How long to give on rehoming
 

I am new here and hope I am posting right. I have a female yorkie and have a male On trial. He is so scared and shy. Only had him three days and he has eaten very little.
He is the same age as my female (1 yr). He wants nothing to do with her or Hubby. He growls and barks at my Hubby. He has taken up with me somewhat. The lady I got him from no longer wants him or his Mom. I feel so sorry for him. She wants a different breed. I know the longer I keep him the harder it will be to send him home. He seems to be most afraid of men and the owner says he has never been this way. Just wondering what is a fair trial for him. Thanks for any advice.

Trial???? Ive have never heard of anyone doing that in a rehoming situation. When you take on a rehomed pet it takes time for the pet to adjust to the new home, learn to trust new family members and learn to at least cohabitate with other animals in the house. I mean months not days

I want to put you in the dogs mindset every thing is new, changed, different. They are also missing old owner they were used to. You just want him to fit into your household but can you imagine how you would be if everything in your life changed in one day

I never heard of a trial rehome either:( Both of mine are rehomes and Jada was 2.5 years old when we adopted her. It took her at least a couple of weeks to settle in and be comfortable enough to eat well. It took almost a year before she would look at a toy. Bogie on the other hand was younger at 9months and settled in almost immediately.
There is no way it is just going to take a few days for him to feel like he is at home,plus, it isn't fair to him to be passed back and forth, that has to be so traumatic and stressful for the little guy.

When we first rescued Sissy she was scared to death-tried to hide in her bed.
It took a few days before she began to even accept (even look at)us. At first she hardly ate or drank and we made sure we had Nutri cal on hand and place a little on her gums during those first couple of days. We let her tell us she was ready to be picked up and held-we didn't force ourselves on her. We talked softly to her and waited for her to come to us. Gradually she came around-now she runs the place and lets the rest of us live here.
But we didn't give up on her as we had accepted the responsibility-she was ours for life-we understood that when we took her.
Even though the woman didn't want her she may have been very attached to her and feels the loss or was very attached to the other dog.

Weeks..........

I'm fostering a little boy that had some behavioral problems and he was scared to death the first week and had panic attacks. I think the thing that helped him the most was taking walks together as a family. Cesar says that a dog needs a job and walking and surveying the neighborhood is a great job for a dog. When you walk all together it establishes a bond and this will help him realize that you and your husband and your female and he are one solid pack. It's going to be a little harder for him to trust, it sounds like there was some abuse in his past, so it will take patience on your part, but it can be so rewarding when they finally feel safe. Another thing I suggest is to make the dog sit and stay before you place the food on the floor, this helps teach them that you are the pack leader. Best of luck, but if you walk daily, I think you’ll see some changes in a couple of weeks. It will probably take months before he really feels safe.

The training technique of Nothing in Life is Free, helps many dogs, you can google the words and find more information, but it helps build the dog's confidence. Remember, and aggressive dog is a scared dog. Nothing in Life is Free

By the way, to the other who have commented on the trial basis, this isn't that unusual when doing it among private parties. However, I hope you are the type of person who doesn't give up easily, there are answers out there that will help you.

We had a foster here for a few weeks this last year. It took a good week before he started feeling comfortable with us and another week before we saw his true personality come out. It's a big change for the dog, after all, he has no clue what is going on. All he knows is that everything has changed. That's a pretty scary proposition.

Maybe I didn't word my post just right. I asked her to take him on trial incase he didn't get along with my other yorkie. My female has been great with him but he's not ready to accept her yet. I didn't want to bring in problems and him not be happy with us either. I know it will be time and sure not ready to give up this soon. Just feel so sorry for him and he is a sweetie! The growling at my Hubby and acting like he is going to bite him concerns me though. I know it's all out of fear and hope he will take up to him.

Make sure that your husband is never aggressive with the Yorkie, a firm "NO" is okay, but no screaming and certainly no physical correction. I think I would also have my husband feed him occasionally, doing the "sit" stay" routine.

My parents adopted a lab mix that was approx. 2 yrs. old. Zoe growled at my dad every morning for several weeks. She also hid under the table quite often. They had never used a crate for a dog before, but got Zoe an inexpensive one since she seemed to want an out of the way place to hide. She like having it to go to and stopped hiding under the table. She eventually stopped hiding in the crate. Over time she attatched to both my parents (she attached to my mom fairly quickly)and became a very loving dog. She passed away from old age last year after living many happy years with my parents.

Sorry for rambling. I just wanted to share Zoe's story, because it seems similar to your situation and to encourage you to give the little guy some time; he may turn out to be a wonderful addition to your family.

Have your husband do some of the caretaking. In others words make sure the little one only associates good things with your husband like treats or feeding him or taking him for walks. If he only associates your husband with only good things, maybe he won't be so fearful of him. Of course this all will take time and can't be rushed.

He's only been with you a few days. I'm sure he has to adjust to new surroundings and new people. Like the other posters said, have you husband feed him and give him a treat so he associates you husband with positive things. Give it some more time and as the dog becomes more comfortable with your family things will improve. Good luck!!

This is so true, you'll be tempted to rush it, but you have to be patient.

One day at a time !!!!!!
 

;)My Max was given to me at the age of 1 yr and 2 month. His owner had lost his house and was sick and no where to go , I took them both in and it took time for Max to came around to trust me. At first he was not playful at all and my Miley bark at him . It took time , I started to sit on the floor to play with Miley and one day he ran after the toy too. And he is one wonderful dog . His owner ended in a Vet Hospital and than went to a Vet Nursing home. Doing better now and has move on with a apt. We get to see him once a year and Max will play with him and give out kisses, but when I leave the room he is right behind me. He is my little boy. Our home is his forever home.
Give it time, they also need to trust, I'm one that don't enjoy moving and it takes me a long time to get use to things.
Congrats !!! On the new furbaby !!

bark@ulater!!!
manina,miley,reirei,and foster rudy

It sounds like you got this dog from a very heartless person. He probably has never had much love or security in his life. He needs a stable home to learn that he can trust his new owner in. I hope you will be committed to teaching this little fellow that he is now loved and that he can trust you to be there for him. It is going to take patience and compassion to get this little guy to trust you and to start living a normal life. It is going to take some time. You have actually rescued this dog from an unhappy life. This is a project. Yes, the longer you keep him the harder it will be on him if you decide you don't want him anymore. I would not consider taking him back to where you got him from. If you are expecting this dog to act like a normal dog after such a short time I'm afraid you will be disappointed. He has to learn to trust. His world has never been stable and you may be his only hope of learning to live a normal life. If you don't know how to do this perhaps you can contact a trainer or some other person experienced in helping dogs to adjust after a difficult previous life.

I adopted Coral from a Yorkie rescue. She was skitish and would never turn your back to you. We bonded right from the start. I was the only one who could pick her up from the ground.

When we first got her she bit my son and would knip at his heals and bark and lunge at him everytime he would walk into the room. She only did this with him and it would break my heart. But I knew that I would not give up on her.

One day she jumped our fence and my son, Seth, found her in the neighbors yard. She would not let him get close to her she just stood there barking. The neighbors didn't have a gate ,knowing how much she meant to meant to me, he stayed there even after it stated to rain watching her so she would not get out. Finally another neighbor came out after they heard her barking and took her inside our house for him.

It took her a whole year but I will never forget the day I walked into his room and she was sitting beside him and he was petting her. Just thinking about it makes me cry .... I miss her so much.

You never know how long it will take them to adjust. You just have to be willing to take a chance on them. :)

I am fostering a puppy mill Yorkie. Her name is Molly and she is blind. When I first got her she hid, would not eat and was scared to death. I have had her a couple of months now and she has changed so much. She plays with the pack, wants me to love on her at all times but we also have the DH problem. Molly barks and growls as soon as DH comes in a room and speaks but she has started letting him pet her although you can see she is not happy abput it. It will take a long time to earn his trust but in the end it will be worth it

When I started adopting rescue greyhounds, it was always conditional and contingent upon their getting along with the existing pack, my family, my children's friends and that they were in general, good canine citizens with other animals and strangers. Regardless of my own 'big heart', big dogs with big teeth have the capacity to cause big damage and I wasn't about to put anyone in my home or neighborhood at risk. I never had to give back a single dog, not even the spookie ones.

It took days, months or even years for my adoptees to develop complete trust in me and show their true selves. Ultimately, it is up to you to know up front what you think you can handle regarding a 'troubled' dog as well as what behaviors you can live with in the event that they remain unchanged. There were also times when information regarding an adoptee had been purposely withheld from me, or the dog exhibited new and previously unknown behaviors in my home within the first few days and I had to reevaluate the dog's eligibility to remain with us.

As stated, no dog who came into my home ever had to be returned because I was realistic in calculating what our chances of success were before I took them in. I must confess that more often than not, my heart overruled my head and I DID bite off more than I could chew, but LOVE heals, it really does..... and I simply refused to give up.

I wish you strength and patience. I can see that you already have a big heart..

Give him time and more time. You will get discouraged, but don't let that stop you. Dinky was terrified of my husband for at least 3 weeks, and then the progress was slow. Now, over after a year and a half, Dinky loves and trusts my husband as much as he loves and trusts me. Hang in there!

Even when you buy a pup from a breeder, there is an adjustment period. Mine came from a breeder. When I got my first, there was an adjustment period for her, and when I just added the second, we are now still going through an adjustment period. We have had her for a month. Sometimes it's two steps forward, three steps back, but we're getting there. Just give it time and don't get discouraged. I'm sure given patience and love your little one will come around.