[MikaTallulah]

I rescued my uncles neglected golden. He does not know how to play. He shows no interest in toys. I tried stuffing a kong with chicken jerky. He tried licking to kong for a few minutes but when he could not get food out he walked away. He did not even try to chew it- nothing I tried dog bones, rope toys, balls, etc. same thing same reaction with everything. I feel so bad for him.

How do you teach a dog to play. The vet says many of the sores on his body are self induced from boredom and stress because I guess he licked and chewed himself. I have seen this minimally and call him over when I see him do it.

Goldens need a job. He seems to enjoy food and walks only. He needs to learn to not pull but that I can fix with lots of positive reforcement.

My Lucky was a retriever. If you throw it he would bring it back. 3 of my yorkies retrieve. He seems to enjoy watching them retrieve but does not attempt to participate.

 

[Coopers Daddy]

Give him time. I went through the exact same thing after I rescued Cooper. For the first several months he would not play with anything. He may just need time to heal and get used to being in a good home. Once he feels safe and secure, he may open up.

Now what I did may not be "ideal" but it worked wonders for Cooper. I let him guide me through what HE wanted to do. He knew how he felt. For the first couple weeks Cooper just wanted to cuddle, he seemed scared i was going to abandon him. So i just sat with him as long as he wanted to be near me.

Once he figured out im not going anywhere he wanted to explore his new home, so i walked around the house with him since he wouldn't let me get out of sight. And i would just try to see things from his point of view. If he wanted to look under the bed, we would do it together. Yes it sounds cheesy, but it seemed to make Cooper feel better.

He did not want anything to do with toys through this entire process. It wasn't until later I figured out he was scared of making any noise. Apparently his first owners yelled at him or otherwise scared him when he made noise. To overcome this, when he was ready he kind of nosed or smelled one of his toys I would pick it up and kind of show him what to do with it. Yes i put an unused dog toy in my mouth and gave it to him. I felt so stupid at the time but it worked!

He started to play with toys, quitely. If he made any noise he would run away from it scared like i was gonna hit him. I would go get the toy, sit on the floor and wait with the toy. He would come to me and i would hand it to him and love on him some. He would take the toy and lay with me and chew it. I just kept doing this until one night I woke up wondering what i was hearing. Turns out Cooper was romping around the house with one of his stuffed toys having the time of his life.

Really long story short, fast forward two years to today, hes laying at my feet happily chewing and squeaking his favorite tuffy.

Like i said. Im no expert. But the above worked for my guy that came from an awful situation and didnt like toys. Hope any of it helps.

 

[C's Mom]

Coopers Daddy - I agree that this boy needs some time to fatten up, get his health issues under control and settle into his new home. I wanted to thank you for helping Cooper become the happy doggie he is today.

Mika - You hang in there and give him time. You've done a wonderful thing - thank you!

 

[MikaTallulah]

Buddy seems to be head shy. If you reach over his head or try to direct him by lightly pulling on his fabric collar he cowers.

Buddy is behaving the same way as Cooper did.

My yorkies are toy addicts esp. my three pounder, Roxy. She plays non stop with squeaky toys and barks to when she brings the toy.

She keeps trying to get him to play with her. She brings the toy to his feet, drops it, backs up and barks. Enough to say "you can play with this". When he doesn't try to play with it she goes and gets another toy. She has nearly emptied the toy bin bringing him toys. She has tried squeaky, non squeaky, balls, kings, rope toy, etc. She is persistent.

 

[Coopers Daddy]

Yeah trust me, I understand what your dealing with. Just give him time. Once he feels safe and secure things will get better. Come down to his level so he can see you better when you work with him. For the first few months I spent alot of time sitting on the floor with Cooper lol.

 

[MikaTallulah]

Did you crate Cooper? I did not want to stress him out so I slept with him on a leash next to me on the floor. He did fine. I'm taking him out every 2-3 hrs.

My parents and brother are my pet sitters when I go to work. My last golden Lucky was not allowed on the furniture or in bed with their rules. He was at mine but I don't want to confuse him. Lucky slept down stairs his chose he could have slept upstairs with them on the floor.

My dogs are rarely alone for more than 4 hrs because the work 9-5 jobs and I work 7p to 7 a 3x/ week.

 

[Coopers Daddy]

For the first few months yes i did crate Cooper when no one was home. At night he was crated for the first month. After that I let him sleep where ever he wanted, usually with me.

 

[MikaTallulah]

Yeah trust me, I understand what your dealing with. Just give him time. Once he feels safe and secure things will get better. Come down to his level so he can see you better when you work with him. For the first few months I spent alot of time sitting on the floor with Cooper lol.

He seems nervous if I sit on the floor with him. He will sit by the sofa or bed so I can pet and love on him as long as don't reach over his head. He is sleeping at my feet right now. He picks his head I tell him good boy and back to sleep he goes.

He did go for an hour long walk with Cozy mama yorkie and me. He is tired but seems happy.

 

[Coopers Daddy]

Maybe its too soon for the floor then. Sounds like hes reacting well to you. Time will help alot.

 

[MikaTallulah]

For the first few months yes i did crate Cooper when no one was home. At night he was crated for the first month. After that I let him sleep where ever he wanted, usually with me.

How did you get him in the crate? Buddy won't come in the same room as the crate. I don't want to force him. He seems to be scared of the sight of it.

My laundry room is uncarpeted so I was planning to put him their if I needed to leave. I would leave the door open but put a tall gate so he could see the yorkies but i don't want them to let unsupervised together. There is nothing in there he could damage or get into trouble. All the chemicals are in locked cabinets or up on a 5 foot high shelf. My parents ave the same set up at their house.

 

[CAROLINA MOM]

Maybe its too soon for the floor then. Sounds like hes reacting well to you. Time will help alot.

So agree, lots of time, love, and patience. My Roxy is a former puppy mill momma that had been both physically and verbally abused and was not socialized when I got her. She was also unhealthy, getting her so was a priority, but at the same time, we had to win her trust.

It took a couple of months before she trusted us, we took each day one at a time and slowly. As she began to trust us and realized we weren't going to hurt her, she began to blossom and thrive. She was not food motivated, but did respond to lots of praise and affection.

Don't expect the change to happen over night, it takes time and the time it takes will be very worth it, you won't regret it.

My Roxy doesn't retrieve either, she doesn't care about balls or sticks at all. She carries stuffed animals around and loves to go swimming.

 

[Coopers Daddy]

Cooper was scared of his crate too. But not nearly that bad. That issue i cant help with as Cooper to this day hates his crate and I tried everything lol.

The laundry room may work really well though. I didnt have anything like that at my place.

As for how long to leave him. Cooper was never alone for more then 3 or so hours at any time. So he didnt have to spend much time in a crate with no one home. And at night he was there the whole night. But his crate was close enough to my bed that he could see and hear me the whole time.

 

[mylissyk]

Buddy seems to be head shy. If you reach over his head or try to direct him by lightly pulling on his fabric collar he cowers.

Buddy is behaving the same way as Cooper did.

My yorkies are toy addicts esp. my three pounder, Roxy. She plays non stop with squeaky toys and barks to when she brings the toy.

She keeps trying to get him to play with her. She brings the toy to his feet, drops it, backs up and barks. Enough to say "you can play with this". When he doesn't try to play with it she goes and gets another toy. She has nearly emptied the toy bin bringing him toys. She has tried squeaky, non squeaky, balls, kings, rope toy, etc. She is persistent.

She is the best teacher, Roxy will teach him to play, just wait and see.

I'm so GLAD he is with you now! Any concerns from the vet exam?

 

[GinnyinPA]

Ben was also a neglected dog. Not abused, but he didn't learn to interact with people at all. He would play by himself, tossing a toy in the air and catching it, but wouldn't chase anything we threw. That is changing, slowly. He'll catch a toy four or five times before he gets bored. He does like to play chase - which I don't do usually. We found some stuffed animals that he likes to play with. He likes things that squeek. The Skineeze unstuffed animals are fun for him to play with. Tennis balls he just destroys (tears the fuzz off). There is an open weave plastic ball that you put a milk bone inside - the food motivates him to toss it and chase it and nose it around the room until he gets it out. Then he ignores it completely. He loves walking with us and we started agility training after he'd learned basic obedience because he enjoyed the people and dogs and running and jumping.

 

[MikaTallulah]

She is the best teacher, Roxy will teach him to play, just wait and see.

I'm so GLAD he is with you now! Any concerns from the vet exam?

Vet visit summary- He needs to gain 15 pounds of muscle. No heart worm, limes, or other tick Bourne diseases. After seeing the dog he wants to hold off on checking his thyroid in hopes that better diet and care will improve his weight. Fecal tests pending. Oral flea pill given. Sores on his legs are self induced from stress. Hair should grow back fully in 6 months from the flea dermatitis. Pressure ulcers over hips will heal. He has scarring from chronic ear infections and a current one. He did not have to stay overnight.

He still needs to be vaccinated and neutered. He is doing really good otherwise. Great appetite- he is eating like a pig. He is not food guarding at all. He has been walked for over 2 hrs so far today. The vet say he can got walking as much as he wants- No running or high impact/ endurance activites yet.

He does need to learn to sleep in a doggie bed instead of the hard floor so the pressure ulcers on his butt can heal.

 

[mylissyk]

Good report from the vet. Really great there is nothing serious, kind of a miracle he did not have heartworms since most liklely he was not getting monthly prevention.

If it were me, I'd let him gain weight before walking too much.

 

[MikaTallulah]

Good report from the vet. Really great there is nothing serious, kind of a miracle he did not have heartworms since most liklely he was not getting monthly prevention.

If it were me, I'd let him gain weight before walking too much.

The problems is he is hyper from lack of attention and nerves. If he is tired he will learn you sleep inside not chew things, counter surf, etc. He vet also he should get walks from his mind as well as his body since he was so stressed out to chew himself raw.

A good portion of the walking time has been spent telling him he is a good boy and trying to get him to not pull. It is a slow walk not a brisk hike. He starts to pull I stop walking and wait for him to look at me then I say " Buddy comes". He debates whether to try and pull again or come to me. He is starting to releize it is not very fun to keep stopping when he pulls. If you say "no" more than a few times he will cower and crawl on the ground. Trying to build his confidence.

 

[Karen519]

Mika

Mika

I am sure Buddy will be very happy with you.

 

[My Big Kahuna]

I am so happy to hear that you ended up taking the poor pup! I remember an earlier thread where you were explaining the situation but couldn't take him... You're doing a great thing and the best thing you can do is love the dog... But don't pity him... If you pity him and treat him as such he will believe you're saying: "yes, i agree with your behavior" instead of teaching him confidence... If he gets scared or nervous and you go coddle him he's getting the wrong information... Instead stay calm and patient and when he comes around quietly praise him and he will eventually gain confidence! Good luck to you and Cooper's Daddy: Thank you for rescuing that wonderful pup and having the patience to rehabilitate him... There's a special place in heaven for ppl like the 2 of you