Just posting this (below) on behalf of someone living in Spain.  If anyone can offer any useful advice I will forward the replies.  I have also suggested she contact this forum for help.

"We are considering rehoming a young dog and have been offered one which previously lived with several others mainly outdoors but due to circumstances has to be rehomed. The dog is extremely timid and on meeting us displayed fear and nervousness ie. Weed in the house and although we could stroke him he didn't seem very comfortable and was reluctant to eat treats given.

We've also heard through others that the dog is generally nervous even around people it's met before.

If we did take on the dog it would live in a home without other dogs and would also spend most of the time in the house except for during walks and would get more attention so maybe it could become more confident but we are really unsure if this would happen.

We'd like to help and the dog was only in our company for a few minutes along with the current owner but we wouldn't want to take him on only to find he never comes of his shell. Our previous dog was always very friendly and playful with people and dogs though he was nervous if he was left alone or if he heard loud noises but this behaviour is alien to us.

Any advice or anyone else experienced something similar and what was the outcome?"

If this dog were in an english rescue it probably would not get through the tests to being re-homed, it sounds very under socialised and there is no way of knowing if it will become fear aggressive, there are things that can be done with timid and nervous dogs, but tbph why do they wish to take on such a dog it will take months, probably years and possibly never to get to a great stage even with all of the hard painstaking work required.

The best advice I would give to these people is walk away and look for another dog, there are thousands of other dogs with better temperaments to choose from why do people go for the most damaged it is beyond me...............

I'm with Carrington here, and to be frank, I don't think the people in question have the knowledge to cope with the very VERY slow process a dog as nervous as this need to undergo to feel better (and it may never be better with strangers, just learn to be happy with the new family eventually), they should never EVER under any circumstances try to touch such a dog, not at all at this stage, and treats should not be offered by hand but thrown on the ground with the person several feet away and face turned away. If a dog is as nervous as to not want treats offered from a hand then there is a LOT of work involved and yes, fear like this very easily leads to aggression when people don't take things slowly enough.

Does the dog habe to go asap or can the orignal owners hold on to it for a while? If they can hold onto it for a while and if your friend realy wants it they could do small visited and build up good experiences with the dog befor bringing it home. As I would imagin taking it straight home right now would be very stressful as the dog doesn't know them at all so new scary home with scary people.

My girl is nervous of strangers and takes a good while to warm up to new people who make an effort to win her over. I started going flyball with her once a week and at first all she would do is run about barking at the other owners, but after a few weeks (about 6-8 weeks) of having great fun around these new people she stopped barking at them except the male owner, that took a few months to win her with him. We have been at it for a year now and she likes them all now but not the same as she does with the people she realy likes like my friend, she won't often got up to them to ask for attention but she is happy to be around them and for them to interact with her, where as my friend she will throw herself at her for attention.

So if your friend can habe some time to build a positive association with the dog they may be able to win it around to the point where it is ok around them befor they bring it home. Maby go on walks with the owner and dog and take a fav toy to throw. But there is no guarantee it ever will warm up to them.

I think the dog needs to be rehomed due to current owners´ new living accommodation.  However it sounds very much like the advice so far is to PTS.  Sad.  There are hundreds of dogs in pounds in Spain living in awful conditions so I know the person making the original enquiry (on a Spanish forum)  will have no difficulty in finding another young dog.  I think she just wanted to try to give this dog a chance - maybe because she has already met the dog.  I´ll pass your posts on though and thank you for responding.

Earlier this year I took on a rescue Beagle that had been abandoned. I dread to think of the treatment she had received as she was terrified of her own shadow. She was not house trained ( aged approx. 4 years ) and was not able to cope with normal household noises. Just shutting the fridge door or accidentally dropping a teaspoon sent her cowering in the corner. She snatched at food ( and still does ) as though it is going to be taken away any moment.
Now several months on she is settling down really well, she still does not like loud noises but copes with household noises the same as any other dog. She trusts every member of the family and adores the children, although she still has problems with strangers. Sometimes a stranger will make her hide away and sometimes she gives the impression she will attack ( although she never does, it is just bravado ), I don't know why she is scared of some strangers and takes a dislike to others, but I think it may be about the clothes they wear as she hates men in dark clothes !

She loves a cuddle on the settee, is fantastic with the other dogs ( 3 males and 2 other females ) and is becoming a beautiful dog responding to training well and recall is improving daily. She wags her tail non stop.
It has taken patience, kindness and a lot of love but she is worth every moment spent on her. I absolutely adore her even though at one time it was not sure if she was suitable for rehoming and if it would have been kinder to pts, but what an awful waste of a wonderful dog. She deserves a good life with quality time, and I am so glad that hopefully I can offer her this.
I have no regrets.

What a lovely story and well done to you to for spending so much time caring for her and gaining her trust.

> It has taken patience, kindness and a lot of love but she is worth every moment spent on her. I absolutely adore her even though at one time it was not sure if she was suitable for rehoming and if it would have been kinder to pts, but what an awful waste of a wonderful dog. She deserves a good life with quality time, and I am so glad that hopefully I can offer her this.

That's beautiful.
Merry Christmas to you - and to her, the first Christmas in her new life.

Wonderful job well done you are the sort of owners i am always looking for :-))
Happy new year...

Many thanks for your kind replies however I know that I do no more and in some cases much less than many on this forum. I only told this story in answer to the OP to show that even a dog considered unsuitable for rehoming can, with the correct care become a lovely dog and PTS is not always necessary and can quite often be a waste of a wonderful dog.
As long as you enter into the rehoming with your eyes wide open and are prepared to put the work and the love into the care then success is always a wonderful feeling. You cannot rush the recovery, it takes as long as it takes, and you must not give up at the first hurdle, but face each day as it comes and enjoy even the slightest improvement. This is what taking on a 'special' dog is all about.

Sillysue, your post was read with interest and admiration.  I passed all information on to the person I posted on behalf of but she has decided not to proceed with the rescue in question.  My personal opinion is that she is definitely lacking in dog handling experience and has higher expectations than may be reasonably expected.  (She is now thinking about getting a rescue puppy and appears to have no idea whatsoever about bitches and seasons - what it actually is, how to deal with it etc, so possibly would not deal well with a very nervous rescue).  Hopefully the poor dog in question will find a caring responsible owner soon.