I have two senior girls who come from horrible backgrounds and a rescue Pommie who is 1 yr. old. I feed them Canidae and I am quite happy with the food. When I have had difficulty getting one to eat I mix the dry with a little water which makes a sort of broth. Sometimes I've had to hand feed. I don't free-feed because the Pommie, Snowboy, would gobble everything up in one gulp.
My girls are very skittish about anyone bending over them to pick them up. Most of the time I try to squat down. They both are afraid of a flat hand coming towards them so I always give an up-turned hand to them. Rosie, 12 yrs. old and weighs 5 lbs, still has a difficult time coming to me when I ask her to come and I've had her for 10 yrs. It took about 3 yrs. before I made any headways with her coming to me. Finally, she would stand very still, stare straight ahead, and eventually scoot sideways towards me. Just lately she has started to crawl on my lap for no reason. When we travel she wants to sit on my lap but at home---no way. Not even against me.
Cocoa, 11 yrs. old and weighs 3 lbs, is afraid of everything, is mentally challenged, and hates men. My poor dh has tried so hard to befriend her. She circles a lot when she's afraid which is quite often. I've never really been able to house train her, so I have trained myself and she is always kenneled when I leave. Well, they all are except Rosie. Snowboy has a lot of fear issues but I'm working on socializing him. I do have one normal Yorkie, Chipper, who is a joy.
Wish you the best in making your little rescue feel secure.