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Originally Posted by JadeD

Welcome to Yorkie Talk!!!!

Thank you for adopting this sweet little girl!

Where to start.... How about with this.... In January I was literally handed a 9 year old Yorkie. He was kept in a small area of the people's house and was just kept there. He was taken out to pee several times a day and put back there. He had food and water. He did not bark.

I had him 5 days before he let out a single bark. We were taking bets on if he could bark. I have had him for 3 1/2 months and he still barely barks. Count your blessings on this one, a quiet Yorkie is a good Yorkie.

Your goal with Gabby is to make her trust you. As she learns to trust you she will do more. I am very sure of it. How long ago did her owner pass away? Was she living with another relative between that time and you getting her? Was she like this with her original owner or just with a relative she was dumped on? Maybe, and I am only guessing here she was more active with her owner. Then the lady died and a family member took in the dog but never earned her trust and so she acted this way only recently? Maybe she was always like this.

I told my family I was not changing my dogs name, he had it for 9 years. He would not respond to his old name. Finally my husband told him to give him a new name. I did and he would perk right up when I called him Teek. He loves his new name!

He would not play with toys at all when I brought him home. Once he really trusted me and loved me, then he started playing with a toy like once a week at first (this was more than a month after I got him) and now we play daily, sometimes twice a day.

Give her time to get used to her new surroundings. Let her use a pee pad. She is very young, I would sign her up for an obedience class, but let her adjust to you for about 6 weeks first. Then start the class. PetSmart here has some decent classes. Is she food motivated? Teach her to sit for a treat.

She just needs to be loved and to know that she is cared for and then after she feels secure, she will open up and hopefully will play and you might even get her to walk. Dogs can take death of an owner very hard.

I brought Teek home and he had belonged to a guy and he thought he was my husband's new dog. My husband looked at this little dog and said "you are cute, but you are her new dog." I would pick him up and cuddle him and he would put his paws on my chest and pull away from me and look at me like he was saying "Why are you being nice to me?" I would just kiss the top of his head and the back of his neck and talk sweetly to him. After a few days he relaxed a let me love on him more. Now, we are inseparable. He loves my husband, but he is my dog and he knows it. He won't eat if I am not home. I won't play unless I am around.

Love this little girl and watch her blossom! I am confident that she will. Maybe not as fast as Teek did. I am a natural dog person, a natural Alpha. They just fall in and follow me. It will happen though. You have to earn her trust first and don't worry about the money you spent on toys and stuff, she will come around. I bet 3 months from now you are buying her more of her favorite toys. Just in the last 2 weeks Teek has really come around a lot. It will take time. Her entire world was uprooted.

I am sorry this is so lengthy, but I wanted you to know from someone who was in your shoes just a few short months ago what it is like. I adore this little guy. I take him everywhere I go. Luckily for me he was socialized when he was younger, before the guy got married and had kids. He loves everyone and everyone loves him. He is sweet and his little stub of a tail wags when he meets new people.

Stick around and learn new things here. You can private message me if you would like. I would be more than willing to talk to you about her more and to share more things with Teek. Just earn her trust and then her love and she will come around.

Jade and Teek