Abused Dog Help?

Question

I have adopted a beautiful Shetland Sheepdog. He is 8 months old and has had past history of being abused. I don't know how to make him trust me. He is very shy. He walks around the house with his tail in between his legs. He is skittish, any slight sound will make him jump. When I reach out to pet him he freezes and gets scared. Whenever I go up to him, he crawls in the corner and gets upset. It breaks my heart. When I call him he won't come to me. He is very smart, but most of the time he will hide under my bed or couch. One time he got in a small hole to get underneath my house. I couldn't get him out, until he got hungry and needed food. I don't know what to do. He won't trust me. I have worked with him, but he still holds on to the past.

Answer 1

try keeping him on a leash attached to your belt in the house. Reward with tidbit treats every time he makes eye contact and a "good". Shelties are a bit on the timid side. Take him everywhere in the car, walks, use a martingale collar so he can't slip out if scared.
He also senses that you are feeling sorry for this dog....buck up with confidence whenever he is timid and he'll think of you as a strong leader and feed off your attitude. If he's leashed he can't get the upper hand on not coming....he's already there. I wouldn't give him the opportunity to be away from me...don't coddle him when he's backing up trying to get away, just do your things and he'll be pulled a couple times to keep up and then in time will figure it out. Just say "come on, lets' go"
so he has a clue, give him a tug and don't look back, just keep going. For eye contact to get his attention, feed him a bit of cheese, then hold it in front of your eyes and treat him the second he does. he just doesn't know what to do....he'll learn as soon as you figure it out.
Good luck

Answer 2

Cecilia,

By the sound of it you love this dog very much, and that is great. I'm sure his or her contact with people was not a good experience for him. However there is light at the end of the tunnel. My friend Kathy did a rescue of a White German Shepherd by the name of NIKKI, when Kathy brought her to me her ears were pinned back, her tail was tucked under her stomach, she was very fearful for good reasons, the former owner kept her chained to a tree, and would swat at her with a hat or news paper

I know that if Kathy did not adopt her they would have put her down. With love, patience and the reassurance that she would never be hurt again went along way with Nikki. It took a year for her to do a turn around, but last Thursday night at class something awesome happened. The light switch went on and Nikki found out that it was OK to be a dog, she came running up to me to be petted, she wanted to play with other people beside Kathy, the trust came back.

Earlier on in her training I told Kathy that I feel that we could rehabilitate her and I am so happy for Nikki and Kathy. I am not taking any credit for the turn around, because Kathy did all the work that was required. I just gave her the tools, and she did the rest.

We use a lot to praise in training, and liver treats. I would just sit in a chair and have treats ready, call him over to you, the minute he approaches you the him Good Boy and give him a treat. He most likely will not come to you for a while, but keep trying, you may also just have to approach him slowly the trust will come, it will just take some time with him.

I pray that your Fur Kid will come around, please do not give up on him.

Answer 3

Patience is what this poor dog needs.
Along with slowly introducing different things into his world.
If you have the time and patience you will be able to transform
him into a great dog.
How to get his trust? I would just be there. Talk to him in a gentle but not a high voice. Talk alot. Tell him what things are.
What you are doing. Feed him after you eat. Ignore his skittishness. Do not go to him unless you must. (he is hurt, he
is stuck in something, etc) Show him something that may make him curious enough to come over by you and look at it.
So put it by you on the floor or on a chair. After awhile put it closer to you. If he goes to it, ignore him. When he sees that
you do not care if he is by it, he may start to feel alittle at ease
to be by you.
John Ross wrote a book called "Dog Talk" there may be some information in it about things you should be doing.
I wish you lots of luck in this endever.

Answer 4

Sit on the floor when you watch TV or read a book. Maybe put some doggy treats beside you. Move your mattress on to the floor and leave your bedroom door open. Be patient and long suffering and let the dog come to you. It worked on my abused Border Collie - little by little - now two years later things are pretty good. She is really attached though and I tend to trip over her alot.

Answer 5

I have also had experience with abused dogs. yes, it does take time and patience. I read bedtime stories to my last rescue Rotty. I read in a very soft soothing voice,and he fell asleep. It has a calming effect on them. I speak to my dogs in a very kind soft voice,,and the longer you do this--the less time it will take to turn them around. Bless you for adopting an abused animal--I have been doing it for many years, and it is so rewarding--like nothing else. Good Luck.

Answer 6

Only time. And dogs aren't us, they don't hold on as you said. He isn't bemoaning his horrible life. They live in the moment, but his life experiences have taught that humans are not to be trusted. The only thing to fix this is: steady food, tranquil home, gentle treatment when HE comes around, never force affection or it is one sided! Good luck, and patience!

Answer 7

It took our dog well over a year to overcome her fear of being petted and she still won't let strangers touch her. She can get bitey if you touch her in a way she doesn't like. I would just give your dog more time. You might want to be careful with the hand out in front of the face thing. My dog wigs out and bites people when they do that to her. It really scares her to death to have a hand out in her face like that. All we can figure is the people who had her first used to smack her in the face when they did that. Now that's she's safe she fear bites instead of cowering.

Answer 8

properly, toddler abuse for sure has extra severe impacts, because of the fact an abused toddler ought to enhance as much as be a unfavorable/violent guy or woman as a consequence of abuse. yet this would not quite mean that youngster abuse is inherently worse than the different variety of abuse, alongside with abuse of animals. evaluating 2 evils as though that's a contest dismisses the seriousness of one of the, maximum in all likelihood the two terrible, evils. toddler and animal abuse are the two the two terrible, they are in basic terms terrible in distinctive techniques.

Answer 9

Patience and a gentle heart and he will come around. When you approach him always put your hand palm up low(under his face) talk softly and try to get him to take treats from you. Massage is an awesome way to relax a tense dog. If you are gentle and patient he will come around and bond to you like no other.

Answer 10

First, give him time. Then let him smell your hand, the scent of it will let your dog know if you can be trusted or not. if you can, once he is sniffing your hand, slowly come foreword and try to pet him, if he flinches when your other hand comes near him, immediately stop and try again later.