My son just bought a mountain cur thats about a year old. He had to drive almost to Ohio to get the dog. That dog is the most timid dog I have ever met. He likes my son but the rest of him just scare him to death. Any tips on helping this poor dog out? Personally I think the previous owner mistreated him,he was rail thin and his coat was in terrible shape.
5 yrs ago we adopted a full blood Boxer from a shelter. She was skinny as a rail and had obviously been mistreated. We used patience and gentleness to teach her how to be part of our family.
She is the BEST dog we have ever had. It is like she knows that we saved her and appreciates it.
Good luck to your son.
We rehabbed a very timid foster dog with crating & the umbilical method. Keep him in the crate except for a few hours a day when he’s attached to your belt by a leash, and make him follow you around without paying attention to him.
It allows him to learn to ignore the stimuli around him as he must pay attention to you at all times.
Then the crate gives him time to relax and feel safe in his den.
This should combined with long daily walks, so he doesn’t build up a lot of nervous tension.
When he acts scared or nervous, tell him NO. Be calm, assertive and firm with the word, so he knows that behavior is unacceptable.
We were given an 18 month old dog some years ago, and he was afraid of everything. One object that terrified him was a flashlight, any flashlight. We practiced what I wrote in the previous paragraph, and after a few weeks, it worked.
It was our vet who first shamed us into doing things that way. We had been coddling him when he acted afraid, but one time when he was on the table during an exam, he froze up in fear. Our vet took hold of him by his mane (on his neck) and shook him forcefully while commanding him, “NO!”
The dog snapped out of it.
We learned our lesson quickly.
I have a family member who adopted a dog like that, literally lived under the bed most of the time, scared of everything, I think it was abused before they got it as well.... all I can say is be gentle and kind and hopefully it will come around, there’s did to them and to folks it was around a lot, but it took a long time and it always was skiddish.
We got “Rock” from a shelter after it was taken from the previous owner. The dog would cower if I raised my voice, refused to go down narrow hallways or down stairs. After the dog spent a month in our house we started working the downstairs issue. We'd all do down their and call to him. No-way. He'd whine and beg at the top but not even a single step. We tried off and on for a week before he finally bolted down the stairs but once down there he was freaking out.
The 2nd time we got him down there he was freaking out again so I held him down on his back for a minute and then talked to him in a gentle voice. He calmed down after that and we kept him down their a while and just ignored him while he explored. It took a few more trips but now....please.
Just be patient with him. Its counter intuitive, but even a timid dog needs to know that YOU are a benevolent dictator.