# Fostering young feral dog



## Ashleyb (Jul 20, 2020)

Hello!
My husband and I are first timers fostering an approximately 10 month old feral dog. She was found at a dump with two other dogs (assumed to be her brothers) and was brought from a kill shelter to the rescue we are fostering her from. It is also assumed that prior to her capture from the dump, she did not have any interaction with humans.

She has been with us for about 48 hours and I know it’s early yet but I want to make sure I’m doing the right things. I may be in over my head with her, but I am patient and able to spend the time with her and take this on.

We have an appropriate sized crate set up for her and she has taken a liking to that, we managed to coax her out yesterday but she posted up underneath the dining room table for about 9 hours. Sometimes if we are in another room she will sneak out to take a peek at us but ends up backing away. She will take cheese and hotdogs hand fed to her, but not kibble. She did eat and drink a tiny bit from bowls yesterday, but does not seem to be food motivated at all. She has had three accidents in the house, not in her crate. We have caught her and carried her outside (she barely will walk on a leash) but she has not relieved herself outside yet.

I guess through this long tale I’m just looking for some reinforcement or advice. I am nervous about house breaking her because I don’t want to scold her, but she shows no obvious signs of needing to use the bathroom before she has an accident. She’s not really eating and not coming out of her crate on her own. Is this normal? Should we be forcing her out of her crate to carry her outside. She’s 40 pounds so that is not fun but we are willing to do anything. Thanks in advance for any help!!


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

I had a similar situation with my late dog Queenie (except she came from a junk yard, not a dump, haha) and she ended up being an awesome buddy and a good housedog and traveling pal. Lived to be 17. So hang in there, it can be done! She was always a little weird, sure, but within two years no one would have known what her start in life had been. 

My best advice is to keep things super low key. Almost ignore her, just go about your business, but keep a pocket of treats to toss her when she shows interest in you, or just at random intervals. Let her get used to how you live, the sound of your voice, your typical movement and activity. All the training and whatnot can be done in time. Right now it's just about letting her see that you are nice, living inside is nice, and nothing bad is going to happen. 

In the case of my girl, it did her a TON of good to be around a friendly, trained dog, because she was like, oh, if he's cool with this, I guess we're cool with this. After she calms down and settles in a little, you might think about inviting over a friend that has a bomb-proof sociable dog. That is, if your foster is dog-friendly. 

If this dog wants to hide in her crate, that's okay, especially as she's keeping it clean. She'll become more curious and confident when her stress levels settle, and will start exploring. I'm not saying this is the perfect solution, especially as she's a bigger dog, but for the time being I myself would put down puppy pee pads and/or one of those fake turf potty spots where she's wanting to relieve herself when she comes out of the crate. You can leave a bit of soiled material on the pads/turf as an indicator that this is the toilet spot. Then reward her for going on the appointed spot. Once she's willing to be more interactive and move around more, and doesn't have to be physically dragged into the yard, you can transition her potty spot outdoors.


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## Ashleyb (Jul 20, 2020)

parus said:


> I had a similar situation with my late dog Queenie (except she came from a junk yard, not a dump, haha) and she ended up being an awesome buddy and a good housedog and traveling pal. Lived to be 17. So hang in there, it can be done! She was always a little weird, sure, but within two years no one would have known what her start in life had been.
> 
> My best advice is to keep things super low key. Almost ignore her, just go about your business, but keep a pocket of treats to toss her when she shows interest in you, or just at random intervals. Let her get used to how you live, the sound of your voice, your typical movement and activity. All the training and whatnot can be done in time. Right now it's just about letting her see that you are nice, living inside is nice, and nothing bad is going to happen.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for responding, your post gives me hope!! What a lovely long life you had with Queenie, I’m hoping for the same with Peaches  Your support and advice is so very appreciated


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## Knute (Aug 10, 2019)

Patience.

The dog just came from an essentially wild environment. Now, it is in a domestic environment. This is a HUGE change for the dog.

The dog needs time to adjust and a to trust you. Do not push.

Parus has offered good suggestions.


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