Awe, poor guy. Makes me sad he is like that too!! I bet he is so confused, but with lots of love I am sure he will come around and not be so scared. I would pick up a book on rescues...I found this free one which sounds like it could be a good start!

http://www.dogfencediy.com/rescue-dog/

Aww poor guy! With great advice from more knowledgeable members on here you will have him out of his shell in no time. Honestly, I don't understand why Rescues do not go over this kinda thing for you before you take the dog home. They should be educating adopters the best way to handle a these types of cases.

Poor Nelson, sounds like he's even worse than my Bella. She cowers but seems to love people regardless. Tail is tucked, but she still approaches most people. I'm no professional, but I would say leave his crate open and put treats out to encourage him to come out a bit. Then I'd put a treat next to you. He may eventually approach you for the treat. It might take a while, but it's much better than forcing it. Good luck. Keep us posted.

26nikita wrote:

Aww poor guy! With great advice from more knowledgeable members on here you will have him out of his shell in no time. Honestly, I don't understand why Rescues do not go over this kinda thing for you before you take the dog home. They should be educating adopters the best way to handle a these types of cases.

I was thinking the same thing. I really think they need to have a volunteer, if possible, to work with the new family. It amazes me how the pups/cats are handed off, then owners are left to their own defenses. I think helping the new families out would help returned pets too.

Oh my mom fully prepares people and tells them all the bad things about the dog before they get it. What amazes me is that those people actually adopt the dog after she tells them about it! lol.

Don't baby him too much. Like don't make sad noises or poor baby when he looks scared or you'll actually be reenforcing the behavior. Just ignore him for now like Kristina said and carry around treats all the time. Hopefully he'll surprise you and come out of his shell quickly. I know a few of my mom's rescues warm up a ton after a few days being at her house, but there's always those ones who never do and need a ton of work. I think he'll be fine after a week or so. You should have seen the last sibe rescue my mom had. He was scared of every thing, but now he loves everyone! lol.

Thanks for all of the advice...I knew that he was timid and passive, I guess I just didn't realize how bad it was. And it's harder when you see it firsthand because it just breaks my heart! But I'm sure within a few days he'll be more comfortable, I think you're right that the best thing to do is just ignore him for now and let him approach us on his own terms...

The weirdest thing is how he is going outside. He's scared to even walk very far, he does his business and then pulls VERY hard and runs right back to our front door and will lay down on the mat until I let him in. As soon as the door is open, he runs to his crate and hides. I guess I just figured huskies loved being outside and exercising, but we can't get him to walk more than a few yards at a time.

I'll keep you all updated on his progress.

Aww poor baby. I've never had any experience with rescues, but my mom's 7 month old golden is scared of EVERYTHING. She's never been threw anything in her life. My parents got her at 10 weeks and treat her like a princess. She's just a scared dog. She's scared of loud noises, cars, people walking by her, getting in/out of the car, etc. She's ok with other dogs most of the time and plays at the dog park (tail tuckered under at all times though). She LOVES Kody and they're BFF's. He's just so sweet though that there's no way she could be scared of him. She TOTALLY respects Mya, but is getting better around her. They're working on it with her and she's getting better so just have patience and he'll come out of his shell before you know it.

He's gorgeous btw!

rnelsen wrote:

The weirdest thing is how he is going outside. He's scared to even walk very far, he does his business and then pulls VERY hard and runs right back to our front door and will lay down on the mat until I let him in. As soon as the door is open, he runs to his crate and hides. I guess I just figured huskies loved being outside and exercising, but we can't get him to walk more than a few yards at a time.

Yep, this is my moms dog also! She'll cower down and turn to run home and just lay there until they let her in. They started taking treats on walks and when she goes a bit further than the day before they'll praise her and give her a treat.

Good luck!

His create is his safe spot he feels safe inside it. Figure he's been through a lot the past several weeks so he does not know who to trust. So he is going to stay in his safe spot till he figures it out. But like everyone has said just ignore him and go on about what you do on a daily bases. He is watching and when he notices it is safe he will journey out.

He ventured out tonight (first time besides getting food) and sat in front of us about 15 seconds and stared...then turned around and went back to his crate. But it was a baby step! I'm feeling much better tonight about the whole situation, the more I read and research this, the more I hear the advice to "ignore" him and go about my normal life. I feel a lot better after all of your encouragement so, thank you! I'm sure he'll get curious (and bored!) sooner or later.

I have nothing to add but encouragement. Kristina is right on (and boy does she have experience with this). Ignore him. Carry treats around and gently praise him when he does decide to venture out.

These things take time. Rescues are often traumatized from the process of rescuing to begin with. If he IS that young, that means he's now had 4 homes in one year (original "breeder", first home that surrendered him, rescue, and yourself). He doesn't know who to trust or when he'll be taken away again. It's going to take a while. Most rescues that aren't timid take a good 3-6 months to come out of their shells. I wouldn't be surprised if he took at least 6, but I'm sure (based on what you have said) that he WILL come out of it. Just be patient, don't push it, and you'll have more and more "small victories" to celebrate

And yeah... he's definitely completely gorgeous. I think a have a new favorite

So glad to see Nelson with you. I'm actually a volunteer with Siberian Husky Rescue of Fl Inc. He looks happy and I'm sure he will come out of his shell soon for you. Just like everyone has said it takes time. I hope to see you at our Husky Olympics on Feb 26th at Lake Seminole Park.

Koda wrote:

I have nothing to add but encouragement. Kristina is right on (and boy does she have experience with this). Ignore him. Carry treats around and gently praise him when he does decide to venture out.

These things take time. Rescues are often traumatized from the process of rescuing to begin with. If he IS that young, that means he's now had 4 homes in one year (original "breeder", first home that surrendered him, rescue, and yourself). He doesn't know who to trust or when he'll be taken away again. It's going to take a while. Most rescues that aren't timid take a good 3-6 months to come out of their shells. I wouldn't be surprised if he took at least 6, but I'm sure (based on what you have said) that he WILL come out of it. Just be patient, don't push it, and you'll have more and more "small victories" to celebrate

And yeah... he's definitely completely gorgeous. I think a have a new favorite

Thanks for the info...we realize it's probably going to take more time than we would like, but it will be worth it. And actually, he's had MORE than 4 homes in one year. Since being taken in by the rescue, he's had 3 different foster homes for various reasons. So to him we're just one more move on his rotation...

On another note, last night was his second night with us. This time we did not move his crate into our bedroom, rather left it out in the main living area. As soon as we went to bed he was walking around (I can hear his tags jingling). He must have walked around for at least an hour (he even ventured into our bedroom about 5-6 times; would walk around the bed, peek at us, and walk out. And then come back and do the same thing a few minutes later). I heard him all throughout the night. This morning we go to take him out and he has stockpiled all of our shoes in his crate! And one unfortunate flip-flop of mine was destroyed on the floor. There was also fur all over the couch, which means he jumped up there for the first time. I was just glad he was able to get some energy out and seemed to be getting used to our apartment.

Later I went to take him out again for a bathroom run and try to get him to walk a little further. I put the leash on, opened the door, and he sprung out not attached to the leash!!! My best guess is it didn't latch all the way or got caught on the ring. I completely panicked, he tore off across the yard area and I ran chasing after him (I know that was NOT the right thing to do but I wasn't thinking). He would not come to me, kept running back and forth, tail between his legs. I finally had the idea to open our apartment door and he ran in on his next pass. Poor thing was scared, and me startling him didn't help. We tried to take him out a few hours later and he sat with his tail between his legs and wouldn't walk out the door. I'm so mad at myself, I've probably traumatized him and lost all of the small progress we had made!!

Don't beat yourself up over it. I would have freaked out too. He's so new, he could have taken off and you never see him again. I'm sure it didn't do much damage. Glad he's venturing out more at night. His nickname should be night owl. lol.

I'm actually helping a friend right now with a timid golden. She's not that bad, but a little afraid of strangers and strange dogs. I can tell it's going to take a while with her, but I'm sure it can be done.

That makes me feel better...I was so afraid I had just made things way worse. And you're exactly right, the reason I chased after him is I KNEW he wouldn't come to me, since he won't even come to us inside. I was so afraid we were never going to see him again. It's crazy we've only had him two days and he doesn't even like us yet but I would be devastated if something happened to him. Thank goodness he's scared of everything, even the outdoors, and wanted to come back inside. If not we would have been in trouble.

Is he food motivated at all? Or does he at least like food? You could put some peanut butter on the end of a spoon and use that to bring him outside. What I would do is leash him up and open the door and walk outside ahead of him if he doesn't want to move just sit (not facing him) and hold the spoon out to your side so he can get to it. If he moves toward it to lick allow him to lick and give some gentle praise. Slowly scoot forward (he'll probably get nervous and go back inside or try and get away) don't say anything, just hold the leash and leave the spoon in his line of sight. It's a slow process but it works.

rnelsen wrote:

It's crazy we've only had him two days and he doesn't even like us yet but I would be devastated if something happened to him.

I just have to comment on this. This is precisely what I felt when we got Koda. I never had much of a maternal instinct, but the moment Koda was left in our hands, it's like the light literally switched on inside of me. He is yours now and you would do anything to protect him. A good friend of mine calls that feeling "The Forever Promise." It's how you know you're a good home and the right one

And I wouldn't beat yourself up over it either. I would have panicked as well. Truly.. he will loosen up. He already likes you (as evidenced by the shoes--my sister's dog does that too). He just doesn't know if he can trust you yet. He will learn. Trust just takes time.

That happened to me once with Mya. One of the first times that I was actually going to attempt walking Mya and Kody together. I put their leashes on and secured them like I always do, but when I opened the door Mya bolted out leaving me with her leash in my hand. I immediately dropped Kodys' leash and closed the door (he was still inside obviously). I thought I was going to faint! Luckily my mother in law (who lives in the duplex infront of us) was getting home at that exact moment. Mya ran to her to say hello (she LOVES LOVES her grandmother) and I grabbed her. Oh thank the lord that she got home at that exact minute or who knows what would have happened. Ever since that incident I"m SO paranoid about their leashes. I triple check them both before going anywhere!

Glad he ran back inside! You must have been so scared!

He just had diarrhea all over my carpet....this has turned out to be much harder than we anticipated...

Sorry about that, the diarrhea is probably from the stress of the change and new family (and possibly new food?) Or holding it because he's too scared to go outside?

He's definitely going to take some time to relax. I hope you guys can stick it out, he really needs some consistency in his life poor guy.

arooroomom wrote:

Sorry about that, the diarrhea is probably from the stress of the change and new family (and possibly new food?) Or holding it because he's too scared to go outside?

He's definitely going to take some time to relax. I hope you guys can stick it out, he really needs some consistency in his life poor guy.

Yep.

Sorry That always sucks.

Do any of your neighbors have dogs? I've found with some of my mom's rescues that were a bit afraid of me, petting and giving another dog love and treats was a great way to get the scared dog more interested in me. I'd toss it a treat every time it got closer.

Maybe the sandal didn't agree with his stomach!

My husband seems to think he did it because of the incident this morning with him running outside and me panicking. He thinks he was traumatized, I don't know if it is that and stress alone, or food related. I told Melissa he was on Pedigree puppy wet food and Purina dry food, which is what the fosters/rescue had fed him, she said that's a really bad food so I guess I'll look into something else, at this point I'm just worried about the price point for some of these grain-free, holistic foods. Regardless, if he was on these foods before with no problem then I'm assuming the incident is stress-related.

I at times feel like a salesperson for Taste of the Wild (TOTW) but I also know not everyone has the time or desire to read all the previous post on feeding, medical etc.

Get some TOTW Pacific Blend or what ever its called (salmon stuff). Reasonable price and it often helps the Huskies with sensitive stomachs. Be sure to add it to his diet slowly and not all at once.

Here4thePics wrote:

I at times feel like a salesperson for Taste of the Wild (TOTW) but I also know not everyone has the time or desire to read all the previous post on feeding, medical etc.

Get some TOTW Pacific Blend or what ever its called (salmon stuff). Reasonable price and it often helps the Huskies with sensitive stomachs. Be sure to add it to his diet slowly and not all at once.

Yep, that's what I suggested for Nelson. It didn't work out for Kody, but I know it works for most of your sibes and it's not expensive. That's why I wanted to try and switch them over to it. Definitely make the switch slowly