Newly adopted dog - scared of us

It will be a long process Dinahmo but it will suddenly happen and all this will be forgotten. You very loving owners and she will realise that.

Good luck Dinahmo, you’re right this will be a long process. Our charity recently trapped two young dogs, who’d been living wild after abandoned/or escape puppy farm. Their foster carers both dog trainers/behaviourists. I’d say a month before any trust began to be established x

Having arrived back on Monday she spent the night in the garden, also Tuesday because we just couldn't entice her in. Yesterday a lady who rescues Spanish hunting dogs came over to advise/help. She tried and Zelie went close to her but not close enough. In the end 4 of us cornered her and we were able to catch her. So she is now indoors and we are starting again the process of getting her used to us. Having finished my work for today I am going to feed her and sit on the floor for the rest of the evening and hope she comes close to me. It;s going to be a long process I think.

Yes it is Callistemon, apologies to the sister of the princess of wales
Pippa Mattinson is an expert on labs and her methods work with any breed

Iam64

She can’t be off lead unless in totally secure area. Use a long line on a harness in your garden providing she can’t get out, let it run behind her, any risk she can get out, hold the line
Practice recall - get Pippa Middleton Perfeft Recall book, read it, follow it

Recall includes a tiny high value treat (roast chicken) every singly time she looks at yiu, throw a tiny treat, she comes nearer you, treat. Initially don’t even call her if she finds it scary, Judy praise and treat any behaviour yiu want repeated

I think it's Pippa Mattinson 🙂

I hope patience will win through, Dinahmo.
You sound as if you have plenty.

No I don't think it is illegal. She is microchipped and that is the law here I used to get name tags but they kept falling off.

Thanks, Maybee70, our dog has a tag in the UK. Well he has one every few months because he loses them somehow even though we use a cable tie through the clip. We travel to France three or four times a year, so Sod's Law he will mislay it there too. At least he won't be illegal without one, but maybe I should take a spare anyway.
I think Dinahmo lives in France hence the question.

Joseann

MayBee70

It is actually against the law for a dog to not wear a name tag if it isn’t in your house or on your property.

Is that the case in France, Dinahmo?
I think it might not be the same*?

That is just the UK. It’s one of the first things they told us at training classes because not many people know about it along with having to be restrained in cars.

Love and patience will get you there in the end. Previously badly treated and then taken from a home where she was loved because circumstances changed, she must be very bewildered.

Fingers crossed for you.

MayBee70

It is actually against the law for a dog to not wear a name tag if it isn’t in your house or on your property.

Is that the case in France, Dinahmo?
I think it might not be the same*?

She can’t be off lead unless in totally secure area. Use a long line on a harness in your garden providing she can’t get out, let it run behind her, any risk she can get out, hold the line
Practice recall - get Pippa Middleton Perfeft Recall book, read it, follow it

Recall includes a tiny high value treat (roast chicken) every singly time she looks at yiu, throw a tiny treat, she comes nearer you, treat. Initially don’t even call her if she finds it scary, Judy praise and treat any behaviour yiu want repeated

It is actually against the law for a dog to not wear a name tag if it isn’t in your house or on your property.

An update - bad and good

Saturday was lovely and warm here so we went outside to do a bit of gardening and to make sure that she was OK. We couldn't catch her and at dusk went indoors, leaving the sliding windows open for her to come in. I even left a trail of cooked chicken. We checked that she was OK, which she was until about 9.00pm we realised that she'd gone from what we thought was a secure garden.

So yesterday we leafleted and put up posters, contacted various animal rescue services and went looking. In the evening I had a phone to say that she's been spotted but at that time the person didn't know that she was missing. This morning my DH went to the nearby villages to where she'd been seen to put out more leaflets and when he got back she was standing at the top of drive. She ran down alongside the car and hung about all day within sight and sound of us but no chance of getting near to her. I put out food, at a distance, which she ate.

We were told that dogs like raw chicken. We didn't have any but a nearby friend had a piece of rumpsteak (it looked very good) which she donated to the cause. I tried laying a trail to her food bowl. She ate the pieces nearest to her but wouldn't come closer. I spent the day sitting on our front porch and was prepared to spend the night too. She ran around to the back garden (the secure one - even more so now) wanting to get in but the gate was closed. As soon as I approached she ran back to the front. So I am sitting there keeping an eye on her, making a noise occasionally so that she would move. I nodded off, briefly and she wasn't there. I went indoors to tell my DH and he noticed that she was drinking from the bird bath. Obviously thirsty because I was able to run around the outer fence and close the gate.

She is now secure but the next task is to get her back in doors. I have put her bed outside with a bowl of food (with some steak) and a bowl of water and I think that we carry on like that until she comes into the house. This escapade has set our relationship with her back but at lease she came home so she must think that this is a safe pace for her.

Before we all went outside on Saturday afternoon she came up to both of us and gently licked/sniffed our hands and at some point she nudged my DH.

My DH had asked the local shop to put hold our order for a name tag so we can now tell them to go ahead. The next task is to order one of those things that you put on the collar to tell you where she is. Any recommendations?

Well done for rescuing dogs and not buying them. A cause very dear to my heart. As others have said, carry on as you are, be aware of eye contact and add a bit of magic in the form of treats. First in her bowl and then palm out gently and held low as you would feed a horse has always worked for me.

My most frightened reactive rescue became a legend in our family. You could almost see and hear him working out -I’m ok, I get fed twice a day, I sleep in a warm bed in the kitchen, I go for walks every day, no one shouts or hits me -phew

I sat on the bedroom floor everyday for two weeks talking to our rescue puppy before he would come out to socialise. Three months before he put his head on my knee. So worth it as he is such a happy dog now. What his first owners did I do not know. You just have to be patient. And yes he loves routines and can tell the time!

I'm glad you feel able to love and help another rescue dog Dinahmo . The poor girl has had a lot to cope with in her life and is naturally reluctant to trust again. We had a similar problem with a little dog we adopted a couple of years ago. Our dog took herself upstairs at every opportunity to lay on our bed, she didn't interact with our other dog or us. We praised and stroked her at the odd times she did join us but otherwise left her where she felt safe and comfortable. It took many months before she felt safe enough to stay in the living room with us and even then at the first sign of visitors she would go back upstairs. Now she is a much more outgoing dog who loves attention and cuddles. Time and patience will win out, good luck.

Try to make sure there are no sudden noises and no raised voices, as your new dog has obviously been ill-treated somewhere.

And don't approach her while holding a rolled-up newspaper or anything else that she might have been hit with.

Dh once automatically rolled a magazine that had got bent in the post, until he saw our one rescue cat slinking off a chair to go and warn her brother, so they could hide! He put down the paper, and followed the cat to reassure her that she had done nothing wrong.

A year later, we watched in bemused joy when the cat tore a Sunday supplement to confetti with her claws! She apparently felt safe enough to take her revenge on all newspapers!

Even worse, her brother was terrified the first time he saw me sweeping a floor wi th a broom!

Whoever could hit a cat, or dog, with a broomstick? Or a newspaper for that matter.

I got my extremely anxious rescue a cage in the kitchen and covered it with a blanket, comfy bed inside and she used it as her safe place. I never closed the door and she could see or hear us wherever we were. Gradually she ventured out more and more (ultimately we got rid of it - she discovered the sofa was a more comfortable observation post). I've fostered dozens of dogs but never one as anxious. Just take it really, really slowly and in no time at all she'll have you trained!
Being super anxious and prone to flight l always double leashed her on a very secure harness for the first few weeks. I also took new experiences/visitors very, very slowly. My patience paid off, she's a fun dog who loves new experiences, especially involving biscuits.

Thank you for all your comments.

I'm reminded whilst reading them how kind you all are.

*never really goes away.

Thank you Iam. I have found that even after years of being happily settled, a small change of routine can visibly upset them and require loving reassurance. Luckily, we are creatures of habit and are careful to stick to routines where the dogs are concerned. They know when we go to bed (and sleep in our bedroom), when we get up, what times outies and meals will be. They seem to have inbuilt clocks! I think that for rescues, the fear of abandonment or whatever bad treatment they received really goes away, it lies just beneath the surface and can so easily resurface. Some people have much to answer for.

One of my dogs was a rescue and similar to yours, came from a really unsettled background.
She'd had a number of homes and from her reaction to men, I'm not convinced that she hadn't experienced some abuse.
It took a good few weeks for mine to decompress and begin to settle down. As someone else said, a good routine is a massive help.
I'd also make sure she has a safe place to go.
Wishing you all a happy life together!

Ah Dinahmo , it's so very difficult isn't it when you know they are lost and afraid and all you want to do is cuddle and reassure them. As others have said let your lovely new girl set her own terms, she's already following so there's a start. Does she have a hidey place that she can retreat to? My little chap (also a rescue) sends Zelie his love x

I agree, it will take time after the dog's past experiences. I hope you are back telling us what a joy she is in a couple of months' time!