Timid Sheltie

Question
I recently got a 9 month old sheltie and she is adorable.  She does however have her quirks.  She won't listen at all, won't play with anything, is not fussy about any kind of dog treats, and will only eat if I set her beside me with her food.  I recently lost a dog to kidney failure and watching him not eat was horrible, so I'm afraid I am spoiling this one.  I don't think she had a lot of socialization, but seems fine with other animals.  I've had her a month and I'm trying to be patient with her.  Anything you can contribute to help with training this little doll would be most welcome!

Answer
Hi Linda,

I'm very sorry for your recent loss.  I know how hard it is.

As for your new addition, I think you two are trying to figure each other out.  

For starters, I definitely think you don't have her name right yet.  Keep her near you and run through a list of names to see what she reacts to.  My first was called Scout for all of two weeks-ignored me every time- until a neighbor said "He looks just like a opossum" and he snapped his head up.  I literally slapped myself in the head: Possum it is.  (A side note: My mother upon learning this was concerned about how we would name our non-fur babies.)  When you hit the right name you should have an instantaneous response.  

Of course if she has hearing problems then you won't get a response?  

I hope she is at least chewing on a favorite chew toy?  Perhaps you are fortunate and have a very low-strung Sheltie.  That's not something I've run across except for a few show champs who did absolutely nothing except look good and make more puppies.

As for eating, if they aren't doing much and seem to be growing with a nice coat, don't worry.  Perhaps a small cup or more of good food is all she needs until she becomes more active.  As long as her skin isn't tight across her bones and she looks healthy don't push eating.  I would strongly urge making food available for about 10 minutes in the morning and evening each day.  Grazing promotes unhealthy weight gain.  Sit with her during those mealtimes or at least feed her while you do dishes or something you do daily.  It will promote a Pavlovian association with that activity so be warned that you should vary what you are doing- but be consistent on the time of day.  

Give her some love and time.  If she is more expressive later that's ok.  If not, then maybe you have a quirky Sheltie and that's ok too.

'sneezes
Dave