File :-(, x, )
Beaten dog Anonymous
There was a dog near my house. She was full of parasites, no longer had hair, famished, and people beat it. I tricked it into coming inside my garden on the back of my house. I fed it, applied medicines, and did what I could to bath it and remove all of its parasites. It is now a healthy, well fed dog. Even playful at times.

But I have a problem. The dog is scared of me. I know it is grateful, it wags its tail when it sees me, tries to play, but flinches whenever I try to pet it.

Help? How can I rid its fear of humans? It doesn't want to go out either, too scared to face other humans or even dogs.

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>> Anonymous
You are doing good really! You should also try to keep eye contact with it. Normally when you stare at a dog directly at their eyes, they tend not to move much.
>> Anonymous
>>199662
....NO. Direct eye contact is a dominance thing. The dog stops moving when you stare it in the eye because you're scaring it. Why would you want to scare an already scared dog? That's the surefire way to get bit.
>> Anonymous
>>199661
It has been with me for 2 months. It has been a full metamorphosis from what it used to be. I have put a collar on it, but it is afraid of the outside, which I find disturbing on a dog. Or at least my my good ol' rottie who passed away a few months ago loved to take a walk.

>>199663
>>199662
I agree with 199663. Eye contact is a no-no with a nervous dog.

>>199642
Good idea. Thanks, I'll give it a shot.
>> Anonymous
>>199672
Well, she has every reason to be afraid of the outside.
You can start putting a leash on her for an hour a day while at home, and increasing the amount of time gradually. Leashed dogs feels more confident.
Sorry for your rottie. :(
>> Anonymous
>>199672
>>199642here; what kind of dog is she? It makes sense for a stray dog to be afraid of people, but not other dogs so much. Is it possible she was fought?
It can take a very long time to rehabilitate a dog this shy. Introduce things slowly, and make sure they're always positive experiences. If she's slowly introduced to a new dog who unexpectedly snaps at her, it will make her fear of other dogs even worse than it was before, for example. Don't suddenly plop her in a dog park or introduce her to all your neighbors. Treat her like a traumatized child, since that's probably what her mentality is closest to right now. Meaning, no loud sudden sounds when you're introducing her to something new, and no jerky or fast movements.
If you suspect she's been fought, it may be best for her to always be kept away from other dogs. Dogs can attack when they're scared-- it's not an aggression thing, but the law doesn't understand that.