willowGSD asked:
She’s one of the poor things kept for breeding and the shelter have neutered her and managed to feed her up a bit and get her used to being walked. She is friendly and shows no sign of aggression and ignores other dog’s and my 2 cats!
Problem is she has never lived indoors, her home was a small shed with 7 other adults and an outbuilding at the rescue place! All my other rescues have been puppies or indoor pets! How can I help her adjust?
She’s one of the poor things kept for breeding and the shelter have neutered her and managed to feed her up a bit and get her used to being walked. She is friendly and shows no sign of aggression and ignores other dog’s and my 2 cats!
Problem is she has never lived indoors, her home was a small shed with 7 other adults and an outbuilding at the rescue place! All my other rescues have been puppies or indoor pets! How can I help her adjust?
If you have a fence, that’ll work wonders. Allow her to live outdoors, provide a dog house, but allow her indoors, as well. She may not want to, at first, but she may become curious, if you have other dogs, and she sees them going indoors all the time. It’ll take time, but I think she’ll eventually get curious of what’s indoors.
Kennel training LOTS OF LOVE
you did a great thing
Well good for you! Now she will have a happy life. I think it will be a slow process for you. She will have to get to know you and all the members of your family. Patients and lots of love will bring her around. I think you should do what you have done in the past with a pup. Start with the basics and then work up from there. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well she will do. Potty training will be the biggest thing for you to do but if you take her outside and praise her like crazy when does go outside I think she will understand what you want from her. Shepherds are very smart and she will catch on quickly.
has lots of behavior questions addressed.
good for you! i’ve rescued two pups including the one in the photo. it is a wonderful thing to do.
Just open your house for her and train her yourself. I you really want to make it leave inside your house, then constantly show her the way to your house, but don’t be mad if she breaks a lot of things(be careful so you won’t regret it later). She isn’t used to that kind of environment so constant support, caring and motivation is really required.
She will adjust just fine, just give her time. I have rescued a few puppy mill breeder dogs, and they are harder because they are not used to human contact.
What I have found works best is not to smother them with attention. They are not used to this and it may actually scare her. Just give her a little pet now and then and just be calm and happy around her. If she comes to you for attention then give it to her, but let her come to you and then she won’t feel forced or cornered.
Also, introduce other people slowly. Wait until she is comfortable with you and then let her meet friends 1 at a time and always make sure people are calm and quiet around her until she is comfortable with them.
In time, she will become friendly and happy, but you need to also give her space at first, because remember she is not used to all the attention and it can be traumatizing if it is forced on her.
Use a blanket or something with some food toys etc, put them in a quiet area, but still in view of the main living area, just to make it her space. Get her to lie on the blanket, and then no one bother her while she is on the blanket. Spend about an hour a day just sitting next to her in that spot until, she feels comfortable being inside the house and having all the things going on around her. Then slowly start to move the blanket into the main living area, just a little bit a day but make sure she wont be in the way or in a often traffiked spot. She will slowly get used to being inside, but she may never be fully comfortable inside. I have a doberman b*tch rescued from a farm as well, she had been caged in a small house and never had any stimulation from people other than feeding, breeding, whelping and taking the pups. To get her used to being inside, i got a childs play pen, stuffed it full of blankets but left an opening for her to be able to get out. She was approx 4 years old when i got her, and the only time she was calm was when she was caged because it was all she knew. She is now about 6 years old, more comfortable outside than inside because once she realised she didnt have to be in the cage, she almost became claustraphobic. But now she is the most well adjusted dog considering her start in life, loves to play and cant get enough of people, and loves children, being patient to the point of idiocy (my kids beat up on her pretty bad
she loves it). It will take a while and your dog may always have some ridiculous idiosyncrasies that will drive you nuts, but it will be worth it. Good luck with your gorgeous girl. I hope it all goes well.
give her a blanket, and be patient… we got a lurcher whos spent 3yr on a 8 foot balcony…our other lurchers had to teach him to run… it took him a while to grasp the world was bigger than 2 strides..but he did it… we had buddy for 7 years… and they were good years…
I am working on a puppy mill minpin right now. The most important thing is to give her a safe place to go to inside your house, whether it be a crate or a bed in a quiet place. For the potty training, I have been using Nature’s Miracle puppy training pads with a special smell on them. My pin is 7 years old and she was using them the second day. Once you get her to go in the same place, you can take the time you need to train her to go outside. Lastly, let her follow you around anywhere in the house, so she gets used to all the different smells and sounds with you there to protect her. Eventually, she will start wandering around by herself and investigating-when she does that, don’t discourage her. Saving a dog in need is a wonderful feeling!