# How to help skittish/scared rescue puppy?



## Mysterypup (Dec 8, 2014)

You may have seen my earlier post with dog questions and a more thorough explanation of our puppy situation...

New question! She's about 10 weeks old and is very skittish, sheepish, and scared. She cowers when you go to pet her or pick her up. When we bend down and call her over, you can tell she wants to come, but she's scared. She will get really close and then run away. We adopted her from the pound on Saturday. She was probably in a bad situation before then. How can we help her relax and trust us? We would love for her to be able to be a regular playful puppy. And how do we train her not to chew furniture or get in the trash without scaring her or confusing her? So far I have just been redirecting and then praising her when he is playing with the right stuff.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

setting a solid schedule every day builds confidence.. they know exactly what is coming and when, they learn interaction with you in each event  it's like solving the fear of the unknown structure is very easy for dogs to learn , anticipate, follow through with when done every day.. keep it simple... Not much you need to do for a dog in a day to care for their important needs which are all rewarding for the dog.. sleep, nap, eat, potty, activity time. 

it's a puppy so taking naps is good for them. learning schedule nap times turn into schedule rest times for adults.

Crates are good for sleeping through the night, they good for meal times, and nap and rest times.. especially a skittish dog,, it's their space to rest, no one bother them....
leash for walks and potty breaks.. stay in the yard while they building confidence.
activity in house.. go for eye contact, hearing their name, follow me .. for quick rewards through out the day that are like 3 seconds reward and you go on doing your own thing...


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Be trustworthy. If she doesn't like it when you reach to pet or pick her up, don't do those things.

One thing that usually works really well for these puppies is to sit or lay down on the floor with a book, magazine, device - whatever will keep you occupied and make her feel like your attention is not completely on her - and a bowl of really tasty treats. Just ignore her and toss treats randomly at first, then closer to you, then as she gets more comfortable toss them only when she is approaching you. Teach her that you aren't going to pressure her and that good things happen when you are around.


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## Tyler_X (Aug 30, 2014)

Mysterypup said:


> You may have seen my earlier post with dog questions and a more thorough explanation of our puppy situation...
> 
> New question! She's about 10 weeks old and is very skittish, sheepish, and scared. She cowers when you go to pet her or pick her up. When we bend down and call her over, you can tell she wants to come, but she's scared. She will get really close and then run away. We adopted her from the pound on Saturday. She was probably in a bad situation before then. How can we help her relax and trust us? We would love for her to be able to be a regular playful puppy. And how do we train her not to chew furniture or get in the trash without scaring her or confusing her? So far I have just been redirecting and then praising her when he is playing with the right stuff.


10 weeks is young, keep things positive and focus on gaining your puppys trust. Let your puppy come to you, don't pressure her. I'd maybe practice everyday giving her treats or letting her lick/bite at a treat and try to pet her. That should at least give her the association that being touched is good and there's nothing to be afraid of. The furniture chewing/getting in the trash is just because your puppy doesn't understand what is and what isn't acceptable to chew. Redirect inappropriate chewing with a toy, if that doesn't work redirect with the smell of a treat and then stuff a toy in her mouth. Maybe buy the bitter yuck or bitter apple spray for your furniture? Exercise your puppy outside whenever possible, a tired puppy is less likely to act out and be destructive. But you also don't want your puppy to be overtired, so make sure shes getting naps. If your puppy seems ornery or overexcited, it would probably be a good time to give her a break in the cage. You seem like you are doing the right things, it is honestly just going to take time.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Well if a 4 year old child (age picked out of the air) were taken out of their home and moved to an entirely new place with brand new people who maybe even talked a different language. 

Would you expect the child who is much smarter and more worldly compared to a 10 week old pup not to be scared/nervous and apprehensive 5 or 6 days later. Now I'm being a tad facetious but just think about it and the shock the pup has gone through.


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## Furry (Oct 28, 2014)

We were in a similar situation so I will give you my experience in the hopes it will help you:

We rescued one of our dogs when she was 4 months old. She was shivering in a corner at the shelter. We took her to doggy class one week later and she froze for half an hour so I just sat next to her during that time. Now she is one year old and we are training for her to graduate. We still have to teach her everything with positive commands though, she doesn't respond to pulling her leash, yelling or telling her "NO". For the things she often does wrong we invented commands to teach her to "let go", "jump off", "leave it", "go back" so we could use it in those situations. 

It'll take time and patience for your puppy to start trusting things. Just make sure you stay positive so she knows you are a safe person to be around. A tip: Get her familiar with as many things as possible as soon as possible like busy market places, carnavals, loud noices, fireworks... This will save you a lot of trouble in the future. Oh, and a harnas, ours tried to run away a lot when she was scared and would pull out of her lead... She still wears it when we go places she hasn't been before.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions I would be glad to help you where I can.


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

Don't expect 10 week old puppies to be rational. They're scared for silly reasons, don't do walks, pee all over the place. Every day feels usually like 4 steps forward and 3 steps back. She's young enough that the bad situation experience should be in the past soon. When she's old enough to get into an obedience class do that. Theyll be used to bringing shy dogs out of their shell.


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