security and will help with the settling. Dont force yourself on her but allow her to come to you which will help build her confidence.
 
We take in alot of fearful/unsocialised or even feral dogs for rehome, we always start by placing up a crate and covering it, and allowing the dog free movement if it wished so without over crowding it or attempting to handle to much at first, usually the primary carer builds the first bond and can get the dog to follow them around, the primary carer would be the one taking releasing dog for the toilet and feeding.
As suggested never molecuddle the anxious state as this makes the fear worse.
Little things like offering her random rewards (high reward treats) to get her trust would be a great start and not even directly just thrown them down for her to make a nice trail to temp her to explore.
At the yard, could you maybe take a crate and leave her in the boot with a kong, comfy blanket/crate covered/car in shade. and do it very gradually then eventually her crate in the tack room, again covered and lots of goodies in there to occupy her.
If she is not yet vaxed take her in your arms to see the world just don't put her down she can still hear/smell and see new experienced from up high.

Other calm dogs can help immensely in these situations too, dogs are naturally inquisitive animals and they can learn alot from another calm dog.
When I took my puppy cavi in (for rehome):rolleyes: she was feral, the dam had not be socialised and kept for breeding purpose only and this pup was the last left with it's mother and it screamed blue murder placed in any situation or faced with new stimulus, I demanded all leave her be as they where doing the usual "ahhh bless her" whilst holding their arms out to attempt to pick her up:rolleyes: she would scoot behind the chair screaming, but in her own time she would come out and explore and as long as there was no sudden movement she would use her nose and have a good sniff around to familiarise herself. Grabbing for a puppy in this state will heighten the fear it will run and it will take 3 times longer to work with the behaviour.
Sure hse may remain a timid pup but some can actually get through with no adverse effects but most will show some mental scars:(


Lots of time and patience.
 
Agree with everyone else, you will need to allow at least 12 months. We have an IG rescue and she has been with us for 15months and has only just come around really. To begin with I spent hours in the garden late at night with her to get her to do the necessary. Once the penny dropped she was fine but so afraid of her own shadow that it just took a while for that to happen. She's the happiest dog alive now. Good luck with yours.
 
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