# very traumatized dog



## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi. I just bought a tiny 4 years old chihuahua girl from a lady who had a few dogs advertized on a local paper. I thought this one was looking very sweet, so I went to take a look (I kind of fall in love with her when I saw the body language in the pics, even if the breed has never been one of my favorites....) I ended up buying it, and I still think she is the sweetest dog I ever met. But she is incredibly scared. She was like that at the ladies place too. The lady had a lot of different dogs of different breeds, and I couldn`t see that they were unhappy, most of them were free around the house and inside, but I suppose she is breeding them and selling those who are not fit for breeding. When I paid for the dog, I was told it came originally from eastern europe, from a puppy mill (!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and that the lady had bought it from a previous owner in sweden when she was 2 years old. She said the dog had had a tough life, and this I can believe, I had a rescue dog once who had been closed in a sack with a hen and beaten up to teach her not to kill chickens, and when I took her home she did not come out from under the table for a month...
This little one is scared of everything, going around like she was walking on eggs, trying to hide everytime somebody in the house coughs or drops something. She refuses to go on a leash, just stays there and looks at you, still as a statue. Absolutely no signs of aggression, she is as good as a dog can be, and behaves extremely quiet. She never barks, even when my other dogs bark (she is not scared of the other dogs, though). It`s like she is trying to make herself invisible.
Question: I know that I can make her feel better with patience and love, if it`s "just" a bad experience that made her like that. But is it possible that she is like that by nature? Can a Chihuahua be so shy, quiet and "passive"
from birth? In that case, I would respect her being like this and will not try to socialise her and work to change her as much as I would if it all was a consequence of a trauma. I hope I can get some help here. Thanks!


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## Clementine (Jun 28, 2011)

Even mentally challenged puppies are not scared from birth. Some are more timid by nature, but even timid puppies are inquisitive and playful at first. Fear is a learned behavior. She probably learned to be "invisible" to protect herself from the environments she was in. Fear takes the longest of any rehabilitation to accomplish because you can't force it, you have to wait for her to come around and make her environment and interactions with her world as safe as possible. Puppy mill dogs can be more timid than conscientiously bred dogs since they are bred for quantity and color rather than sound temperament, but not all are like this.

Sounds like you have a good idea of how to proceed with her. Take it slowly and let her acclimatize. It's good that she is not afraid of your other dogs; that will be a safe point for her. She can see that the other dogs are not afraid of you or your home and they can be a bridge for her to you.


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## Audreybabypup (Sep 14, 2010)

Naturally puppyies are curious and happy little creatures. Without socialization however, they can become either very timid running away from everything and everyone, or aggressive toward dogs and people alike. It sounds as tho she has had an afulw life! At the humane society I volunteer for we see many dogs in the situation. We open the kennel to put in the food and the rush and hide in the back corner. We do "sit therapy" with these dogs. We take a pouch of treats and something to do (book to read, cross word puzzle) asnd we go into the kennel and sit. We do not speak to the dog nor.reach for it. We just sit there and read or whatever occasionally tossing the pup a treat. Usually after doing this for an hour per day for a week or two, the pup tends to bond with us and starts to come up to us for the treat slowly. When the animal sees that we aren't there to grab at it and force it to do anything, it feels secure and realizes if it approaches it'll get a tasty treat. Many dogs have been helped through sit. Therapy and have gone on to get adopted and become wonderful pets. So I just say take it slow, if she likes to be held, hold her. Just love her and try not to force anything she isn't ready for. And boiled chicken is always a great idea


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Ok, thanks. I`ll do like I did with my other scared dog, I`ll wait to pet her when she comes to me and let her alone when she hides away. Luckily she is very fond of all kind of food, so she comes out of her den when we cook or eat. When we took her home, the first day she had to go out in the garden on a long leash, because she had tried to run away from us and I wasn`t sure we could be able to catch her again. Today she went without leash (the fence is dog-proof, one of my dogs is an escape master) and she just followed me everywhere - at a distance. I think she just "wants to believe". It always makes me very sad to see how dogs, no matter how abused, end up loving and trusting humans again and again.....


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## Clementine (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm glad she follows you, that is very sweet  Let us know how her rehab goes!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I have a 'highly bred' chi who is like this. Her mama didn't 'recognize' her pups for 7 days after a c section, and weaned the pups at 4 weeks. Not good for the pup. She was very fear aggresive when I got her at 12 weeks. Now at 3 yrs she is still very insecure, except in the house. She has been diagnosed with 'focal seizures', which is flea biting where there are NO fleas. Air snaps at stuff that isn't there. Phenobarbitol is helping. Medication may help this little one, if she doesn't show any improvement after a month or so of settling in. Good luck Sue


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

I got my two pekingese from a hoarding situation, 37 pekes in a sigle-wide mobile home. Sun Chee was fine, Ling Ling, who was 2 when I got her, lived under my bed for about a year. I would throw her treats and sometimes, if I had to take her somewhere, I would have to dismantle the bed to grab her. But after a year, she came around. She is now 14 and is finally letting my kids to give her a pat or two on her head. Fear can be overcome, just have to let them come around on their terms.


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## CHITheresa (Apr 30, 2011)

That is so great you love and want to her her. I will pray she comes around to trusting and no longer afraid. Bless you


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks for all the answers, I`ll surely keep in touch. Nice to see that there are a lot of nice dog lovers around! 
Tonight she came out of her hiding place and joined us in the living room, and asked to come on the sofa with us! She let us pet her, and seemed very happy, but she is of course still very easily scared, we have to move very slowly when she is around. I think it will go much better very fast, I hope she`ll be able to take a walk with us soon, before the snow comes. I will post if she does. Good night everybody!


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## Tanna (Jan 29, 2009)

Aw, Bless her heart, it sounds like she is coming around. I'ts very sad when animals are scared all the time. Do you have any pics of her?


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## bayoumah (Nov 30, 2010)

hi want to say thankyou to you for getting this sweet chih i didnt see her name and working slowly with her sounds like shes been through alot of rough times im sure in time shell be so friendly and appreciative to you for saveing her you did great buying her


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## CarrieAndCalista (Jul 22, 2011)

I think you have already got really great advice, but I just wanted to wish you luck, and welcome you to ChiPeople! 
Calming, Happy vibes going to your little one.


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Thank you everybody for the warm welcome...I posted 2 pics of Giannina in the photo sections, so if you`re curious you can see her, just like she is now, sitting on the sofa with the kids. My eldest got caught with her trousers on the parrot`s cage today, making a lot of noise, and Giannina has been avoiding her all day....but now they are friends again.


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## nabi (Nov 25, 2004)

thank you for taking this little girl...she sounds like she has had a really hard time in her short life span....glad she will lie in a loving home from now on....







svdreamer said:


> I got my two pekingese from a hoarding situation, 37 pekes in a sigle-wide mobile home. Sun Chee was fine, Ling Ling, who was 2 when I got her, lived under my bed for about a year. I would throw her treats and sometimes, if I had to take her somewhere, I would have to dismantle the bed to grab her. But after a year, she came around. She is now 14 and is finally letting my kids to give her a pat or two on her head. Fear can be overcome, just have to let them come around on their terms.


You are an angel....I admire your ability to take in such wounded souls and let them live in peace....


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi! A bit of update. After 3 days in her new home, Giannina has bonded very strongly with my oldest daughter. I`ve never experienced something like that before, and I have met a lot of dogs in my life...She runs and greets her with all her little body when she comes into the kitchen, she wants to sit on her lap, she follows her everywhere. Until yesterday, my youngest daughter and I were just two big scary monsters, and Elisa (my oldest) was the only one she wanted to relate to. I must admit I was a bit disappointed. I`m happy she has found somebody she trusts and love, but then (sigh!) why not me....? Today she is letting me pet her, but she is still very scared. She has understood that I`m the one cooking, so she left my daughter for an hour, while I was making dinner. All of the sudden, I became very interesting...haha! But still, she runs away like a rocket if I just look at her or talk to her. I must say, not as much as before, but still...
So they say: if you love somebody, you want him/her to be happy. Well, ok for me. At the same time, we are working to move her bond from Elisa to me, since Elisa is 16 and in 3 years she`ll move away to live somewhere else, somewhere where pets are not allowed. That will be bad for Giannina, if she has such a strong bond to only one person. But on the other side, it seems that she at least trustes and likes one of us. Wasn`t that was quick!?


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

That's great that she can still trust! You have three years to get her used to you, it will happen. If she is so scared of you looking and talking to her, ignore her. She will come up to you and lick your leg when she is ready to accept you. She has a lot to overcome, but she will get there. don't try to force her to accept you, let her dictate the time when she is ready. Trying too hard will make her scared and anxious. Throw her a piece of treat, then ignore her. When I was young, there was this huge brindle dog on the way to school that always barked hysterically at us when we passed. So everyday I would break off a piece of my sandwich, throw it over the fence and ignore him. In a few months, I was able to pet him and scratch him behind the ears. Food is a great motivator, also, with me ignoring him, he came to terms with me being safe and friendly on his own schedule. Patience is the key with these hurt and traumatised little dogs. Best of luck.


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi everybody. I promised I would give some updates about Giannina, but there is actually nothing to say about improvements....she is cute, "street-smart", she eats well and everything but still no contact...she doesn`t come near either me or my youngest daugther, even if she is very bold concerning food (both with us and with the other dogs) so no matter how many good bites I give her, I still have to crawl under the table to pick her up when she is due to go out and pee. I`m using my best baby voice, always the same words and so on, but no way....She only lets my oldest daughter (Elisa) pet her and Elisa is still the only one she is greeting when she comes home. And mind you, she has been sleeping in my bed together with the other dogs every night for 2 months now. 
I`m prepared to be patient for years if needed, but I`m really running short of tricks. What else can I try? 
One more thing: she has a very strange voice, hoarse and low (no pitch) even when she is scared she sounds more like a duck than a dog, is that normal? I`ve seen hundreds of dogs in my life, but none was "talking" like that. Maybe a couple of pugs, but they were more raucous than ducky. 
Waiting for more tips, thanks!


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

I would say keep doing what you are doing. All my dogs are bonded to me, only three are accepting of others in the house, will go sit on their laps and love to go see them out of the dog room. The other 8 dogs only want to be with me and get very unhappy if out of the room while I am in it. You may just have to wait until your daughter leaves before she will latch on to another human. Twiggy sounds like a duck, too. She does have a loud bark, and a lot of times she will vocalize and she sounds so much like a duck. Especially when she is in heat. None of the others sound like it.


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## Tanna (Jan 29, 2009)

She may have had her bark alterd by the vet.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I suspect this poor pup was 'debarked'. If she was lucky, it was done under anesthesia. I had a 7 yr old puppymill mama that never in the 3 years I had her, ever come to me for any attention. I did 'teach' her the wait cue, so that I didn't have to run her down to pick up for something. That was done by just saying wait, while I steadily walked her down. She finally would end up curling up on the carpet. She was a perfect house dog, walked on a leash (after I caught her) and loved life. Just didn't trust people. More than one 'trainer' told me just enjoy her, don't try to train her. Good luck with yours. Sue


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks for yr answers. I also suspected she was "debarked", maybe a vet could see it but I don`t want her to be examinated since she is so utterly scared...yesterday I was holding her while I went near (but not so near) a window to close it, and she started backpedaling and getting frantic...I must admit that one of the reasons I would like her to get better is that every time I see her so easily scared it reminds me of all she must have been through, and I feel so sorry about it...when I look at her and see that she is just a tiny little being, originally just very friendly, sweet and trusting, and somehow somebody reduced her to a bundle of fear....
I did not dare to enquire further, but the woman I got her from said she had puppies with a cesarean. I don`t know when or how many times, nor where (in poland, sweden, norway?) but she has a hernia and I suppose the woman was selling her because she was no use to get more litters.....She had more dogs at her place, one was lame (she said she bought it like that), so I start to think she is buying cheap dogs just to get litters and sell - a chihuahua is worth from 15.000 to 20.000 norwegian crowns here...and the only reason she did not put her to sleep is that she still could get some money from selling her (no danger here, all my animals get spayed as soon as I get them, but I think she will stay whole since she is so tiny and I am afraid a surgery will be too risky). 
I`ll definitely try to teach her to stay, if she learns it could be an improvement of sort.


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## giannina (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi everybody, a quick xmas greeting to all, and wishes that all dogs in the whole world have a better life! 
Giannina is happy and seems to be accepting that we are her new family, but she`s still very shy. She learnt to stay when I have to let her out, so it`s easier to catch her. Good advice! All in all, she is much more relaxed, but well, I don`t think she will ever trust us not hurting her. I don`t mind. She sleeps with my daughter, and has a really good relationship with her. As long as she`s happy, we are happy. Xmas food for all of my animals tonight, dogs, cats, birds, rabbit, rats, mouse, hens and fishes, that`s the tradition in Norway. And my best wishes to all of you dog lovers.
Adriana


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

I'm glad you stopped by and let us know how she's doing. And I'm happy she picked someone to trust and be her person. Contine to give her time, hopefully she will lose even more of her fear. I'm so thankful you got her and are giving her the chance she needs. I hope you have a great holiday season.


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

I agree , poor little soul and thank god for people like you, merry Christmas xox




nabi said:


> thank you for taking this little girl...she sounds like she has had a really hard time in her short life span....glad she will lie in a loving home from now on....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

P.S I can't find the pics of your baby?


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