In October, I rescued a maltese named Sparky. [He's in my avvie.]
His owner was very old and sick, and couldn't feed him or anything. We got him straight from her house, underweight, matted and terrified of people. When he arrived he hid under the table shaking for the first day and under the bed shaking for the next four. After a while, he became attatched to me and still fallows me everywhere. He's been getting a lot better but doesn't trust other people, and still occasionally hides under things. Before he came to us, he'd never gone outside before and had no interactions with other dogs. He loves being outdoors but is absolutely terrified of any dog he meets, from two inches high to standered poodles. Sometimes he'll bite unexpectedly.. and he barks like crazy. He's grown out of a lot of his old bad habits, so I'm hoping it will be the same.. Is there anything I can do for him?
He loves me but sometimes won't trust me so I'm trying to strengthen our bond by doing a little agility with him- but he's 8 years old and very slow. He's an outstanding jumper, though, and we have fun setting up little obsticles
Sometimes, I even get him to jump with no leash but it's rare..
When I first got him, he totally glued himself to me and I took him on walks with no leash just a week or so after he moved into our house. Now, he always tries to turn around. How can I encourage him to have fun on walks?
He steals food from people's fingers- and occasionally catches them in his mouth- can I stop that?
He has so many problems but he really is a very nice dog. I <3 him and don't have an idea how I could've lived without him. <3
His owner was very old and sick, and couldn't feed him or anything. We got him straight from her house, underweight, matted and terrified of people. When he arrived he hid under the table shaking for the first day and under the bed shaking for the next four. After a while, he became attatched to me and still fallows me everywhere. He's been getting a lot better but doesn't trust other people, and still occasionally hides under things. Before he came to us, he'd never gone outside before and had no interactions with other dogs. He loves being outdoors but is absolutely terrified of any dog he meets, from two inches high to standered poodles. Sometimes he'll bite unexpectedly.. and he barks like crazy. He's grown out of a lot of his old bad habits, so I'm hoping it will be the same.. Is there anything I can do for him?
He loves me but sometimes won't trust me so I'm trying to strengthen our bond by doing a little agility with him- but he's 8 years old and very slow. He's an outstanding jumper, though, and we have fun setting up little obsticles
Sometimes, I even get him to jump with no leash but it's rare.. When I first got him, he totally glued himself to me and I took him on walks with no leash just a week or so after he moved into our house. Now, he always tries to turn around. How can I encourage him to have fun on walks?
He steals food from people's fingers- and occasionally catches them in his mouth- can I stop that?
He has so many problems but he really is a very nice dog. I <3 him and don't have an idea how I could've lived without him. <3
