[matese]

I agree with above posters,he is stresed out, he just left his momma who loved him if giving him up was hard for her to do, comes to a new home with strange new smells, and ppl he does not know. He is confused and scared. If it were me even tho he smell from cigarettes I would not have given him a bath, you are strangers to him, some dogs in a happy loving home hate baths, are scared and get stressed. As other members have stated, it will take time for him to adjust to his new world, speak in soft low tones, if he is under the bed leave him there, he WILL bite if anyone tries to remove him, this is his haven, his SAFE place for now. He will come out on his own time. Let him come to you on his terms, do not force him, have treats ready for when he comes to you. Keep him on the same food he was eating at prev. owner, you can entice him by sprinkling a bit of parmesan cheese over the food. You can try to hand feed him his food. You can boil boneless chicken breast cutlets for him if he refuses his food and offer him some in your hand, save the water from the chicken, skim off any fat there may be, put a couple of TBSP of the chic broth in a small amount of water,he WILL drink the water.You can freeze the chic broth in ice cubes trays, take a cube out and put in his water bowl when it needs to be refilled or changed, once he gains trust in his new family and home and starts to eat and drink on his own you can stop adding the chic broth to the water,he needs to drink water, he is small, he needs to stay hydrated. Lay out his food and water bowl, show him where it's kept let him go to it if he won't take food from your hand. He will eat when he is hungry enough. Take baby steps with this little boy. I adopted my boy when he was 2.5 y/o,(he's now 4 y/o) he came from a much loved home, and was spoiled rotten, with gentle taking, letting him come to me in his own time and terms he settled in about one week. I never tried to pick him up, I let him come to me, if I sat on the sofa, he would jump up and sit at the far end, when he was ready he would "sneak" over and lay next to me, I wouldn't touch him in fear he would move away, I just told him "good boy". After he did this several times I started to pet and touch him, everything is done on their terms, when they are ready, they need to gain trust in their new family. Good luck and thank you for rescuing this little boy.