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Hope is in foster with Elsa who will update soon
It is only when she arrived to her foster home that her foster mum discovered how bad she is….she is literally skin and bone….terrified and overwhelmed..she will only eat tiny bits from your hand.
ref 428 hope.jpgHope has been with us for only a few days. Normally I would write something within the first day or so but with this little girl I decided to wait, the reason being that our hearts are broken over this poor little girl and I wanted to wait until I had something positive and hopeful to say. However I think with this gentle little girl it may take more than a few days – She is literally skin and bone and absolutely terrified of everything. She is good with our dog and two cats but is terrified of just about everything else. She is house trained but is terrified to go through the open door so for the first day I had to carry her out to the garden. But not one accident in the house. She absolutely does not trust humans. This is how scared she is – she will not eat her food from a bowl. She is petrified, she looks like she thinks it’s a trap. Apparently she had not eaten anything the day before she came to us. But she will eat if you feed her from your hand (again because of her fear of people this seems unbelievable). I have tried leaving the food down and walking out of the room, leaving her completely alone with the food, we have tried putting the food into plastic instead of metal bowls, and plastic plates instead of bowls but she will just not go anywhere near it! This is despite obviously being seriously undernourished and hungry. So we have been feeding her each meal by hand. We have also noticed that she does not drink much, if any, water. She does not trust the bowls of water that we have in the house and in the garden. The only water I have seen her drink was from a plastic bag that had blown to the back of the garden and had collected a little rain-water. If anyone has any advice on this please let me know as this worries me most. She is a gentle lovely little girl who has had her spirit broken. Im praying that with time and some really gentle love and care she will come back.
Hi There,
I do not have any experience / advice with this but I just wanted to say she is lucky to be in a foster home with you. Its obvious from reading your post that you really care for her. I would think that time, patience and love is all she needs. Best of luck, I will be following her storyIf you have any syringe try to force feed her some liquid and/or some food… there is some link’s about that http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientEd/dog_oral_fluids.aspx
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccgFwP23fQIf you can, get her checked over by a vet just in case she has a painful mouth or some other health problem(s) that need to be addressed. It would be stressful for her but at least you would know where you were starting from. I wish these poor dog could realise that they are safe and relax but who knows what has happened to her before she arrived with you. I have had my DID dog for over a year now and she still grabs any crumb of food she can get, she gets fed twice a day plus various treats when training. She is now actually over-weight and is supposed to be on a diet, I think the vet is dreaming that one
Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments and help. With so many people caring about her we will get her back to a good place in time. We are heading to the vet tomorrow morning it will be a little tough on her but hopefully we will get more advice and it will help. I will let you know how we get on. I have tried to make an artificial puddle for her in the garden by digging a shallow hole and lining it with the same plastic bag that she drank from before, so it can collect more water. Earlier after it rained a little she just tried to lick the water up from the patio. But I will try all the suggestions. I know I am painting a bleak picture but it is early days and we are going to do our very best for this little girl. She deserves a long, easy, happy life and I have no doubt that she will get it.
P.S. This is about 5 min after I started writing this post, I went to get my phone to try to add a photo. I decided to take Hope outside to let her go to the toilet. As she wandered around the garden she found the puddle I had made for her and for the first time had a proper drink. I’m so happy – thought I should share the good news! EThat is very good news indeed. It’s possibly the only way she has ever been able to drink and needs a plastic covered hole
She will get there under your good care, I have no doubt about that. I have everything crossed for her veterinary visit tomorrow. Bet she will be a different dog even next week,once she is on the up, she will fly and I can’t wait to hear about that What on earth has she been through? Terrible. So sad. Would break your heart.
Please God the little pet will be ok. It’s probably going to take a lot of time, patience and cuddles. You’re doing just brilliantly martem. What a brainwave re the hole lined with plastic bag – you’re just great! Will be following.We are just back from the vet and it went really well. She was nervous but lay really still on the examination desk as the vet checked her over, she was good as gold. She weights under 10kgs. We were given some anxiety tablets which she’ll be on for a couple of weeks – these will hopefully help her to put on weight quicker also. She had some shots (again good as gold) and we will go back in two weeks for another check up. The car journey had scared her a little, as is to be expected, when we got there we carried her in so as not to have to drag her along on the lead. But she walked out and even greeted (cautiously) another dog and the lady in reception which was amazing to see. She actually seems a little more relaxed already and is lying down having a sleep for the first time today. We are feeling very positive since the visit this morning. There is nothing physically wrong with her other than her weight! and her nerves and anxiety will decrease, slowly maybe, but we have absolute hope (Hope!!). We can’t wait to see the results that a few weeks of care and love will bring. She is a beautiful dog, I can’t wait until I can take some photos that show her off properly.
Great to know that nothing major is going on apart from the terror she is currently suffering – that will improve with every minute that passes. It will be a great when she finally manages to start eating.
It has been a while since I updated Hopes page, I wanted to wait until I had a bit of good news to pass on. I should really have updated yesterday but the day got away from me. The week after my last post really was ‘one step forward two steps back’. Hope likes to hide herself. She crawls under her bed instead of sleeping on it, she found her ‘safe place’ in our sitting room, a narrow space between our sofa and a chest of drawers. She picked it because it had three entrance points so she never felt trapped there. We have a giant fleece blanket which was draped over the sofa and onto the floor so she hides under that also with half her body under the blanket and half in her safe place. The problem is that once she had found that place she seemed to shut down even more. For the first few days she did not have any accidents in the house but suddenly she was (both kinds
). Once she is in the sitting room she will not leave it! During the first few days if I sat on the floor petting Ruby she would come over to us, now she wouldn’t, so no amount of coaxing would get her out of that room. Getting through a door into another room is a huge cause of anxiety. Because of this I started having to pick her up and carry her to the back door, which I know slowed the development of her trust in me. She will still only eat from our hand but I give her one piece from my hand and then put a few pieces on a clear plastic sheet on the floor and she usually eats half her food on her own that way. I took her for a walk for the first time three days ago. Maybe I should have taken her earlier but she was particularly bad for the whole week I wasn’t sure she could handle the stress. After the initial fear of being put into the car and getting out again she seemed to enjoy the walk. I picked a nice quiet location so there wouldn’t be too many people and it all went well. She even wanted to go for a little run so I ended up running beside her . But when we got back she went into the garden and crawled under the garden shed (a space of about 11 inches) and stayed there for the next 2/3 hours (one step forward two steps back!). Now for the good news (thank you for your patience). The walks have continued and she is doing great and getting used to passing other dogs and people, with a wide berth but she’s getting more comfortable with it. This morning we had a wonderful long petting session – I sat in the back hallway and she actually came over, sat down and then lay down beside me and let me give her a long, gentle rub (as she is still very skinny you can’t be too vigorous). It was the most relaxed I have seen her since she came to us. It was absolutely lovely. Also when we got back from our walk she went into the back garden but then managed to walk back into the house on her own (it usually takes a more than half hour for her to build up confidence to step into the kitchen – today was quicker). She is also drinking more – still from the puddles in the garden – which I am delighted about. All baby steps with this lovely little girl but I can see the seeds of progress so please fingers crossed everyone.It has been a while since I updated Hopes page, I wanted to wait until I had a bit of good news to pass on. I should really have updated yesterday but the day got away from me. The week after my last post really was ‘one step forward two steps back’. Hope likes to hide herself. She crawls under her bed instead of sleeping on it, she found her ‘safe place’ in our sitting room, a narrow space between our sofa and a chest of drawers. She picked it because it had three entrance points so she never felt trapped there. We have a giant fleece blanket which was draped over the sofa and onto the floor so she hides under that also with half her body under the blanket and half in her safe place. The problem is that once she had found that place she seemed to shut down even more. For the first few days she did not have any accidents in the house but suddenly she was (both kinds
). Once she is in the sitting room she will not leave it! During the first few days if I sat on the floor petting Ruby she would come over to us, now she wouldn’t, so no amount of coaxing would get her out of that room. Getting through a door into another room is a huge cause of anxiety. Because of this I started having to pick her up and carry her to the back door, which I know slowed the development of her trust in me. She will still only eat from our hand but I give her one piece from my hand and then put a few pieces on a clear plastic sheet on the floor and she usually eats half her food on her own that way. I took her for a walk for the first time three days ago. Maybe I should have taken her earlier but she was particularly bad for the whole week I wasn’t sure she could handle the stress. After the initial fear of being put into the car and getting out again she seemed to enjoy the walk. I picked a nice quiet location so there wouldn’t be too many people and it all went well. She even wanted to go for a little run so I ended up running beside her . But when we got back she went into the garden and crawled under the garden shed (a space of about 11 inches) and stayed there for the next 2/3 hours (one step forward two steps back!). Now for the good news (thank you for your patience). The walks have continued and she is doing great and getting used to passing other dogs and people, with a wide berth but she’s getting more comfortable with it. This morning we had a wonderful long petting session – I sat in the back hallway and she actually came over, sat down and then lay down beside me and let me give her a long, gentle rub (as she is still very skinny you can’t be too vigorous). It was the most relaxed I have seen her since she came to us. It was absolutely lovely. Also when we got back from our walk she went into the back garden but then managed to walk back into the house on her own (it usually takes a more than half hour for her to build up confidence to step into the kitchen – today was quicker). She is also drinking more – still from the puddles in the garden – which I am delighted about. All baby steps with this lovely little girl but I can see the seeds of progress so please fingers crossed everyone.
ref 428 hope.jpg
She will get there under your good care, I have no doubt about that. I have everything crossed for her veterinary visit tomorrow. Bet she will be a different dog even next week,once she is on the up, she will fly and I can’t wait to hear about that 
). Once she is in the sitting room she will not leave it! During the first few days if I sat on the floor petting Ruby she would come over to us, now she wouldn’t, so no amount of coaxing would get her out of that room. Getting through a door into another room is a huge cause of anxiety. Because of this I started having to pick her up and carry her to the back door, which I know slowed the development of her trust in me. She will still only eat from our hand but I give her one piece from my hand and then put a few pieces on a clear plastic sheet on the floor and she usually eats half her food on her own that way. I took her for a walk for the first time three days ago. Maybe I should have taken her earlier but she was particularly bad for the whole week I wasn’t sure she could handle the stress. After the initial fear of being put into the car and getting out again she seemed to enjoy the walk. I picked a nice quiet location so there wouldn’t be too many people and it all went well. She even wanted to go for a little run so I ended up running beside her 
. But when we got back she went into the garden and crawled under the garden shed (a space of about 11 inches) and stayed there for the next 2/3 hours (one step forward two steps back!). Now for the good news (thank you for your patience). The walks have continued and she is doing great and getting used to passing other dogs and people, with a wide berth but she’s getting more comfortable with it. This morning we had a wonderful long petting session – I sat in the back hallway and she actually came over, sat down and then lay down beside me and let me give her a long, gentle rub (as she is still very skinny you can’t be too vigorous). It was the most relaxed I have seen her since she came to us. It was absolutely lovely. Also when we got back from our walk she went into the back garden but then managed to walk back into the house on her own (it usually takes a more than half hour for her to build up confidence to step into the kitchen – today was quicker). She is also drinking more – still from the puddles in the garden – which I am delighted about. All baby steps with this lovely little girl but I can see the seeds of progress so please fingers crossed everyone.- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.