We rescued Bella (previously named Snow) on Sunday. She has already made some progress but I wanted some tips from people who have done this before. A little info on her: 2 1/1 years old, she was a breeder release. Never bred because she was shy and they didn't think she would do well with being a mother or she would pass it on to her pups (which worked well in her favor).

Had been at the rescue since January. When we got her from the rescue she was very dirty (when we washed off the dirt we then smelled the skunk), hadn't been brushed, and is very skinny. She would cower in the corner with her body squished up as small as possible (spine bowed up) and not make any eye contact at all. When you approached her she would either run or ball up like that.

I'm assuming since they couldn't breed her they basically just ignored her and didn't have much interaction with her at all.

Since Sunday we have made a little progress. She will let me approach her and most of the time she does not squish herself up she will lay or sit down and sometimes she will duck her head and sometimes she will just look normal but avert her eyes. When I am a few feet away she will make eye contact and sits normal and looks like she's smiling (her picture in her scrapbook).

During the night she will get up and will play with our male husky and will actually follow us around the house (we're talking 4am). Daytime is a different story. She likes to lay in the corner to the side of our wood stove in the living room or she will now lay in the kitchen where she can see me from the computer.

I have been working on her taking food from my hand to try and gain some trust. She had been taking it and then dropping it on the floor to eat when I walked away. Today I sat down on the floor beside her and fed her some french fries (healthy I know). I started by throwing one right in front of her. I then made them get closer and closer until she was up by me eating out of my hand. She was still on alert but did well I thought.

She really likes to watch me play with our male. I will sit in the floor by her and play with him and she just has the smile look on her face watching us. I am assuming this is a good thing to do because she sees that I am not hurting him and that we play etc. She looks like she wants to join us but she won't.

She hasn't been food aggressive but did act aggressive towards our male yesterday. He had a raw hide bone and she attacked him outside. I went out today and bought more so they can have their own. Right now she has hers in the kitchen and when our male walked by the kitchen she stopped chewing on it and has a very pissed off aggressive look towards him. (He has one too he just left it in the bedroom).

Like I said, any tips or ideas would be great. I just want to love on her!

This is where we start when approached (sometimes the head is lower).


After some "Hey sweet girl hey pretty girl" and kissy noises.


Finally!


Now if someone walks in the room or I move (like to get up or to pet her) she will go back to the first position or even lower her head more and avert her eyes.

She's beautiful! I'm sure some more experienced people will have lots of wisdom for you. But I wanted to let you know that she sounds just like our Toccoa, just older. We brought her home and had the same behaviors. It's taken us months of intense socialization and patience Here are some of the things that worked for us.

Hand feeding - we alternated who in the family fed the puppy but it was all by hand. It took some time each day, but it worked.

Family Manners Class - It was a parent/dog class that worked on basic skills. The skills weren't important at all. Toccoa was scared of other dogs as well as ALL humans. This was a controlled environment to interact with others.

Friends and Family - everyone we knew came to the house...and ignored Toccoa. It was simply to get her to stop hiding or growling when a stranger arrived. Now, she comes over and sniffs visitors, huge progress to us!

We have two other girls too (both Golden Retreivers) and she responded well to them. She would play with them from almost day one. Our trainer recommended that we crate them (the goldens) more than normal for a week or two to force Toccoa to socialize with us. It worked well. Now, if I sit on the floor, it must be play time and she's in my lap first!

It's been three months since we brought her home and the changes are amazing. But most of her personality has just appeared in the last 2-3 weeks. It's been amazing to watch, just have patience. It will take some time to build her confidence but once you do, watch out

Sounds just like Drake. There's some good info in this thread if you look hard enough. https://www.itsahuskything.com/t3350-hopeful-new-husky-owner-from-central-florida

It's just going to take a lot of time and patience. Don't coddle her and let her think being stiff and scared is alright. It will be harder for her, since it sounds like she only got dog interactions as a puppy and no human interactions (just like Drake acted). It will take longer than Toccoas, because she is older and Toccoas was still going through her important puppy development stages.

Just be patient. Attach her to a leash on your belt and have her walk around the house with you. You don't have to pay any attention to her. Just ignore her, but give her treats every now and then. Try treats like cheese, deli meat, hotdogs, etc. Something that she just can't resist. Does she eat her kibble fine?

Good luck!

Wow she looks so much better than the pics of when you first brought her home...what a pretty lady
I like Sara's leash idea, that would be a really good thing to try!

Oh, I forgot to add, we did the leash "tethering" with Toccoa too. We took her everywhere in the house with us, on leash. It worked really well. We still have to put her in her crate with the leash and we keep her on leash when vistors are here. Great idea!

My boyfriend tried a leash on her today and she flipped out. The dogs and I just had a cheeze it party in the kitchen floor lol. I got her where she was crawling on her belly to get one and finally got her standing up eating out of my hand. Success! She really watches my interaction with Chase and looks like she's smiling the whole time. A new thing we've noticed is she has a huge underbite. Poor thing! Taking it day by day. I'm glad I have the 3 day weekend to work with her! Thank you for that link I've been reading all day!

We just had another successful treat session. I sat on the floor near her again and fed her some string cheese and cheeze its. This time she got up on the second treat to take it from my hand instead of laying on the floor and taking it! YAY! I scooted closer and watched to see how she would react. I let her watch me brush Chase and then I brushed her some. She didn't act really scared, didn't try to move away, made some eye contact but would not eat the treats I put on the floor infront of her until after I was done brushing her. At least she let me do it and she didn't act too scared. I tried the under the chin petting instead of the top of the head petting and it went well. I also did the rub her from muzzle down to the middle of her shoulders and she responded well to it. Bad thing that happened is she did try to fight Chase when I squeaked a toy for them to play with. She is apparently very object aggressive and doesn't like to share. Food and treats she is ok though. Yay she just got up and drank some water and is walking around the kitchen and laundry room to explore!

Oh my gosh! She now has the squeaky squirrel toy and is squeaking it herself! And now she has moved to the edge of the kitchen to see what I am doing on the computer. Progress! Sorry I'm a dork but I am SO excited to see the progress she has made the past 5 days. Even though it is teeny tiny things it means the world to me.

I love hearing how well things are going! Keep up the good work!

I'm glad things are going well!

I still get excited when Toccoa does the smallest things! Most think I'm crazy, but it's been awesome to watch!

How long have you had Toccoa?

This morning she let me sit on the floor near her and feed her string cheese. She then let me scoot closer to her and rub her under her chin, the side of her face, and down her head to her shoulders. She did not shy away, shake, or seem uncomfortable. She actually loved being scratched under her chin and was closing her eyes Before she would shy away when I went to stand up from sitting on the floor and she's doing really good about not doing that now. She knows just because I'm standing up does not mean I'm going to do anything to her.

My boyfriend was watching me this morning and said "You're the only person that's going to be able to go near her." I was explaining to him what I was doing and was telling him NOT to make her look at you etc and let her do it on her own time. He noticed how when I sat down she perked up and was looking at me because she wanted to and not because I made her (he likes to walk up to her and pull her face up to make her look at him when he's talking - explaining this is wrong is like talking to a brick wall). I'm glad he got to see it this morning though because I think it helped him understand better what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.

She actually felt comfortable enough to fall asleep while I was sitting near her (something she's never done). She woke up when I got up but didn't move a muscle, just watched me, and is now fast asleep on the floor. She's so precious!

Awwww! That's awesome! That's a lot of improvement in a short time! Keep up the good work!

We've had Toccoa at home now for just over 3 months. I was horrified the first few weeks because she wouldn't come near me, only Jeff. We also have two teenagers at home and she's just now in the last 2-3 weeks shown an interest in them. It can be really discouraging at some points. We "bribed" her with roast beef...to do everything! For the first few weeks, that was the only way we could get her out/into her crate. That's where the leashing helped but we had to wait to start that for about a month. Everything for us was baby steps. Now she seeks out human attention, plays with us, eats well, etc. Strangers are still an issue, but we're making progress every day! Hang in there...it's a long road but well worth it!!

She let me pet her! She loves to sneak in the bedroom around 4am and she went to my side of the bed where Chase was and I held out my hand and she sniffed it, licked it, and let me touch her! She then went out and in the door without me walking away! Then Chase was getting loves and she approached me while I was standing up (!!) And licked my hand and let me pet her under the chin!! That just made my day

Yay!!!! I'm so glad to see she is making such awesome progress!!!

I was sitting outside with Chase and she ran up by the front door. Bf spooked her and I figured she would run to the other side of the yard but she came around and sat 2 feet away from me and looked at me. Let me pet her without flinching, mouth open calmly! Chase climbed into my lap so I pet him and she moved closer. . My boyfriend had just Saud "whatever dog whisperer" because I told him he was scaring her so I knocked on the door and said dog whisperer this!! Haha

Hahaha that's awesome!!

I woke up around 6am and found two white dogs sleeping on the floor by my side of the bed!! She's came into the bedroom while we sleep but she's never laid down to sleep!

I'm glad things are going so well!

Wow it's not taking her much time at all to adjust!!! Good job!!!

I am so glad things are working out for you guys.

I have been reading your posts thinking if I need help with my rescue Kerianseray some of what you are doing may help me.

I'm shocked at the progress she's made in just a week. I cannot wait to see where she will be a month from now.

Congrats on Kerianseray she's beautiful!

She slept in the bedroom again last night! This morning while getting ready for work she has approached me a hand full of times and licked my hand (didn't try to pet) and then Chase gets his butt in the way and pushes betweeen us. haha I am LOVING watching her and Chase play right now. Husky play is like no other lol The funniest thing for these two is that they are both making NO sound except for breathing.

I am so glad she's doing so well already!! We've had her for a week and a day now.

For anyone wondering she's still doing great! She makes progress every single day. She has been sleeping in our bedroom every night. In the morning she is the most playful and she follows me (really Chase because he follows me) around while I get ready for work. At night she has started coming around and sniffing and wanting to play with Chase as well. She will take treats from my hand. She also has got to the point that she will go in and out the door with me OR my boyfriend holding the door! YAY!