Hello.  We recently adopted an Australian Shepherd from the pound.  Drawn to her quiet, loving nature it soon became obvious once we got her home that she must have been severly abused.  She always cowers and rolls on her back when she comes to us.  Tessa won't even chase a ball or frisbee because she thinks we are going to hit her with it.  She is especially leary of my husband.  Right now we are just loving her and trying to build up her self confidence.  My question is if anyone else has ever had a dog such as this and how did you help them?  I know she will probably always suffer some from what was done to her but I want to give her the best possible chance for recovery.  Any advice or help will be appreciated.  Thanks.  K. Mayfield 

How heart rending!!
Well done for giving her a new loving home. All I can advise is that you give her time.Show her love and that you mean her no harm,don't raise your voice and just be patient.It will take time for her to trust again and she may or maynot return to being a fun loving outgoing Aussie...only time will tell but she will learn to trust and love you.
Hope everything goes well
Archer
PS ...it would be really nice if you would join(its free) and let us know how she gets on!

Yes, do join and keep in touch! :)

I agree that time and love will be great healers. Sometimes too, a dog who is very scared can benefit from very different training methods (if you will be training her) which she would not associate with her previous home, such as a clicker.

I do hope she continues to improve and relax .... she is lucky she has you :)

Lindsay

Well done you for rescuing this girl. I think you will find that time and patience will work wonders to boost her confidence. It might help if your husband gives her her food. He shouldn't make a big production of it, just quietly prepare and put down her meal. This will help her to learn that he can be the source of good things and it should ease her worries about men.

Well done for adopting her.  One thing is never raise your hand and never raise your voice in her presents.  Why don't you join and tell us how she gets on and there are also afew aussie people on here who would love to hear more (me being on of them) 

Just give lots of love and be gentle and soon who wont have a choice but to throw a ball!!!

Rox

Guest
one other thing ..be very careful at first with eye contact and smiling...both can be very aggressive and dominant towards a dog.
Archer

We recused bengi last may and he too had been abused. In the kennels he was lively but i think it was to get a new home. Once he was home he was so scared, he would too cower whenever we approached him and sometimes back away if he felt threatened. He is now such a lovely dog and never cowers unless hes done something wrong. All we did was to give lots of love and attention. We never raised our hand to him and he did learn that he would get a fuss weather he asked or not. If he did something wrong we just said NO in a firm voice sometimes we put him outside for a few minutes if it was really bad, but i think we only did this twice and only after 2 months of having him. We do have another dog so dont know if that made any difference. Also we go to training classes so that helps him to socialise. He still has a long way to go but hes happy.

As the others have said time and patience and more time and patience.  You are right she will never forget what happened previously and there will always be things that will trigger a reaction.  My youngest rescue collie was very badly treated by the man of her first family but it took her only a few days to settle in and be happy with my other half.  She will only occasionally appear to be fearful of strange men but is fine once introduced to them.  Hovis, however has been with us for 15 months now and still trusts no one except me.  He had suffered a few years of abuse we believe and was in a state of 'learned helplessness' when we rescued him.  He was given the sanctuary of his own crate, although he wasn't shut in and no pressure to do anything except to go outside to the toilet.  His progress was very slow but it was always in the right direction.  So take each day as it comes, don't expect too much, always stay positive with any training and learn to avoid what triggers fear reactions.  No one is allowed to toss or throw titbits for the dogs when Hovis is in the vicinity as it completely freaks him out.
Sally

Hi,

Firstly, Well done for giving her a home.

As everyone has said, it will take time, a lot of love and a lot of patience.

Hubby and I rescued a little collie cross, who had been badly beaten.  She was terrified of both of us, and everyone else.  It took a good few months for her to be comfortable in her surroundings, and with us.....but one day, she jumped up on hubbys lap for a cuddle, and it was worth everything just to see her do that.

These days she's a happy little girl, who loves everybody and everything!

Persevere.....you'll get there in the end.

Best of luck, and let us know how you all get on.

Lisa

We took on Lily after she was brought into our pub by a couple who had rescued her from someone who won her in a gambling bet in another pub of all things!  They knew we liked dogs so stopped off at ours for first refusal before going to Battersea dogs home.  We weren't sure how old she was but the vet aged her at about 11-12 weeks.  She was very very nervous and would only be settled when nestled with our Cocker Maud.  Lily was ok with me and would let me pick her up but would not go anywhere near my husband.  It soon transpired that she was wary of all men and would wee or shake if one would try and pick her up or even got too close to her. 

After much time and lots of tip toeing around her she is a wonderful dog.  We found it helpful if I didn't give her treats but that was something for my husband to do.  She soon become a lot more trusting of him and I guess associated him with having the nice things.  One of her favourite games now is to stamp her front legs in front of him for him to jump in front her and it sends her into a barking and tail wagging frenzy!

One thing I did notice (and I know this isn't a good thing) but she was really easy to train because she was so observant, she evidently knew she had to keep her wits about her. When you walk her, if you look down you will see her looking up at you - she is very much in tune with what is going on around her.  Stick with it and I wish you all the best with Tessa.

Whilst the good advice on the way forward, given by the others in this thread holds, maybe you should also consider that the dog may just be very naturally submissive and nervous without ever having being abused. i know of one such dog myself, which behaves in a similar manner, but i know she has never been "abused" in any way!!

That is very true Sam.  Additionally a dog needs only to be hit once for it to react this way for ever after.

Sam although your point can be true, it is unlikly that an aussie is like this.  Aussies are very outgoing and love absolutly everything unless they have a reason.  It is likly that this poor dog has been hit a a previous home and she did come from rescue, which says alot more really!

Rox

labs are bouncy & outgoing, but I know two, unrelated, in different homes who berhave like this aussie, because that is their submissive timid nature & not because of any mistreatment. Likewise they both could easily have ended up in rescue as both have proven too submissive to be  working dogs....however on both occassions the wives intervened & they are now much loved household pets! :)