unknown404
New member
Hi all,
After some acclimation time, something clicked in her head and she started coming out of the crate and spending time with my wife when I was not there. At the time I was just happy she felt comfortable enough with someone to allow them to hold her be somewhat normal.
I should mention, all this while ,she refuses to go to the bathroom outside, as anytime we try to take her out, all she does is try to run away from us and has backed out of the 3 strap harness we got for her. It’s like the ground is lava, yet what she uses to go to bathroom on inside our house is a 2 foot x 2 foot patch of natural grass that we found online. And our other dog has been trained to ring a doorbell when he wants to go outside to use facilities and he has been excellent with that.
If anyone has any suggestions on how I can earn her full trust I would greatly appreciate any and all.
Tl;Dr
After 6 months my dog shakes when I try to pet her, but loves my wife, also thinks ground is lava and hates outside.
Thank you in advance for any advice.
Code:
In November of last year my wife and I rescued a dog from a high kill shelter. This came a month after our 18 year old cat passed away. For context, we have 2 other cats still alive(18,16).
When we brought her home, she immediately seemed refuge in the crate we got for her which seemed normal since she had been through what was probably a traumatizing few days(surrendered to shelter, trucked 9 hours to our local shelter and same day placed into our home). So we gave her some space and tried to let her settle in for a few days by feeding her right outside the crate, giving her treats and trying to show love from outside her place of comfort. It took her 8 days to feel comfortable enough to poop!
A month later she was still spending 99% percent of her time in the crate and wouldn’t come out to spend time with us. So, at that time we decided to get another dog to give her animal companionship and show her that she can trust us and love us. We got a male puppy and he couldn’t be anymore different than her. He is outgoing, loves people and is a happy go lucky goofball who is a pure lover. They get along well now although she loves to steal his bones and play victim lol.
After some acclimation time, something clicked in her head and she started coming out of the crate and spending time with my wife when I was not there. At the time I was just happy she felt comfortable enough with someone to allow them to hold her be somewhat normal.
I should mention, all this while ,she refuses to go to the bathroom outside, as anytime we try to take her out, all she does is try to run away from us and has backed out of the 3 strap harness we got for her. It’s like the ground is lava, yet what she uses to go to bathroom on inside our house is a 2 foot x 2 foot patch of natural grass that we found online. And our other dog has been trained to ring a doorbell when he wants to go outside to use facilities and he has been excellent with that.
Code:
Flash forward to present day, and she still wants nothing to do with me. If I am home alone she will stay in her crate until my wife comes home from work. My wife and I have been sleeping in 2 separate bedrooms (one sleeps in our bedroom with our cats, other sleeps in spare bedroom with dogs, we rotate every 4 days) for 2 months and she will sleep with me throughout the night on the bed next to me, but if I move to pet her she runs away and jumps off.
We are able to get her outside for walks but they are short and purely so she can relieve herself and get back to comforts of inside the house. She will still try to run away and back out of harness if we try to deviate at all from the route she wants to take. She has gotten out twice and both times ran to our front porch and waited for whoever was with her to catch up and let her in. She is obsessed with my wife which I am very happy about, but shakes when I get near her. It’s hard to continue to show love with little to zero reciprocation from her nearly 6 months into this. I don’t understand how she can feel comfortable enough to sleep with her body touching mine but shake the second I try to pet her.
If anyone has any suggestions on how I can earn her full trust I would greatly appreciate any and all.
Tl;Dr
After 6 months my dog shakes when I try to pet her, but loves my wife, also thinks ground is lava and hates outside.
Thank you in advance for any advice.