Recently Rescued Jack Rat

losthope236

My family and I have recently rescued a Jack russell Rat terrier from the National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR). She is about seven years old and they believe she has had about 16 litters in her lifetime. When we got her she was very skittish and scared. She would jump every time someone tried to touch her or pick her up, especially if she was touched on her hind end. I've been working with her and she has gotten a lot better over the past two or three weeks that I have had her. I am working on getting her house trained and all that but there are a few things I am stuck on. For instance she is doing the 'I'm scared of my food Routine.' everytime anyone but me goes near her when she is eating or tries to feed her. the other thing is that when i try to teach her the basic commands like Sit and down, she doesnt have any motivation to do the commands, She doesnt eat the treats when she does something good and she doesnt seem to respond when I give verbal/physical praise, I've thought of trying clicker training, but I also see negative sides to it, and the noise might scare her. She is learning how to be a dog again but I need the help.

close2prfct

First, if she came from a mill you have to understand that the majority of her life was more than likely spent in a cage with minimal human interaction. She probably was never given treats, has no clue what commands are. To sum it up she's pretty much like a robot. Mill dogs are the hardest to win over but once you do they are incredible loving pets. There are some though that it may take years of work to get them to totally trust and to be confident to do the things normal dogs do because of no socialization with humans or other animals really.

Keep things calm for her and go slow..very very slow you will see progress in small doses but she will get there. I don't think I would do the clicker because you are right it will more than likely scare her, just spend lots of time with her doing no training, getting to know one another and stuff.
I worked in a shelter where we had tons of mill dogs come in from seizures etc. They are the saddest of them all but they do come around
good luck!

Criosphynx

C2P gave great advice.

Only thing I might add tho is that a shy dog is not nesassarilly afraid of a clicker. In fact my shyest dogs love the clicker and my boldest is afraid of it. lol

Also it sounds likeyour dog sounds shutdown. Dogs don't take food when shutdown because they are preparing for fight or flight.

If you toss the treat from far away will she take it?

losthope236

Yes If I toss she will take the treat, she also takes it from my hand now, though she is getting better at taking them from other people. Any tips for seperation anxiety? she developed this over the past two months I've had her.

Criosphynx

Keep working with those treats! glad you have made progress.



As for the SA...what exactly is she doing? and what are you doing?

losthope236

She is obessivly following me around where ever i go. when I leave she starts to bark and howl for a few hours. when ever I walk out of a room and leave her with someone else she litteraly fights against them to get to me. And when I get home from somewhere she is whinning and jumping at me and walking practically running circles around me, and she wags her tail which is the only time i've ever seen her wag her tail, plus she won't stay still when I pick her up. As for me I don't encourage her to follow me, I encouarge her to stay with someone when I leave a room, she is comfortable about me leaving my room though for short periods of time before she'll come looking for me. When I get home I simply let her out of her pen and dont pay any attention to her until shes calm enough and I take her outside for a walk. She doesn't seem to trust anyone else enough so she clings to me when I'm around, my mom has said that when I'm not home she goes into hiding and wont let anyone touch her. She's gotten slightly better but she still is showing signs of SA. hope that helped.

Criosphynx

probably more time needs to pass...

try to make everything as routine as possible. Food, crate, play etc...on a set timeframe that you don't change. The dog will be more comfortable once she knows whats next.

Ignoring her when you come home also helps...just keep it up.. perhaps have another family member walk her, train her, feed her etc etc so shes not so fixated on you.

losthope236

okay, she is on a routine and she knows it as for other people taking care of her I let them if they want to but usually I'm the one that ends up doing everything for her. Thanks for the help.