YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post

kyfirestorm · 03-29-2010, 08:21 AM

Again, thank you ALL so much for the warm welcome! Puddles has been such a blessing in our lives already that it's hard to believe he's only been here for a month.

I think the hardest part so far was the first week. We wanted so badly to cuddle and snuggle and LOVE this little guy to make up for his horrible life; but we knew (from past experience with other rescues) that what HE needed was to be ignored. The only interactions we had that first 7 to 10 days was to feed and let out to potty. He slept soooo much because he was so weak. He was actually had severe muscle atrophy from his midsection to his tail. He now has an daily exercise program to build his strength and muscle mass. He can't do the 4 miles per day that we do with Luke, but he has worked up to 2 miles and he loves it.

By the end of week two we had started to have a 4 legged shadow.

Once he started showing interest in us we were able to start working with him. I used some of our horse training ways, lol. We try to attract the nose to get the horse to "hook on" to us. We used this to build his confidence, but it wasn't easy. When approached he would cower, shake, turn his head away, and cringe. It broke our hearts but we still ignored him as much as possible. What we DID do was praise him every time we saw his nose come forward and start sniffing. We showed him that we wanted him to investigate everything. He met Luke, Spanky the horse, Mr B the rabbit, and our three barn cats. The meeting with the horse was the best, lol, because he was just flabbergasted to see an animal so big. Over the next few days he would stand beside the fence and watch Spanky graze for minutes on end -- he was all eyes.

We're starting to see play this week for the first time. The extreme seperation anxiety is almost at a manageable level but we still have a way to go. We've had some growls at strangers and some guarding of food and possesiveness of ME. We know that more things will surface as we get other issues solved and that's okay. We'll work on each little thing as we get to it.

You know, IMO, working with an older rescue is sometimes easier than dealing with a pup. With a puppy you want to stop bad habits before they get started and so you're dealing with several things at once. With an older dog, those bad habits are already there and you can choose one -- deal with it -- and then move on to the next.

Happy Monday!

03-29-2010, 08:21 AM	#22
kyfirestorm Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Madisonville Posts: 29	Again, thank you ALL so much for the warm welcome! Puddles has been such a blessing in our lives already that it's hard to believe he's only been here for a month. I think the hardest part so far was the first week. We wanted so badly to cuddle and snuggle and LOVE this little guy to make up for his horrible life; but we knew (from past experience with other rescues) that what HE needed was to be ignored. The only interactions we had that first 7 to 10 days was to feed and let out to potty. He slept soooo much because he was so weak. He was actually had severe muscle atrophy from his midsection to his tail. He now has an daily exercise program to build his strength and muscle mass. He can't do the 4 miles per day that we do with Luke, but he has worked up to 2 miles and he loves it. By the end of week two we had started to have a 4 legged shadow. Once he started showing interest in us we were able to start working with him. I used some of our horse training ways, lol. We try to attract the nose to get the horse to "hook on" to us. We used this to build his confidence, but it wasn't easy. When approached he would cower, shake, turn his head away, and cringe. It broke our hearts but we still ignored him as much as possible. What we DID do was praise him every time we saw his nose come forward and start sniffing. We showed him that we wanted him to investigate everything. He met Luke, Spanky the horse, Mr B the rabbit, and our three barn cats. The meeting with the horse was the best, lol, because he was just flabbergasted to see an animal so big. Over the next few days he would stand beside the fence and watch Spanky graze for minutes on end -- he was all eyes. We're starting to see play this week for the first time. The extreme seperation anxiety is almost at a manageable level but we still have a way to go. We've had some growls at strangers and some guarding of food and possesiveness of ME. We know that more things will surface as we get other issues solved and that's okay. We'll work on each little thing as we get to it. You know, IMO, working with an older rescue is sometimes easier than dealing with a pup. With a puppy you want to stop bad habits before they get started and so you're dealing with several things at once. With an older dog, those bad habits are already there and you can choose one -- deal with it -- and then move on to the next. Happy Monday!