Need advice to help our recently adopted dog?

just adopted her about a month ago.....she was sick....a kennel rescue and we finally got her ';well'; but i am at a loss as to how to help her. she seems to be terribly afraid when i am folding clothes or anything like that....opening up a new trash bag....both of which i shake out when i do. she will run and hide and since she is an indoor pet....it is sort of impossible to not have her around when i am doing these everyday things. i have a feeling that someone must have hurt her maybe with something....a towel or whatever and we want to help her not be afraid anymore. she gets lots of love and cuddling and sleeps on the bed at night.....but she is also skiddish when we reach for her.....and sometimes even runs away from us. it is hard to figure out where to start or what to do.....


any advice would be appreciated....Need advice to help our recently adopted dog?
That is a difficult scenario to deal with, but it can be done as long as you are persistent. The key is to make sure that you are remembering that she is a dog first, and a friend second. Dog's are great therapy for people, and we tend to treat them as if they are people, so we use human psychology on them, but this is not what they need. When your pup is in this state, DO NOT give her affection, which is a natural instinct for people to do.





You need to make the dog calm down while there are ';scary'; things present. This is easier said than done. First, make sure that you are calm and confident. She will pick up on your energy. If she senses that you are upset and tense, her emotions will intensify.





Once you are calm and confident, make her ';face her fears.'; Put her on a leash near whatever it is that is scaring her and have her ';submit'; to it. Make her sit near it and, even better, lay on her side next to it, as this is the ultimate form of submission.





When you do this, she will probably struggle and throw some sort of tantrum. You have to let her know that this is NOT a wanted behavior and be persistent. No matter what the sign of anxiety (whining, barking, growling, showing teeth, pulling) you need to correct it. It is important to correct even the smallest signs of stress. Do NOT wait until she is already out of control. Even if she looks at the object as if she is fixated, you need to correct it so her excitement level is not increased even more. (Stress is caused by being in an excited state.)





Corrections should be made by either jerking the leash (if she is charging towards or away from the scary item), or ';biting her.'; When I say bite I do not mean with your teeth. That would just be weird. Make your hand into a claw or mouth, using your fingertips like teeth, and quickly but firmly make a biting motion on her neck. This is how a dominant dog would express disapproval, it will make her focus on you and she will then pay attention to what is expected of her (it may take some time, but be consistent and it WILL help).





A note on tugging the leash. When training a dog, put the leash HIGH on the animal's neck, immediately behind her ears. This pulls her head to where you want her focus to be (which is not on the item scaring her, you want her to learn to be around it and ignore it). Never pull back or forward, always to the side. This throws the dog off balance, and again, gets her to pay attention to you. Try not to maintain tension on the leash, as the dog will struggle against the tension and her energy level will rise rather than relax, which is the desired result. Tension should be brief and firm, even if corrections are frequently necessary.





Lastly, and most importantly, make sure that she is getting enough exercise. A dog with excess energy will become frustrated, and anxiety is a side effect of that frustration.





While behaving this way towards a person who is under distress seems mean, your dog will not see it that way. She will interpret these things as you being in control, and she will feel safer around you because of your confidence. She will not love you any less for it, and you will end up with a happier and more balanced dog because of it.





Please, though, for her sake, do not buy into the idea that she ';needs some time.'; Dogs move on very quickly (you can completely undo 12 years worth of abuse or bad behavior in 12 weeks or less). If you ';give her time,'; it may feel as though you are nurturing her, but in actuality, you are only nurturing her FEAR!!! Remember, dogs have much shorter memories than people. If you correct signs of fear NOW, she will be relaxed and fear free in three months (or possibly as soon as 2 weeks), while some might still be ';giving her time.'; I hope this helps, and good luck to both you and your girl!Need advice to help our recently adopted dog?
More patience than you could ever know, more love than you expect to give, more time than life will allow, more respect than is usual. It's just like when a human child is born with a illness. Love and patience cures all. She is SO VERY BLESSED to have you. What touches my heart more than anything thing that you said was your last sentence......';it is hard to figure out where to start or what to do....'; You sound more than willing to keep her, along with wanting help and advice. You didn't say ';we might get rid of her';. Thank you for caring for your little girl and allowing her to learn the love of a human being that isn't going to do more damage to her, and won't hurt her more than she has already been hurt. That in itselt if ';love';. My deepest blessings!
If you are near a vet school, I would contact their dog behavior department. But in the meantime, try to move slowly around her, train her using rewards, don't yell at her or hit her, and you can also try Dog Appeasing Pheromone. It's this thing you plug into the wall that lets off a scent that only dogs can smell. It helps about 40% of dogs calm down. You can also give her a place to go where she feels safe, like a crate or something. If she is introduced to it properly, it will become her den and you can encourage her to go there when you are doing the laundry, or other things that scare her.
Good for you rescuing a dog in need! With some time and love, she can learn to be a wonderful companion.


#1 most important thing to remember: do not coddle her. When she presents with a fearful reaction, if you try to comfort her, in her mind you are also afraid. The best thing to do is completely ignore her fearful reaction and go about your business like nothings wrong. With time she should realize these things arent going to hurt her. Most likely she had little to no socialization as a pup and so has not learned to cope with the sights and sounds of the world.


I would also highly suggest enrolling her in a basic obedience course offered by an instructor who uses only positive training methods. Training is a wonderful way to help a shy dog gain confidence. If the obedience training goes well, consider continued classes such as an agility course to help her continue her progress to becoming a well adjusted dog. Good luck!
i adopted a dog from a rescue scenario and what a head ache ignore her fear act treat like she is normal I got good results from using a Bach flower remedy called mimulus my dag is now six and she is bettar smart and attractive but she is a lot of extra work
A month is not long enough to heal an abused dog. Some times forever isn't time to heal the deep emotional wounds.





You will have to give her a lot of love and patience and then give her MORE. Just try and be aware that she has been thru abuse that an idiot human being subjected the poor darling to. She certainly didn't deserve it so you owe her more patience to show her all humans are not as bad as the others she has known in her short life.
Do not comfort her when she runs,you are reinforcing that submissive behavior. Are you walking her everyday on a lead?
shes timid, playing tug of war and letting her win should help
This sounds mean, but keep doing what bothers her.


The more you do it, the faster she will see that it's no big deal.





Praise bravery, ignore fear.





When ever possible, show her the scary thing. Like the trash bag. Put one on the floor for her to sniff, crinkle it a little, wave it around. Sometimes it's a matter of inexperience with that object.





Also, pets fresh from the shelter need ';down time'; to settle in. That doesn't mean change your routine, that could do more harm than good. If they start expecting something and you change it, they freak out again.


They do need a little ';space'; to adjust. Loving families are very different from what they're used to.





Good luck.
Bless you for rescuing her! Give her time. Before you open up the trash bag or start folding clothes, encourage her to come up and sniff the towel, trash bag and reward her with a treat when she does. This will build up her confidence





When you reach for her do you bend down to pet her on her chest or reach over head? ALL dogs cower away from anyone reaching over their head (unless they are very submissive). Have you gone to Petsmart and seen a dog that you would like to pet? If you go to pet their head, they will back away from you....





Find a trainer that can help you with her. She lacks confidence in herself. It will take some time on your part, but it will be worth it in the end





Read the book,





The Other End of The Leash by Patricia McConnell....





It will give you a GREAT insight to dogs and their world.





Good Luck with her:)
She sounds like she had been traumatized.





It's hard to see them react that way, but you have to try to not feed into it. While you're doing laundry, folding towels, try dropping a few treats down. Each time you perform a task that makes her nervous, drop a few treats.





That may help to turn the negative association, into something positive.





Be patient with her and don't coddle her when she's nervous, as that only reinforces the undesirable behavior.





G'luck
Good for you taking a shy frightened shelter dog. Most people will not adopt these dogs and they certainly never get any better in a shelter environment and end up being put down.


It is important to expose her to all the things that happen in the house. She needs to learn none of these things will hurt her.


Does she like treats? Keep plenty with you. Make them high value treats like pieces of hot dog or chicken or lunch meat or anything else you find that she really likes. Then, everytime you do something she seems fearful of give her a treat. You may need to have her on a leash while you are doing things in the house so she does not run off and hide. You don't want to reward the wrong behavior.


I'd also find a positive training class and enroll her. Go and watch the class before you sign up and be sure they only use positive training methods.
It sounds like this dog may have been abused. The only thing I can say is that you have to work on her regaining trust in humans. Although you may treat her well and be a wonderful dog owner, she needs time to learn to trust even someone with the best intentions. I am not an expert, but would recommend that you take it slow with her. As for the sheets, etc, if you can try to not do too much around her. She seems very nervous and fearful and it will be your job to gain her trust. I'm sure it will work in time. Good luck and don't give up. I am dealing with the opposite problem. I adopted a shelter dog 2 weeks ago and have to deal with aggressive behavior. I think it is the same way for me, to establish a trust that I am not going to take his food or toys forever. Most animals from shelters have either been abused, neglected, found walking the streets fending for themselves, and even a shelter, although in an animal's best interest, is a very stressful environment even for the most well adjusted pet.
my chihuhua was that way when we first got him also. everytime we would reach for him or pet him he would go run and hide.





this happened for a while but he sooner got out of the stage and doing just fine(:





maybe your dog just needs time as did mine.





goodluck !
Heather absolutely has the right idea. Your dog may take quite some time to recover from whatever she has been through, and you may never even discover what that was.


Sometimes dogs who are abused are afraid of any quick gestures made by people, or they will associate a noise with something bad in their past. It really is best to ignore the dog and go on with your work. Eventually she will either get curious about what you are doing, or she will desensitize to whatever the noise is that bothers her.


It is also possible that your dog was loose for awhile. They go into a kind of survival mode, where everything around them is suspect, all noises, all people, all things. It takes time to come out of this as well, and the best way to handle that is to let her get exposed to everything you can without confronting her with it.


In other words, go about your business and let her come to you.





Some tips on how to get her more used to you and the other people in your home:





Don't approach her and stand over her at any time. Try to crouch down before you get to her and let her make up the distance.


Try not to have anyone in the house use a raised voice, even laughter can startle a traumatized dog.


Give her a place all her own where she can go to hide when she wants and don't ever invade that place.


Use slow gestures when reaching toward her-no quick movements.


If you are cuddling in bed, stroke her alot to get her used to your touch.





Stay with it and have patience-she will come around!
I wondered what to when we got a new dog from a shelter and the best thing to do is get her to trust you before anything else and i found out that a easy way to do that is to sit down with her and feed her bits of chicken and pet her alittle then alot then to where she doesnt even notice and it works to !just try that it worked with mine
when you approach her, get down to her eye level, put your hand out palm down (it will not look so threatening) talk to her, it will help her to learn that you are not there to hurt her. I agree that it sounds like she was mistreated, unfortunately. But she can be a great pet if you just have patience help her to learn to trust again. And many thanks for rescuing her from the shelter, it shows that you care.
i love dogs but im sorry i have 4 dogs and i have no idea but just kind of let ur dog get used to it and find out that ur not ganna hurt the doggie
Watch the show Dog Whisperer, or go buy the book. Cesar Millan is the dog whisperer, and he is great with dogs. The book will help you and the show is very informative. There was a dog on his show that was afraid of linoleum floors and he helped the dog overcome his fear. He is great and I highly recommend his show and book. If you want to help your dog, go get the book. There are also Dog Whisperer videos out in the stores. I got some from Toys R Us, and they might even have the one with the dog that was afraid of the floors. Sorry to repeat myself, but go get any of his products (book, videos), and you will be glad you did. I have the book and it has taught me alot about dogs and how we humans treat them like children instead of animals first. It's great!!!! Good luck with your dog, and I hope you will look into Cesar's stuff.