Need some help

[Meg+Whiley]

Hello, I haven't been here in a while, Here is what happened. About a month or so ago my BC was taken from my backyard - or perhaps someone opened the gate. She could not have gotten out herself. Anyways, For a month I searched everywhere, I checked the rescues and pounds daily, every website I could find and flyers. I was losing hope. Monday. I saw a new BC cross on my local pound website. As soon as the pic loaded I knew it was her even though her eyes were glowing red from he camera and she looked sad. The pound said she was a surrender but I KNEW it was her, sure enough it was, she was dropped at a farm miles away from me and left there for a month until surrendered to the pound. The pound even gave her back at no charge! Luckily she was only there since Saturday, they were closed Sunday and put her picture up the morning I got her. She was 5.5 months old when she left and is now 7 months. I took her to the vet yesterday and she is healthy but skinny. ( although 35 pounds! ) Me and the vet joked ow she left a Border Collie and came back a lab. She is so shy and quiet now. This is a dog who used to jump on her hind legs like a kangaroo just if she saw me pick up her toy! Now she seems so tired. I would like some advice if anyone has ever been in this situation, or maybe helped a rescue who had a bad time. Here is what I have noticed, first off the ladies at the pound could not even walk her, they had to carry her since she was so scared. She doesn't like big dogs and there were plenty at the pound. When I got her she crawled to the car, laying down aftre each step. Once she got home she was a bit more perky, My husband had gotten off of work and was home when we got back and she went right to him and put her head in his lap. She was always a daddy's girl. She is jumpy when we pet her head but it's getting better. She is tired, she just wants to lay down, we went on several walks and she's o.k but many things cause her to put her tail between her legs or lay down. She is unsure about going to her dish and tucks her tail in and looks around a bit while eating. She seems like she doesn't want to go to the bathroom, se had been home about 15 hours before we went to the vet and she hadn't gone, the vet said she was really full, sure enough she did but riht after she ran away from me. She peed in the kitchen but I expected to have to re-housetrain her. She is also very unsure abou coming inside after potty runs or walks, she will stop at the steps and it takes a few "come on"'s to get her to come in. She seems to just want to sleep and be pet, go on nice walks- not the running and pulling like it used to be, we are giving her space to sleep and as much hugs as she'll take. Any help you can offer would be great. We have switched around our scheduals so she will not have to be outside during the day. We also added a padlock on the back part if she ever does need to be there. I feel so guilty about this and I thought for so long I would never get her back. I know it was my fault so please don't make me feel worse. This picture breaks my heart. She had just gotten home

 

 

After a bit of spoiling

 

[Samantha J]

What a sad story, i am quite teary eyed, thank god she is home with you now. Poor little girl. If only they could speak to you and tell you what they have been through. I can't offer you any advice but you are in the right place for some. I just wanted to add i am so sorry that both she and you have been through this awful month, i hope and i am sure that she will improve with time and lots of love.

 

Good luck in getting her back to her normal self.

[kelpiegirl]

Wow. It sounds as if she was really traumatized. Keep doing what you are doing, and she will soon feel safe again- who knows what happened to her out there. Hopefully soon, she will relax a little, and her personality will come back out

[JohnLloydJones]

Glad that you got her back -- let her take a bit of time to re-adjusts and all should be well again, I hope.

About a month or so ago my BC was taken from my backyard - or perhaps someone opened the gate. She could not have gotten out herself.

Have you considered that she may have jumped the wall / fence? Senneca can easily get over a 7ft wall -- I can't leave her loose in the back yard with out supervision.

[Shoofly]

She'll probably be fine with a little time. One thing though - try to not fret over her too much. She'll pick up on it and feel anxious too. Just be happy and joyful and treat fearful things like "it's no big deal, silly" and she'll come around most likely.

[Meg+Whiley]

The area she was in at the time also has a roof, we searched for holes ( she's a digger) but none of them either I have the back yard part and then she has a big kennel outside in the yard, where her outside house is. It was enough room for her to run for the few hours. So they would have had to come in the back yard, and got to the kennel. It had a latch that you had to pull up and then over. It is dug about a foot in the ground BTW- Whiley was one of 3 puppies in my area taken witin the same week. The others were a pug and a sheltie, same approx. age within about a mile of each other. I am too scared to put her back in it so we have just been re-arranging things so one of us is home all the time.

[urge to herd]

I'm so glad she's back home with you. She does sound like she's been through some tough times. Basically treat her with consistency and tenderness. Get back into a routine with her, food/potty/exercise, etc all in a routine. Don't force her to interact with anyone, let her go at her own pace with the social stuff. Let her come to you for affection, and keep things low keyed - no visitors who'll have a big emotional outburst that she's home. She needs calm and order.

 

Check out "The Cautious Canine" at Dogwise.com. It's a great resource for shy/anxious dogs, and pretty reasonably priced.

 

Good luck, please re-post and let us know how you're all getting on.

 

Ruth n the BC3

[IronHorse]

I know it was my fault so please don't make me feel worse. This picture breaks my heart. She had just gotten home

You really shouldn't blame yourself for this,you as well as your pup were victims

Its great that you were able to find her and get her back.

I agree with what everyone else is saying,just don't fret over her to much,give her some time to settle back in and most likely she will be fine and so will you.

The best of luck to you in getting your home back to normal.

[red dog fan]

I'm glad she found her way back to you.

Is she microchipped ?

[Pippin's person]

What a trauma for you and your girl. I'm glad she's back and good for you keeping faith.

 

I think others are probably right that she'll come out of this with time and--like Robin said--try not to coddle her or reinforce anxiety and fearfullness that you see. She probably learned quickly at the shelter that being fearful had some benefits (people carried her, probably coo'ed at her, etc.). Not to say that she isn't actually afraid, but that kind of thing can be reinforced so quickly in a young BC.

 

It's likely she spent the last several months pretty much unsocialized to new people and new things and that happened right at what is often a second fear period for young dogs. Do things that you can to rebuild her confidence (ask her to do things that are easy for her and give her praise for doing them). Take her places and praise her for being happy. Praise her when she perks her ears up and acts happy--all of that will help build her confidence in herself.

 

The rescue dog that we have came to us at 4 having been left in a 10x10 pen for most of her life. For the first several weeks, she didn't do much but sit in the couch looking like the first picture you posted (and this was after three months in a foster home). Now, she's quite the perky girl most of the time. She still has issues, but they don't really include being fearful much.

 

Good luck with her--I'm sure she'll be fine with time.

[bc4pack]

Time and time.

Try handfeeding to reinforce the trust and bond. You may even want to consider some interim anti-anxiety

meds, may help her come out of her shell a tad easier and help her get her mind back in a better place with

new, positive associations.

Did your vet do a complete blood panel? Make sure there's no underlying cause,like say, a tick borne

disease?

 

Just some things to think about...

 

I am soooooo glad she's home.

[Meg+Whiley]

Thanks guys, We have been trying to just let her relax which is what she seems to want to do. Every now and then, expessially today, she will come up and give you her paw or lower her head for you to pet. She is wagging her tail some more today and we had a great walk just now. Loud noises also scare her, he first night we were outside having a potty run and someone closed a big truck door really loud, she quickly laid down and it was a while before I could get her back up. We are trying to use mainly praise with her, she wanted to chew on something here and I just said a sharp no an she ran and hid from me. I see what you mean about her picking up on my anxiety, I'll try to adjust things. Thanks for all your advice, I will definately do these. She was not micro-chipped. Is now however. We were foolishly waiting until 6 months, when the city required it done, we also hadn't got her spayed yet, we were going to do it also at 6 months- which with my other previous dogs was when they suggested, however talking to my vet I guess they changed that, She goes in 2 weeks to get it done. Her collar was here when she was gone, we suspect whoever it was grabbed her by it and she slipped out (she always does with her kennel collar, we have a chain one for walks but don't keep her in that by herself in case she got stuck on something ) So she would have had no ID with her or her vaccination tags.

 

She didn't have any blood work yet, He did a routine check and said to give it a bit and bring her back if she was still tired and lazy. We have been hand-feeding treats and some of her favorite things as much as we can, She has been spoiled with her food the las few days but she was so hungry the vet said to let her eat as long as her poop stays fairly normal, since her diet is changing rapidly I have to watch carefully, but you can feel her ribs on her sides.

[Meg+Whiley]

One more question: Should I go about house breaking the same as I when first got her? Before she left she would go to the door and sit when she needed out, I have been taking her out every hour like I did then and staying out for about 5-10 minutes letting her sniff, she won't go pee, She has done her business twice outside ( everytime ) but has only peed in the house ( my kitchen! ) Without any warning, she will be with me while I'm cooking or something and she just goes. She quickly runs aaway after and won't come back to the spot, I clean it with some paper towel first and bring her out and put the paper towel down where I want her to pee, ( same as before ) but she seems so scared through the whole process I don't know if I am making it worse.

[mbc1963]

Oh... such a sad story!

 

I think she'll be fine once she has time to readjust. She's so young that she's even more adaptable than an older dog would be, I'd think.

 

My dog was really skittish, frightened, and traumatized by lots of things when I first got him at 18 months to 2 years. But now he's mostly OK, and he's definitely happy and joyful inside our home.

 

Good luck!

 

Mary

[sweet_ceana]

poor baby thank goodness you found her

[Eileen Stein]

I'm so glad you got her back -- glad for you and glad for her.

 

I agree with everyone else. Time, the sovereign remedy, will fix her. The longer she is with you, the more she will remember what life was like when she was with you before. Don't be tempted to smother her with worried attention. Give her a quiet "no" rather than a sharp "no" when a "no" is called for. I would go about housetraining exactly the way you did before, just expect it to take some time. It sounds as if she is "holding it" as long as she can and then just can't hold it any longer. I wouldn't scold her for peeing on the floor -- just say something like, "No, that's not right" and take her (or call her) outside. Does she seem nervous or fearful at being outside in general? Do you have a place in your yard (bushes or the like) where she could pee in privacy, even though you're out there with her?

 

It sounds like she is getting better already. I think you will feel good as you see her gradually becoming more secure and happy again. None of it is your fault.