New and Needing Advice

Welcome !

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving , Nena a loving forever home.:smile2: Time and much patience is what Nena needs. Shelties need a soft spoken voice with the coaxing to persuade her to trust you. Do just as Silaria and Sheltimom have suggested. Give her the space and talk to her in a soft very reassuring voice. She's like a frightened child.:sadsmile: Needs reassurance and time to feel the love and want. God Bless you ! :smile2: Judy another Rescue from Florida can certainly give you some tips she gets many rescues.
 
Welcome, and best of luck in gaining your new baby's trust. It may take some time. My Sasha is a rescue, and it took a LONG time for her to eat. Initially, the only way she would eat was if she was sitting on my bed and I faced AWAY from her and reached behind me to hand feed her yummy bits of rich food. She had been beaten with her metal food bowl by the [insert the worst expletive you can think of] cretin of a new husband of her original owner. When I took over Sasha's care she was 13 months old, starving, filthy, couldn't hardly stand on her own, and had wounds on her nose. Looking at her little face now I think that at one point that jerk may have even cracked her bones at her nose, as there is a palpable dip and shift there. She would cower and go into a fetal position at first at the sight of men, metal bowls, or kibble. Luckily, she immediately perked up when she saw the bed in our bedroom. Apparently her first owner babied her and kept her beside her on the couch or bed at all times....until she remarried and that cretin tied Sasha outside as a young pup (5 or 6 months old) and left her out thru the winter.

Okay, well I am rambling on about Sasha...the bottom line is that now Sasha is a bright and sassy girl, quite healthy, and while she is VERY reserved towards strange men she no longer cowers in fear at the sight of men or metal bowls and she sucks down kibble at an alarming rate, LOL. She is an excellent mommy to her pups and the male vet at the emergency vet clinic said that she was incredibly cooperative with him "a perfect lady."

But I am sure that I hand fed her for over a month and during that time gradually worked from meat and cheese to kibble.

Give your new baby lots of love...even if you aren't touching her they can FEEL it coming from you. Just radiate love towards her, she will soon respond.
 
Thank you for taking in that poor sheltie. I have to wonder if Nena is house-broken, since you said she has always lived in a crate. I don't know how to advise you, if that is the case. But I would certainly want to get started on that, if I were you. I'm sure one of the rescue people would be able to help. You and Nena are in my prayers.
 
These pups of ours are so sensitive and they have their quirks.

To this day, ever since Bacca's swollen mouth "situation" he's never been the same eating. He will not eat in his crate. He will not eat while Indy is eating. He will only eat after Indy has eaten and I have his bowl next to my office chair and I'm sitted next to him. Then finally he will push Indy aside to come eat next to me. And of course, Indy is frantic because of the full bowl of food that he can't get at. If I had to guess, I'm thinking that Bacca's figured out that he's top dog on the feeding chain and he taunts Indy with it

Who knows what brain explosions go on in their heads. All you can do is decide which of their little neurosis you can put up with and which ones you need to train them out of.
 
Nena is Doing Fantastic

I can't believe what I see from day to day. She has changed tremendously since I posted the first time. She walks almost perfect on the leash. Since going out on the leash, she has only had about 3-4 accidents, a couple of those were my fault . She is still scared outside if she hears loud noises or something of that nature. She has started drinking more and her urine doesn't smell like ammonia poured straight from a bottle. She is getting out her crate and moving around more. She's starting to play with my daughter more and also with Darla, my pug. I just can't believe the turn around with her. It's truly amazing!
 
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I so agree

Time & patience~although I have no experaince with shelties as much as all of you here,but have had my share of foster pups,we have run into simaliar situations as you are talking about.Hugs to you for taking this little one in,as she will have a wonderful life now.
 
Looks like Nena is starting to feel more comfortable and safe with you.You are doing a very good job with her. Keep up the good work.
 
That is wonderful! Just be patient and give her lots of love. You are doing great from the sounds of it!
 
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