Sort of Fostering a lil Yorkie (ADVISE PLEASE)
 

Hello to all,
I recently brought home a lil Yorkie mix Lily, literally took her from a really bad situation. Been looking for a companion for my lil Sophie.
Lily was in a home with 13 children (long story) many of the children really young, the 2 year old kept hitting her with his toys and wouldn't leave her alone (I am guessing because of his abuse?), Lily was terrified and scared, nipping and yelping little dog. I couldn't leave her there, I said even though she isn't a good match for my home, I'd find her a home, instead of her being brought to a shelter (where I am sure she'd been found un-adoptable).
She is a sweet dog in many ways, but a few of her behaviors are concerning the nipping (without contact except once), darting out the door a few times (she stopped with only a few stern words from me) and the yelping when being picked up (not always) or patted is scary (most of the time she is fine) and she really is a frighten girl if you try to put your face near hers even by accident (playing on the floor with the pups and what not). She seems to be adjusting well to our house and our lil dog for the most part. Brought her to the vet and got her up to date on her shots, which I was assured was up to date (not true). Had blood work/tests done and mostly she is healthy, a bit bruised and she does have Lyme Disease, which we are treating. Now being put on prevention stuff for fleas/ticks/heart worms as well.
Any advise you have would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone brought home an abused lil dog? Either to foster or to give a forever home that has experience to share with me?
Thank you very much :)

It sounds like you are doing great. I think you are doing everything right. Time is the only answer and in time she will trust again. Congratulations and thank you for saving her.:)

Awww poor baby girl. Thank You for rescuing her from that horrible situation & taking such good care of her. The yelping when picked up has me a bit concerned, what does the vet say about this & was an x-ray done on her neck & spine ?if not I would deff talk to your vet about some x-rays.

No I cant say that I have but I see my animals as I do any child of mine or anyone els's. A firm but gentle hand but they will never learn or know what is expected of them without the proper training methods.

I can only imagine what that lil gal went through with all those kids. . . Yikes ! Never a good situation for a small breed dog.

Your a great person for taking her in and giving her a safe home. I predict that you have a long road ahead of you when it comes to teaching her to over come her anxiety issues. I would be a bit leary of people too if I had to live in a home where there were behavior issues, what seems to be no discipline and I was the number one target.

She will learn in time what is acceptable behavior and what is not. A gentle hand, but a strict and firm reaction to the unwanted behavior is probably the best thing for her right now. If you coddle her and let her get away with it... things will only get worse!

If there is nothing wrong found in an xray,you just may not be able to move quickly with her. I have a pom that can not be startled by picking her up. She must be pickedup with both hands directly off of the floor and never quickly. She will yelp out of fear,,this is her third home. She may just need a peaceful atmosphere and time. When Taffy came here she would snap at any of the other dogs that got within 2ft of her. She never made contact,always a warning shot. After about 6 months of being treated like the rest of the pack she is doing very well but you still can not pick her up quickly and she has now been here 3yrs.

Lyme disease can be very painful. That may explain some of her reactions. It may be painful to her when she is picked up or touched. Of course she is a stressed out little dog right now. It will take time for her to trust. She needs extra love and patience and needs you to be very gentle with her physically and emotionally. You are dealing with a damaged little being that needs both medical and mental healing.

I don't think you mentioned how old she is. Do you plan on keeping her or are you going to re home to her? She needs a whole new start to life in order to get over the trauma she has been though. I would read some of the training stickies her on YT. Some of the advice on how to retrain a puppy mill dog may be helpful as this dog has gone through some horrible life experiences also.

What does "bumping this up" mean?

So that more people can view this post. And we have a lot more knowledgable people that can help with this situation. :)

Bumping means that someone posted something so this thread will get put back towards the top so hopefully people will read and give you responses to your questions.

Sophie/Lily update and thank you all
 

Hello again,
Just wanted to say Thank you for the advise and your experience :)

Lily is doing ok and is having no problems with her medications which is a huge relief, she'll need to be on them for like a month. Our Sophie is having a hard time adjusting to Lily. Sophie is a high energy pup and wants to play almost obsessively with poor Lily who likes playing too just not as much as Sophie. I find I have to pull Sophie away to give Lily/Sophie a break. Sophie is less happy to see us and isn't being as loving as her normal personality :(, I hope that doesn't last long. Sophie loves having a playmate but doesn't want to share us?

Lily doesn't seem to understand toys much or playing with them, which is good I guess (still sad thing) cause the only toys she has played with have been two small balls that she gets VERY Possessive over them.

Still not sure about just fostering her or keeping her. She is a sweet pup in sooooo many ways, but the nipping and her unpredictability makes me nervous, but that may pass when she feels better. I know I love her, that happened really quick :aimeeyork though. My husband doesn't feel the same and really doesn't like the changes in Sophie's personality having another furbaby in the house. Just an update and thank you again.
Rose

Since Lily is so active maybe you could take her on some extended walks to help run off some of that energy? Ideally early in the morning and later in the evening would be helpful. If you don't like to walk it sounds like some really active games of fetch would interest her. Anything to run off the energy.
There is some info on YT in the training section on how to retrain a puppy mill dog. It sounds like this one has some of the same issues even though she is not from a puppy mill.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...nt-advice.html
Maybe you can find some helpful ideas there. There are also helpful tips through out the "sticky" info that is at the top of each topic area of YT.
Also it may be helpful to get a good sized crate to put Lily in for short periods of time in order to give your other dog a break or you could try tethering one of the dogs to you so that you have total control of what is happening with them. Sophie should not have to put up with Lily constantly bothering her. Lily needs to understand "no" "sit" and "stay." It takes some real patience to retrain a dog that has been abused but you cannot let her dominate your Sophie to the point that she is so unhappy. I hope you can help this poor creature that has been the victim of some ignorant humans that do not deserve to have a dog.

How old is Sophie? bc when I first started fostering, Uni was only a bit over 1 and she did NOT like to share us. Over time she got more socialized and has accepted different dogs coming into our home. Maybe she just needs time to adjust. Lily I'm sure will settle down once she realizes she's now safe. 13 kids? omg, was she at Octomom's place or what? I've had a few that didn't know what toys were either. It is kinda sad.

Thanks for the advise
 

Sophie is a lil over a 1 1/2 old, lots of energy.... but is afraid of walking on our very busy road, , we do regular training, walks and playtime inside and outside. We used to walk in NC but it wasn't on a major route like we are on now.

I do separate the pups to give Lily a break/time out (Sophie usually falls right to sleep) and Sophie does have her basic training, so she will do sit, down and such. Lily is very playful just not at the same level as our Sophie who is younger than Lily and not sick.

I totally appreciate all of the advise and support :)

Yeah that makes total sense to me. She's still a spunky puppy. It'll take her a while to mature and settle down. It's good that you know when Lily's had enough of Sophie. Keep it up, you're doing good! :)