Quiet, Timid Pup

Question
Hi!  We just brought home our 7mo old Chocolate Lab, Stafford Terrier mix (3/4 lab 1/4 Stafford)on Sunday evening.  She was raised in a small apt in the city with 4 other dogs in a kennell in the back of te building.  We live on 165 acres in the country, on a mountain.  It is just my boyfriend and myself.  She has only made #1 and #2 on 1 occasion.  Shje eats a few small bites at a time and then immediately returns to her safe spot in the living room in a corner under the computer desk.  She is extrodinarily timid and gentle especially around my boyfriend who is over 6ft tall.  She does not appear to know how to play and has never barked, not once.  She can be coaxed out to come and see me and wags her tail a bit and has begun to follow me around and likes her treats but otherwise eats very little.  She walks very slowly and carefully and prefers to be behind you or right next to you -never out in front.  She loves to be around other dogs adn follows their example when we are out doors taking a walk.  I am guessing most of this is just normal as she has always lived in one place and suddenly everything is new and different; but I am worried that she is so quiet and sleepy and unuseally jumpy and timid.  Could she have been beaten into submission, could she be sick? We have schedualed her vet visit for Thursday but I am hoping I can get soem advice on ways to gently bring her out of her shell in the menatime.  She is such a sweet girl and I just wnat her to know that she is safe with us and we will love and care for her.  Thanks for your help. . .if after 5 pm could you respond to my home e-mail;  je34potter@verizon.net?  Thank you!!!! --Eileen

Answer
Hi Eileen;
I think this is just too much of a change for her to take in all at once.
The wide open spaces must seem the same to her, as it would to you if you were out in the middle of the Sahara.
I doubt she has seen that much space before.
She probably was treated roughly.
She certainly wasn't shown a lot of kindness!!
She may have had to fight others for food, and most of the time, lost, so she is timid about eating a lot.
Also, she may be used to only having a spare amount to eat.
Woudn't you LOVE to see all the peope who abuse children and animals bundled up and shipped off to a very small island, way out in the middle of the Berumuda Triangle?
Jus love and patience, wil show her she is in a safe and loving place.
She has probably not had that much space to walk around in before.
I wouldn't be too picky about her eating a very balanced diet in th next few days.
Flavor her food with some diced up baked chicken and things ike that, that would be too tempting to pass up.
Acually, you can remove the fat from it, and if you simmer it, and make a broth, you can chill the broth and the fat will harden, and be easy to remove.
I doubt ovewrweight is her problem right now, so a little fat left on it wouldn't hurt her.
The small amount of stools is probably due to how little she eats.
She might retain this shyness, and massage would help her a lot.
Go to this site and read what can be accomplished with these massages.
I have used this method of animal massage for years, and I get grat results with them.

  www.lindatellington-jones.com

You can order a video from there to learn to do the massages correctly.
A 5 to 15 minute massage would calm her, and help her relaz enough that you could build her self esteem, by the treatment she is getting from you now.
God bless you and your boyfriend for taking this little girl in and giving her a loving home.
Write anytime  you feel I can help.
Charlotte