Terrified Rescue Dog

Hi everyone, my name is Wendy, and any advise and help on my rescue Cavalier King Charles would be gratefully recieved!.I got her end of January, she had been returned to her oriniginal breeder by her cruel and horrid first owner, She was kept in a shed with no human contact at all and we think also tied up, she had litter of puppies on her first heat, and then was kicked out. Ihave another female king charles who welcomed her with open arms, BUT she was so so terrified of myself and my husband. 7 months later we are making very slow progress, when out in garden which is large she will not come to me or let me catch her, she will now come in the back door happily but that took a while, yet she will happily snuggle up to me on sofa in thge evenings?, sudden movements still terrify her.next problem she eats the other dogs poo, and its very hard to clear it up in time as its such a big garden. Next, have tried everything to get her on collar and lead so we can take her to the beach, she is like a wild pony and dirties herself i fright, tried collar only and then short lead attached for days on end, but try to hold it and wow! HELP love her to bits and want her to love and trust me

If she was tied up by a collar its going to take a lot to get over this, have you tried a harness, I know it may be more of a problem to put on initially but if you succeed & then she only has pleasant experiences when wearing itthis might help Hopefully others with more experience will be along to offer help soon.

I am so sorry to hear about what has happened to your poor little girl. I have been slowly winning the trust of my rescued little dog who was the victim of an acrimonious break up and abandoned to his fate by his owner. Left behind with his ex girlfriend she deprived him of all comfort and love kept him half starved in a cage in a field for six months before we rescued him.

It will take a lot of time and a great deal of patience Wendy for your little dog to give you her trust and every small step forward is so worth all the loving effort.

I would like to suggest you could try using a slip lead to just drop over her head at first to help her to get used to something around her neck and to get used to being led. With a lot of praise and maybe a food reward, this hassle free method may soon mean that you can introduce her to wearing a collar. If not then the other thing I would suggest is that you try her with a soft harness. More fiddley to get on, but once on it could be left on her for a short period to help her get used to wearing it.

I, too, have a very nervous bitch that was returned to the breeder and rehomed with me. I hope you're in this for the long haul, as it's a very long process

My girl would not walk on the lead. I bought a padded harness and placed her on a table to fit it. She allowed me to do this, although she was shaking all the time. She is completely terrified of people, but has no problem with dogs. The problem is, where there's a dog, there's usually a person but being on the harness means she can't slip it and run off into danger.

She mainly uses the garden for her toilet, but we have managed to get her to have one short walk last thing at night. She is happier when it's dark, as daylight equals people. She's also fond of a 5am wander in the winter

She still jumps if we cough, make any noise or sudden movement. She isn't "quite" as bad as she was, but the improvement has been painfully slow.

However.......

We have had her for nearly 18 months now, and although the improvements are small, there actually are some, so there is hope yet.

Don't give up, never raise your voice, always stay calm - all these things I'm sure you know already.

Above all, you are going to need the patience of Jobe quadrupled.

Feel free to PM me if you want any more advice.

The very best of luck - she's very fortunate to have found you

You havent said if she accepts handling in any other sense?
If so, i think a harness is a great idea.
If she can tolerate that type of handling, then a TTouch t-shirt will help, as will TTouch in general.
Google Sarah Fisher TTouch for proper info.
Rescue remedy will help, as will herbal calmers.
You could try putting pineapple in both dogs food... this sometimes stops them eating it.
Might be idea to rule out a medical condition for the copophagia.

Might be a bit too early and unnerving for the beach?

How old is she now and how long has she been this way?
She might be so damaged that she cant function outside the home and garden? Maybe she will improve enough to be happy in the home.

We rehomed a Golden Retriever the same background to yours, plus originally coming form a puppy farm.
He was very traumatised, but has come on very well with his new family over 2 years.
But he and they are quite happy for him to not venture out of the home and garden.

Hi Wendyanne you sound as though you have made great headway already may I just add a couple of things to the other sugestions...

Your little dog with her history may have been punished for soiling so is anxious when there is poo around and is eating the evidence if you catch her doing this distract her if you can and remove it so that you do not add to her anxiety.

Regarding the collar and lead, she needs to start associating it with good things. Does she have an absolute favourite food, many dogs like chicken breast, if so have someone give her a piece the put a bowl down a little distance away , gently slip a fine nylon slip lead over her head and walk her to the dish, the food should distract her from the lead and show her it means good things. If this works progress to a light collar to which you can add a fine lead.

Another good thing to do to gain trust is to sit on the floor ignoring the dog with your arm stretched out sideways holding a treat, it may take half an hour, if she comes to take the treat give lots of praise.

Praise whenever you get the opportunity, this will boost her confidence and increase trust. Teach her small things like sit and down, this will give you an opportunity to praise her. Above all everything should be at her pace, small steps and you will get there

OMG the B*rst*w*rd & well done to you for taking her in.

Ditto to what Minihaha has written & will add to teach her to come to you in garden do the sitting with hand outstretched with a treat in it starting away from the house & moving closer. I would suggest clicker training but the sound may frighten her, so you could give her a very quiet come as she takes the treat. All her praise should be quiet too.

Certainly agree with the TT & it may be worth actually getting in touch with a practitioner to learn how to carry it out & help with getting her used to a collar or harness, I had a Cross breed who had been beaten & dumped & who lived wild for three months. She refused to come into the house & stayed her first week in the kennel & run we have(very rarely used)she took to one of our other dogs(a BC) & followed him everywhere & eventually ventured into the house & curled up with him & my GSD. She was very wary of everyone, but after she was spayed it seemed to gain confidence & blossomed, she even got over her acute fear of men & let my late Dad handle her as a part of our dog club demonstration team.

You have obviously made good progress & as for the poo eating you could try pineapple in your other dogs food as it makes the poo less attractive(or pumpkin-which is used in the USA)

So glad she now has a loving owner to take good care of her.RESPECT for that.She will get better with all the love and care you are giving.Wishing you all the best,xxxxxxxxx

Hi everyone, thought I would give an update on Jenna's progress. She really has improved quite a bit, will come up to me now when I am outside,still nervous, but trying so hard,we have given up on the collar lead bit, it upsets her so much, and takes days to get over it,so its not worth it.We have an acre of garden for her to run around in , so she gets plenty of exercise.Thanks to all x

Delighted to hear progress is being made Wendy - keep going honey - you will see little improvements as time goes on - xox

ETA: Mya only has one walk a day - the rest of the time she uses our garden. One acre to run about in is just fine