# Fearful rescue Chihuahua - tips?



## huskyluv (Oct 24, 2008)

Ok so here's the deal, my mother in law adopted a new Chihuahua 3 days ago. As far as background info, this little girl spent her entire life (approximately 7 years) living in a puppy mill in Arkansas that was raided by the HSUS in October 2009. She has been waiting for her forever home in various shelters for the past two months and was finally adopted by my MIL this past weekend.

She was spayed and received all her vaccinations (all on the same day) on December 22, 2009 at the humane society that was keeping her. My MIL has named her new rescue Chi, Anita, and took her to her normal vet yesterday. Anita weighs 9 lbs and is rather large for a Chihuahua, but she is otherwise pretty healthy. She is estimated to be about 7 years old, she has a lot of dandruff, and she's missing a lot of teeth and a lot of the teeth that she does have are chipped from chewing on her cage bars at the puppy mill she was rescued from...or so they have been told.

Anyway, Anita is not used to home life and is the most fearful dog I've ever met and I've met quite a few fearful dogs. She is the sweetest little thing and has not shown even the slightest hint of aggression to anyone or any of the other dogs and cats in the house. She eats, drinks, and excretes just fine, the only issue seems to be her fear of everything. Obviously we are all going to take things extremely slow with her (I take care of my MIL's dogs during the day while they are at work). I've dealt with fearful dogs before but never as extreme as little Anita is. With all that said, I would love any tips on dealing with extremely fearful Chihuahuas.

Thanks in advance and I will try to get some pics of Anita up soon.


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## FBRaRrN (May 1, 2006)

Hey 
I have a chi that was fearful.All i can say is just take it easy with her and give her time.Make sure she has a safe place it can just be a little space in the room or a carrier she needs a safe place to go if she gets to scared.And just set with her and talk to her softly and calmly.If she is more happy with another dog around then keep the other dogs around if she don't like to be around let her be my herself.


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## huskyluv (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks, she does have a "safe place" to go to. There is a crate that she claimed almost as soon as they brought her home she went right in and hasn't left it. She spends every second in the crate, except when we take her outside to potty. She does not come out for anything poor little girl. For now we are letting her be as she's only been in her new home for a few days and will need time to adjust. She seems to be indifferent to the other dogs and cats, she is comfortable being held if you go pick her up but she does not approach anyone yet.

Here's a little pic of Anita, she is a black and tan.


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## FBRaRrN (May 1, 2006)

Well it is good that she will let you pick her up Radar would freak out if any one but me tried to pick him up and he did not like me doing it.You could go set outside the carrier and have some treats and talk to her camly and sweetly and see if she will come and if she does give her the treat and pet her a little.You could try putting her carrier next to the couch or wherever you spend most of your time and see if she will mabe come out to you when she is closer to you.You might also see if she would like a stuff animal to snuggle with it might make her more comfrontable SP Radar loved and still does love one of my teddy bears.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Awwwwww...... Anita is a beauty. She's sure had a rough life. Her little face looks scared in that picture. Poor thing. It will take time and patience, I'm sure to help her feel comfortable.

Glad she has a "safe place" with her crate. That's good. Make sure you don't swoop down on her as that would be scary. Also, be conscious of your body language. Don't stare at her in the face, for example, as that is very intimidating to a shy and fearful dog and can intensify their fear. Also, yawning is a calming signal that dogs do to calm themselves if they are stressed. I've heard that if you yawn around her, that is calming to her. It's speaking her language and will decrease her anxiety.

Have you tried rescue remedy? Bachs makes a good one. Just a few drops in her water, or if you can put several drops on a piece of bread and feed it to her, that might help decrease her anxiety naturally. There are also DAP plug ins that emit a calming pheromone. Can't think of the name of it right off hand, but they aren't too hard to find.

I think it will take a lot of time to help Anita come out of her shell. But it will be worth it! Just think of her as a wild animal now and not a pet and take it very slow and easy, don't rush anything. We had to do that with our cat who came to us completely unsocialized. He'd hide under the bed and we wouldn't see him for days. He'd only sneak out to eat and use the litter box in the middle of the night. Once we stopped trying to "encourage" him all the time and started ignoring him, he began to come around. He's great now but it sure did take awhile. Anita may need that right now until she settles in. 

Keep us posted. I'm so glad she has a home now. Can't imagine the horrors she endured in that puppy mill. I'm sure that with time she will work into a wonderful little dog. Bless your mom for taking her in!


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## Tanna (Jan 29, 2009)

What a sweet little face, although she does look a little scared. It's wonderful that she's safe now. I agree with everyone here, with alot of slow love she will be so grateful, she will come out of her shell. I can't wait to see more pic's of her. Keep us posted.


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## WeLoveHiro (Apr 14, 2009)

poor little angel. what sadness and fear in her eyes and face. im so happy your mother in law found her and rescued her. bless them both. i have no advice that hasnt been mentioned already. but i will pray that anita will open her heart to the love everyone has for her.


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## rocky scotland (Jun 15, 2008)

Awww Anita has such a sweet face, poor wee doggie, so glad that your MIL has rescued her and will give her the loving home she deserves.


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## Terri (Aug 21, 2009)

Awww she is lovely Val.
I am so glad she is in a loving home now.
Am sure in time she will know that and come round.
Keep us posted and post more pics when she is more settled.
xx


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## KMNash (Dec 31, 2009)

She is beautiful, it is wonderful to think another Chi has found a loving home.

And I can confirm something Brodysmom said, for me it was a friends dog that was terrified of other people, the way I got him to get used to me was acting like I didn't see him checking me out. Leave the crate door open when you are around and don't get all excited when she does act like she might come out, just treat it like it is nothing at all, acting all excited will usually freak them out a little when they are that scared

It took me about a month with my friends dog, he would come around me, and smell the air and stuff but if I looked at him or talked to him he would bolt. So I started just not letting him see I was watching him, just looking out of the corner of my eye and not turning toward him, I let him decide what was close enough and not pushing him, and he finally came around and walked up to be petted. It was hard not to get excited when he did that but I knew if I did I would have undone all the work we had done.

And if the other dogs wont take it you can put something, like a toy or a treat kinda in front of her cage and sometimes that might interest her into coming out. I had to do the whole Hansel and Grethel thing with a stray once to get him out from under a house... put a few treat right near where he was hiding, then kinda made a trail of treats to get him all the way out lol Hopefully you wont have to do quite that much, but something outside her cage that is really interesting might make her want to come out.

Just my opinion  I hope it helps. She is so pretty and I hope she calms down and has a happy life from now on.


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## Jo-bell (Sep 27, 2009)

Ok, this might be silly, because I'm a people Psychologist, not a Dog Psychologist but......if she was rescued from a puppy mill so therefore spent her life in a cage, then went to a shelter and spent time in a bigger space, but still, an enclosed space, she would be used to being enclosed - now she's in a house with open space it may be very overwhelming to her to be in such a big area (even if its just a matter of the ceiling being higher than she's used to. It may make her feel vulnerable (sort of like an agoraphobic feels) because its not closed in (not sure if i'm making sense here). I would try to encourage her to come out of her crate, but only into one small room (say a bedroom) so shut the bedroom door, so that she can explore that smaller space and then increase the size of the room gradually.

Or I may just be completely mad....


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## KMNash (Dec 31, 2009)

That makes a lot of sense. Kinda like people who grew up in a small town can feel over whelmed in a big city... there is just so much of everything it kinda overloads the senses.


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## Muzby (Jan 28, 2009)

Having another dog "show her the ropes" can help immensely! Betty was a little "odd" (never played, etc) before we got Goose - Gooser showed her how to play and be a dog! IS there a like-sized playmate who doens't have issues living with her?

THe other thing is to give her a few months to a year before really forcing her to do much. Let her know she's safe and home for good. THEN start the scary socializing and introducing new outside things/people. I am a firm believer dogs like this DO need some time to heal, in a quiet environment before throwing them into the deep end. Now, this doesn't mean let her get away with stuff or whathave you.. still make sure she has her rules, get her used to the house & your way of living.


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## Rosiesmum (Oct 14, 2007)

Have sent you a pm, but these links might help 

Obviously check with vet before giving any remedies. They are very safe and have been used for years without issue, but just to be safe 

http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/bfrani.htm

http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm

x


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## jeanie brown (Jan 5, 2009)

awww so sad just be patient when she loses her fear she will have heaps of love to give


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## huskyluv (Oct 24, 2008)

Thank you all so much for all the advice! I figured she took to the crate right away because it is all she has known for her entire life and it offers a sense of security being an "enclosed" space. She has a bed, pillow and blankets in her crate and the door is always open. My MIL had been leaving food and a water bowl in the crate for her but I had suggested to her that maybe she should leave the food and water just outside the crate to encourage Anita to come outside her crate for them on her own time. Do you think that was a bad suggestion on my part? Should she continue to leave food and water inside the crate for Anita?

Muzby, she does have other like-sized dogs living with her. My MIL actually has two other chihuahuas, both 9 years old, so she has two Chi companions that are actually close to her age as well to interact with and learn from. And of course she is also around my chi, Faith. So far she has only been interested in sniffing my Faith, but Faith wants nothing to do with her. 

My MIL tells me that Anita did not eat any of her food yesterday, she offered kibble, treats and wet food but Anita was not interested. She's not sure if it's because of the antibiotics the vet gave her when she took Anita in on Monday. The vet gave her an injection of antibiotics as well as take home Clavamox antibiotic pills to give her twice a day. I don't know what the reason was for the antibiotics though.

So yesterday I brought her outside, walked halfway into the yard, sat down and just ignored her. She wandered around a bit and came over, sniffed me and wandered around some more. I ignored her the entire time and did not move so as not to scare or intimidate her, but I was ecstatic (on the inside) that she came over and sniffed me.  After she'd gone potty I walked over to the door to go back inside the house and she followed, but when I opened the door she ran away from it terrified and refused to come near the door again.  I had to go pick her up and carry her back inside. I felt awful scaring her like that but I just didn't even think that the door might scare her...little things like that that we just don't even think of.


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## I<3Gizmo (Feb 12, 2009)

It's good to hear that she's making some progress! I agree with what a lot of what everyone else is saying. Just give her the time and space she needs! It seems like what you are doing is helping her inch by inch. Just keep up the good work and keep us posted!


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## FBRaRrN (May 1, 2006)

Just keep working with her I am glad that she is getting some better.And that she used the bath room out side.Yes I would leave the food and water outside her carrier it will help her to come out and she might hit it and it might fall over in her bed so I would leave outside of it.Just con. to take it easy with her and she will come around it sounds like she wants to but she is still scared.


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## Libsy (Oct 18, 2014)

My Jesse is a rescue and from the start he was fearful aggressive. It takes patience and love. Give Anita time to trust MIL and know,that she is loved and has a home and is safe. My little boy had been through hell and now he has his forever home and slowly is feeling more and more secure, and learning all the time. Chi's are smart and they can be trained so don't listen to people who blame it on the breed. I would be fearful and so would anyone from such a background. I do notice that when I am stressed that Jesse picks up on it, so he has been a good therapist for me and has taught me to slow down and not just rush through life. I was told Chi's don't like to exercise and this little guy "walks me" four times a day, and some of these walks are 40 minutes. The most gratifying time for me is when driving and we return home, I always say Jesse's home, and he wags his tail and gets all,excited because he knows he has a home and is loved. In time, so will Anita.


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

It's great she will let you hold her. That's a MAJOR step. As soon as she can relax enough to really enjoy cuddling, she may change rather quickly. (I've never tamed a dog, but many, many cats). She's pretty. A good diet may take care of the dandruff. Her coat looks nice and shiny in the photo. My little guy came with really itchy flakey patches. I used the supplement from Mapleton Vetplex. In less than 6 weeks it went away. I don't know if it was the supplement or the fact that I stopped feeding him Pupperoni that did it, but I've never seen a flake since. Best wishes for a happy journey for Anita, your MIL and you.


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