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abused rescue afraid of everything

19 13:37:25

Question
I have very recently taken in a beautiful Belgian Malinios puppy (4-5 months) that had been found on the side of a country road with her six littermates. I am not sure, but I think they were found chained together. She had a very traumatic trip home: first an hour drive to the vet and then an hour drive to a pet grooming place where I washed her myself (she was filthy), and then 20 minutes to our home. She had extremely loose stools from being frightened and had to be placed in the run outside (with a cedar-filled doghouse).

She is afraid of me and everyone else. I have been working with her for the week that I've had her: daily, I sit in the run opposite of the house and ply her with food, constant gentle talking and lots of praise. She has gone from being completely terrified of me to coming out and eating/drinking in my presence, and even taking a few treats (but not always) from my hand. However, she usually retreats to her "den" with the treats and usually stops wanting to play "find the kibble" after taking the food from my hands. She also will not let me touch her even after a week of this.

She has started digging the in the run, and seems to expect me to be mad about it. It's not on the edges, and one hole was in front of where I was sitting, which I filled back up.

We don't seem to be getting any further in the trust, although she may just need more time. She seemed bored with  "find the kibble/treat" today and was not coming out of her house as much or for as long as she had been the past few days.
Can you make suggestions for going further, and of games to help increase her confidence and trust? Are there any books on the subject? I have been scouring the Internet for help all week.

Thank you for your help!

Answer
Well what you try that is close to what you are doing is to pet her when she takes a treat,as a praise you letting you touch her,then when she's used to you doing that,try the same thing with a couple of friends

Something else that might work is once she's used to you petting her,pet her along with a friend then stop petting half way,then eventually just letting the friend pet her

Also-dog obedience classes builds confidence and wouldn't hurt to start looking into it,some trainers are experts at shy dogs so call around to find the best one for you,also some are one on one