How to help a puppy mill dog learn to trust people
We adopted the sweetest Shih Tzu/ Yorkie mix, puppy mill survivor. She is 5 years old. She had no social skills at all; clearly, she had spent all her days in a crate.
She is very submissive and easily frightened but has come a long way in the nine months since we adopted her. She has become very attached to me but is frightened of my husband. She won’t touch her food unless I’m present, even when she’s hungry.
She no longer shakes when my husband carries her through our apartment building to walk her. (It was obvious that she had never been walked.) He holds her leash. He speaks softly to her and pets her when she’s sitting next to me. He offers her the tastiest treat, and she’ll carefully take them — as long as I’m present.
Do you have advice as to how we can help move her relationship forward with him?
If she is a puppy mill survivor and spent all her days in a crate,
I assume she was the mother dog to many puppy mill litters. If that is the case, she was probably never socialized with people, let alone other animals, so it’s natural for her to be afraid of the outside world. Your husband also may represent someone from her past that she was very afraid to be around.
While she may never be fully confident about the world around her, you can help her become more comfortable, especially with your husband. Step back from providing her daily care and let your husband take over feeding her, brushing her and giving her treats. Even if you must be present for her to eat and take treats from your husband, over time and with your encouragement she should begin to trust your husband so long as he follows a routine and is consistent with his behavior.
Dogs thrive on routine, and if caregivers are consistent with that routine as well as with their behavior (never yelling at or around the pet), then the dog will start to trust them.
In addition, buy a canine pheromone collar for her to wear and canine pheromone spray to spritz on your husband’s clothes.
Pheromones mimic the natural pheromones mother dogs produce to calm their puppies and reduces the anxiousness of dogs of all ages. Routine, consistency and canine pheromones will help create the environment your husband needs to show this little dog that he can be trusted.