Shy stray pup adopted family but will still not come near people 4 months on.ADVICE?

Jokermuffin

Hello,
Thank you for reading this post.

Our cousin and her mother are living in the countryside next to a lane. In January they noticed a small puppy in their bushes next to the lane. He would not come near them and ran when they went towards him. Since then they have been feeding him, have put a bed in his bush and have now adopted him. He his now a big sheepdog - black with a white patch on his neck. His fur has grown back where it was missing and is shiny and he looks the picture of helth and happiness and is playing normally with all his toys.
The problem is that he still won't come near people. He will walk around the garden next to his two owners only but won't let them touch him. If anybody else goes out to the garden he runs and lies submissively at a distance. It is obvious he was dumped in the lane after Christmas and was possibly abused.
We are all worried that he has had no shots and needs a trip to the vet but we don't know how to get him there in a non stressful way. Also it would be nice for him if he could trust people and get a proper walk every day.

ANY advice or ideas would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

M

mymo

I would advise trying not to approach him, but get him to come to them. Sit in the garden with some food and wait for him to come over, then hand feed him. It could take weeks before they can touch him, just don't rush it, if they have to just feed him from their hands for 3 weeks, then thats what they have to do until he relaxes.
Also speak to a vet, they may advise a mild sedative so not to stress him, and may even call to the house to see him to ease the stress.
Best of luck, hope this poor dog at least learns to be at ease with them.

CreedonsDogDayc

he will come round, its just going to take lots and lots and lots of time and dedication, but it will be worth it!


Do they feed him every day? any evidence that he hunts too, or are they his only food source? If so, I wouldnt feed them one day, then the next day bring some really nice smelly food outside and have them SIT/LIE down with the food very nearby and just completely ignore him, and chat to each other in friendly, calm voices. If he isnt approaching after 10-15 mins, but is interested, have them shuffle a bit away and turn their backs on the food and the dog.

Hopefully this will be a success and after many successful attempts move the food closer to the people. If he isnt too skittish and doesnt jump at sudden movement, throw pieces of chicken or cheese or something tasty to him.

Keep throwing the food nearer and nearer to you, but take things at his pace. If he's too scared to come for a piece, throw another piece further away, always talking (even to themselves) and act like they dont care about his presence.

as he comes nearer for food, he should eventually eat from their hands. after a while they can have their fists lightly closed and while he is engrossed in getting the food, they can pet him.


They have to be very careful about lifting him or putting a lead on him, this should only be done when he is 100% happy with them.


They shouldnt corner him or force him to be close to him, this is flooding him with a negative stimulus and will only ruin any progress they've made.

They have to remember its going to be two steps forward, one step back, but good on them for making the effort, and he's young so theres every chance everything will work out great.

Staying low to the ground is very important for encouraging him to aproach them tho, they will be much less intimidating.

morganafay

What Mymo said, definitely. Feeding an animal yummy food is the best way to win them over I've found

mollymascara

I would agress with mymo. The best course of action would be to get him to come to them. You say he likes playing with his toys, why not try temp him with some of them, make it fun for him and encourage him, if he does come near offer a treat, he will soon learn that coming over to them is a good thing and eventually he will come round, with time and patience.

Very cute the bed in the bush i mean

December

Agree with all previous posters - even just sitting out, reading a book and kinda ignoring him will help him to become comfortable with having people in the same (his) space. After that can progress with tempting with tidbits and toys.