Scared of my rescue dog

magickid

Had a lovely evening with Lucy (the dog!) We have had a cuddle, I've rubbed her belly, she's given me her paw and we've played catch in the garden with her Kong for a long time.

I will admit I'm still slightly nervous as we've had cuddles before and then she's snapped for no apparent reason, but she has instigated the affection today. It does feel nice!

The OH has said there is absolutely no way we can send her back - it appears she has her forever home :-)

Someone said in another that people often lie about the reasons for sending dogs to rescue centres. We think she must have been abused. Other than her sharp canines and her molars (if dogs have molars!) she is missing all her front teeth. It makes her look like an alien when she bares her teeth but i feel so sad that someone might have done this to her. She may have had them removed for medical reasons but who knows?

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

EmptyPockets

magickid wrote: »

I will admit I'm still slightly nervous as we've had cuddles before and then she's snapped for no apparent reason, but she has instigated the affection today. It does feel nice!

If it makes you feel any better, our rescue Collie snapped at my MIL yesterday

We stupidly thought she'd be ok to come out of her crate to say hello, which, actually, she did ok. She sat and let my MIL stroke her head gently, we just told her to speak calmly and stroke her gently, which she did, but then she let her hand wander and started stroking down Bonnie's side - it's taken her a month to let us do that, and she obviously wasn't happy with a stranger doing it so she growled and had a snap in the direction of MIL's hand - thank God, she didn't bite her (didn't even make contact) and as Bonnie ran back to her cage, she had wet herself out of fear

I think we were a bit too trusting of her, having gained her confidence ourselves, we wrongly assumed she would be ok with MIL. In future we will know to muzzle her when she is meeting new people - I have been doing regular clicker training with her and the muzzle and she is very good now at letting me put it on, so that thankfully won't be a problem to do.

DogsBody

Excellent post by FC

OP, in one way, Lucy is being very polite, in that she's very clearly warning you that she is unhappy, rather than just savaging you! If a dog really means to bite you, he will generally not miss! I can't give you any advice, except to stay consistent and try not to push her faster than she's able to go. Well done for sticking with it and giving her a chance

foreign_correspondent

DogsBody wrote: »

OP, in one way, Lucy is being very polite, in that she's very clearly warning you that she is unhappy, rather than just savaging you!

too true... a dog that growls is really telling you 'I am uncomfortable with this, please stop' - which is million times easier to work with than a dog which has been punished for growling, and so cannot tell you, and may snap without any (apparent) warning...

charlies_mum

We also have a rescue Border Collie with behavioural problems. If anyone bends into his space, or he feels cornered or threatened, he will snap.

We have had him 7 years, and he still has issues. A behavourist said it is fear and at some point someone (probably a man) has abused him. He is fine with me, but sometimes poor DH suffers as he will growl and snap at him.

Sometimes he is a lovely dog, but we have to be careful never to let him near children.

I love him to bits, but would never trust him

gratefulforhelp_2

EmptyPockets wrote: »

If it makes you feel any better, our rescue Collie snapped at my MIL yesterday

Can I please borrow her?

EmptyPockets

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

Can I please borrow her?

:rotfl::rotfl: Naughty