Puppy Mill dogs are so unpredictable but always so sweet. I volunteer at a rescue where we have had 3 large groups of Puppy Mill/BYB surrenders in the last year.
They all seem to accept their new lives at different paces but all seem to do best with another dog companion to learn from. When we have a Puppy Mill dog who shuts down (hides or want some space from the others) we are encourage to give them one on one time but not to caddle them (you know the sweet talk and the baby talk). We have a couple of slings at the rescue and sometimes what we do is put the dog in a sling (if it fits) and go outside for a walk usually with another human not interacting with the dog but carrying a conversation with a couple of gentle pets to the dog as we go. Also as suggested putting them in a bag and keeping them in the same room as you is a good idea, from what I am told the dog usually just wants to feel safe and small confined spaced are what they are most comfortable.
We are also strongly encourage not to use loud voices around them but to talk to them. They find comfort with the oddest things, I have seen one that adopted a stick as her BFF, that was her buddy and we respected that and let her have her stick during the day when she was supervised (not at night when she could hurt herself).
Just my experience but mill dogs and BYB dogs are not really scared of other dogs, in fact they learn from them. It is us, the humans who have truly screwed them up and it up to us the adopters to make ammends for those in the past. Keeping a journal is a GREAT idea, observing what makes your adoptee happy, scared and timid will help in the long run.
Good luck, I am proud of you adopting -it takes people like you to turn them around. Shelters do the short term stuff but adopters have to make sure the rest of their lives are good.
__________________ Cheryl,Mom to  SophieKate |