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chefdk · 11-01-2015, 10:27 PM

Well it has now been about 12 days since little Indy came to join our family and I guess the best news is that he is still here and we are starting to see a few positive changes in him.
We have taken the much appreciated advise from all of you and have him/& us on a very regimented (puppy 101) schedule. For the most part it's working for potty outside, we've had a few accidents, and I won't lie it's taken a lot of patience and work.
The suggestion of longer walks is helping with some of the walking in circles and spinning, licking issues. He's also not pacing the deck or fence like a caged animal does, as often or as much as he was. The last couple of days he's followed Bentley as he goes flying out barking after something he's heard in the yard, yesterday he stopped short at the end of the deck but he took off tonight after Bent and this time made it partway down to the backyard, twice as far as yesterday. Yeah Indy!
Unfortunately with every step forward he has also started some new weird behaviors. If just one of us tries to take both of them for a walk, once they are both leashed up Bentley always gets so excited for walks that he plays tug with his leash until we're outside, and this seems to set Indy into a spinning, darting aggressive behaviour. Even after Bent stops, Indy won't calm down at all and he gets so uncontrollable that we've had to turn back. If my husband come and we each walk one of them, Bent still does his thing and Indy doesn't do anything, he's just as close to Bentley, only difference is one of us is not holding both leashes. ??? Still working on this one.

Took Indy to the vet again this week, had his bum area trimmed, so we can actually see when he is going, as I said before he just poops as he walks, I've never seen a dog do this before. He also doesn't seem to clean himself. Problem now solved and we've taken another step forward in the right direction.
But the strangest thing happened at the vets that day that I would like to share here.
The vets receptionist told me that she could give me the number of a lady that runs a rescue refuge that is an expert with Yorkies and abused animal behaviour and maybe she could give me some tips or advise. I said great, took her name and went home and emailed her that day.
Here is her response to me: (don't want to expose her name, so I'll type it out)

Hello,
I am confused as to why my rescue was the one referred; I am most certainly not a Yorkie expert or even a big fan of the breed. I have never dealt with that vet clinic either.....
I have rescued a few Yorkie mixes, and a few dogs from puppy mills, but its a tough thing to do as you are experiencing. Your dog is mentally ill, as could be expected after a horrid life. While there are some people that have managed to "rehab" dogs like this to varying degrees, yours sound extreme. I am a realist and honestly, I would not tackle what you are facing. The chances of fixing this dog to be remotely "normal" is poor. There are some meds that might help the spinning and licking. Even "normal" Yorkies are very hard to housebreak and often show some of the anxiety behaviors you are seeing. Yours is a genetic mess physically and mentally has been made crazy from the neglect, if he ever was mentally stable to start with. Here is the best group for this issue- National Mill Dog Rescue.
I understand you want to help him, but you are looking at a long process with possibly little result.
Others may tell you to tough it out, but there are too many "good" healthy dogs out there needing a home that are being killed also, and I certainly would not blame you for going that route.

Wow! It's left me wondering if we need to look for a new vet.
This same vet receptionist lady also asked me if I had called the shelter where we got Indy to let them know that who ever surrendered him was not honest with them in case they bring in more dogs. She told me they would probably want to know.
So I did, she was wrong again. The lady that answered the shelters phone was the same nice one that helped us adopt Indy. She wanted to know why I was calling and what did I expect them to do about it. I told her I didn't expect them to do anything, that I just wanted to give them a heads up incase this person brought in more dogs, that they were not being honest and my vets office had suggested that I let them know. We live in a very small town in a very rural area.
She told me she was too busy to care or hear about all this as she had 3 people standing in line waiting for her. She was so rude to me that I told her that in about 20 minutes she was going to be even busier as she was going to have 4 people standing in line, so she'd better get a crate ready as Indy is now going to be her problem and I hung up.
Of coarse I had no intention of returning him, she just made me so mad.

11-01-2015, 10:27 PM	#1
chefdk YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Missouri Posts: 4	Indy shelter dog update. Well it has now been about 12 days since little Indy came to join our family and I guess the best news is that he is still here and we are starting to see a few positive changes in him. We have taken the much appreciated advise from all of you and have him/& us on a very regimented (puppy 101) schedule. For the most part it's working for potty outside, we've had a few accidents, and I won't lie it's taken a lot of patience and work. The suggestion of longer walks is helping with some of the walking in circles and spinning, licking issues. He's also not pacing the deck or fence like a caged animal does, as often or as much as he was. The last couple of days he's followed Bentley as he goes flying out barking after something he's heard in the yard, yesterday he stopped short at the end of the deck but he took off tonight after Bent and this time made it partway down to the backyard, twice as far as yesterday. Yeah Indy! Unfortunately with every step forward he has also started some new weird behaviors. If just one of us tries to take both of them for a walk, once they are both leashed up Bentley always gets so excited for walks that he plays tug with his leash until we're outside, and this seems to set Indy into a spinning, darting aggressive behaviour. Even after Bent stops, Indy won't calm down at all and he gets so uncontrollable that we've had to turn back. If my husband come and we each walk one of them, Bent still does his thing and Indy doesn't do anything, he's just as close to Bentley, only difference is one of us is not holding both leashes. ??? Still working on this one. Took Indy to the vet again this week, had his bum area trimmed, so we can actually see when he is going, as I said before he just poops as he walks, I've never seen a dog do this before. He also doesn't seem to clean himself. Problem now solved and we've taken another step forward in the right direction. But the strangest thing happened at the vets that day that I would like to share here. The vets receptionist told me that she could give me the number of a lady that runs a rescue refuge that is an expert with Yorkies and abused animal behaviour and maybe she could give me some tips or advise. I said great, took her name and went home and emailed her that day. Here is her response to me: (don't want to expose her name, so I'll type it out) Hello, I am confused as to why my rescue was the one referred; I am most certainly not a Yorkie expert or even a big fan of the breed. I have never dealt with that vet clinic either..... I have rescued a few Yorkie mixes, and a few dogs from puppy mills, but its a tough thing to do as you are experiencing. Your dog is mentally ill, as could be expected after a horrid life. While there are some people that have managed to "rehab" dogs like this to varying degrees, yours sound extreme. I am a realist and honestly, I would not tackle what you are facing. The chances of fixing this dog to be remotely "normal" is poor. There are some meds that might help the spinning and licking. Even "normal" Yorkies are very hard to housebreak and often show some of the anxiety behaviors you are seeing. Yours is a genetic mess physically and mentally has been made crazy from the neglect, if he ever was mentally stable to start with. Here is the best group for this issue- National Mill Dog Rescue. I understand you want to help him, but you are looking at a long process with possibly little result. Others may tell you to tough it out, but there are too many "good" healthy dogs out there needing a home that are being killed also, and I certainly would not blame you for going that route. Wow! It's left me wondering if we need to look for a new vet. This same vet receptionist lady also asked me if I had called the shelter where we got Indy to let them know that who ever surrendered him was not honest with them in case they bring in more dogs. She told me they would probably want to know. So I did, she was wrong again. The lady that answered the shelters phone was the same nice one that helped us adopt Indy. She wanted to know why I was calling and what did I expect them to do about it. I told her I didn't expect them to do anything, that I just wanted to give them a heads up incase this person brought in more dogs, that they were not being honest and my vets office had suggested that I let them know. We live in a very small town in a very rural area. She told me she was too busy to care or hear about all this as she had 3 people standing in line waiting for her. She was so rude to me that I told her that in about 20 minutes she was going to be even busier as she was going to have 4 people standing in line, so she'd better get a crate ready as Indy is now going to be her problem and I hung up. Of coarse I had no intention of returning him, she just made me so mad.