HELP - Stray Yorkie

[Karen Lynn]

We found a little Yorkie by the road last Tuesday who is approximately three years old. She was scared, dirty, severely underfed (about 4 lbs and should be about 6 lbs from the looks of her), in heat, and very anemic from hook worms. How could someone let this happen to such a little darling!? She has gotten medical care and on the mend.

She seems to be a real sweetie but we are unsure just how well she is going to fit in with our Maltese, Macy. They seem to get along until Macy starts moving in for attention when it is the Yorkie’s turn. Our new Yorkie friend snips at Macy for this. However, I know this little pooch has had it rough lately and is in heat on top of it. She was obviously treated well at some point in her life and then it looks like things eventually took a turn for the worse. (I am thinking that she may have gotten away from her original owners and maybe someone under qualified took her in.) I want to do everything I can to help her adjust and feel safe but do not want to ignore bad behavior that could worsen if not corrected. On the other hand, she has really fragile feelings. We trained our little Macy from puppy-hood without her ever knowing a hitting hand. We used a sharp “NO!” when she went potty in the house and took her outside to finish her business with much praise. That seemed to work well with Macy. However, when I say “NO” to this dog, she cowers like I am going to hit her. She is also very destructive when left alone. She will destroy anything she can while alone and dump her food.

Q #1:
What can I do about this little dog’s SEVERE separation anxiety? I can’t even leave the room without her having a complete fit. If confined at all she becomes very destructive. Having Macy with her seems to make no difference on the level of anxiety she experiences.

Q #2:
What can I do to start the training process while offering the right amount of assurance to her? It breaks my heart to see her cower down as if to wait for the sting of my hand. She does this even if I just walk up to her much less if I am trying to get her to stop doing something. So far, I feel like correcting her hasn’t done anything but make her afraid.

Q #3:
Also, with her not being housebroken by the age of three, is there going to be hope down the road?

[brosie1823]

You are so great for taking in that baby, and not getting rid of her just because things are a little hard. Bless you!

The only thing I can really help you with is the second question, about her cowering. I got my daschund from the pound, and she acted like she had been beaten by whoever had her before. Everytime we would say "NO!" she would cower down and roll over. We found that it just took some time and love for her to stop. Every time she would do it, we would get down on her level and love on her. While it didn't help her with the behavior that much (it took her longer to learn what she can and can't do) she learned that we won't hurt her. That helped the training a lot. Also, just have patience. To learn how to trust after going through that is a big thing for a dog, but it will get better. She's the world's most well-behaved dog now, and it only took about 3 months.

[LvMyYorki]

Karen- Your situation sounds just like another member of the forums. This is how she got her yorkie! I would suggest you contact her bc she has been in the exact same situation.. found it running through the streets, approx three years old, underweight, separation anxiety, etc... Her username is Ritaman1. You should send her a PM. I will email her to let her know about your situation.

[Missy's Mommy]

Karen, that is so heartbreaking someone would treat the little girl like that. God Bless you for bringing her in and giving her the medical attention and loving home that she needs. I imagine she had 3 years of an emotional life, and has been with you for 1 week, I am sure in that 1 week you've made a huge difference to her but it could take a few months for her to let go of her past and feel completly at home with you.

Good luck to you and the little yorkie girl. I hope some one on the site will be able to give you great advice, all I can offer is a hug.. hugs to you and your little yorkie girl.

p.s. did you give her a name?

[chachi]

I don't understand how anyone could do that to a little yorkie. They are such pampered little pooches. I really don't have any advice for you just wanted to tell you how great it is that you rescued her. Good luck

[kindness_001]

I rescured 3 poms and a Yorkie that was filithy and cowered down like that, it takes alot of timebut, they do come around . I can even touch mindy now. To pet her. and the poms they would run and hide now will come up to me. Treats helped. Good Luck,.

[Karen Lynn]

I agree that things are going to take quite a bit of time. All of the dogs my parents have were rescued and they all had their individual timelines as to when they would trust their new humans. It sure hurts to see her panic so badly though. I have never seen any animal panic so severely when left alone even if I am only gone long enough to get something out of the other room. I would let her run around a little more if she was house broken and not so destructive…. but for now I have to keep her under constant supervision. Our Maltese, Macy, needs a friend and so I really hope this little Yorkie girl warms up to her. I am hoping that the little girl's snips at Macy turn into sniffs and then into friendly play. She only snips at Macy when Macy comes up while she is getting attention. She may not know it yet, but I am sure that having another doggy friend would be good for her too. I attached pictures of them both.

Please continue with your suggestions. All input is taken to heart and is appreciated deeply.

P.S. Missy’s Mom, we haven’t settled on a name yet although I have been calling out a ton of different girl names to see if I could happen to hit on the one she already has. No such luck though. Any suggestions?

[red98vett]

I wish I had good advise but will leave that to the pros - but you are her angel and good luck with your new yorkie - they're very smart and can learn in time to trust people but it's going to take lots of patience -

I correspond with a woman in England who found a yorkie in the snow who was Badly abused ...and that yorkie is now a beautiful well adjusted darling - You can go see her story at this link and I have her email address if you ever have questions - she loves to talk about Precious. The Story of Precious

to all of you who rescue - you are hero's.

[jwash]

I only have a couple of suggestions. One, don't show her the "top" part of your hand when trying to pet her. Do it palm up, like you are going to pat her chin. The overhand motion often reminds them of being hit (downward motion) but an upward motion will not. Second, get face to face and whisper instructions, then reward with a treat, even if she behaves only for a minute. Handle her often, supervise or place in a kennel with a blanket and a toy, food and water. This will take a bit of time so try not to put her in a situation where she'll disappoint and you will have to scold. Good Luck. I'll close with a quick story (true). A couple with a very small dog, about 2 lbs was traveling through my city to Orlando when they had a wreck, which destroyed their vehicle and travel trailer. In the excitement, their dog ran away and could not be found. Somehow that little dog survived for 3 months, on the street. The broken hearted coupled went on to Orlando for a month, then back home to Ohio. One day near the accident scene, the dog was hit by a car and her hip was broken. A bystander picked her up, took her to her vet for care and noticed a scrap of a collar with a phone number. They called the number and the couple was so thrilled their little dog was found. The owner flew down and recovered their precious pet. Not only did the dog fly home first class but had a welcome home party. I guess it is possible this little girl has been lost for some time and the effects are showing.

[jpb1971]

Chachi, It may not be that it was done on purpose ... we almost lost Julius once when he was young when he ran out the door when the pizza guy arrived. He didn't have a collar and tags on at the time so we are sooo lucky we got him back. The couple that turned him over to us could so easily have just taken off with him. We were so distraught but still could not find him until they pulled up in their car and asked if we were looking for a dog --- as we wandered around with flashlights in the middle of the night. The only time they don't have full sets of tags now is when they are taking a bath and the front is shut and locked! Of course he's gotten better about sticking around too.

Karen, Have patience. The rewards will be exceptional. God bless you for taking care of the little girl!

[lily's mom]

You are an angel for taking in this little girl!!! I don't have advice to help you out. However, this forum is full of very knowledgable people and I know someone can give you all the correct advice. Good luck. I would love to know how things progress with her.

[StewiesMom]

Very nice of you to bring her in and take care of her. I don't think that her previous owner necessarily abused her. Maybe she was just gone for a long time. Did you try to contact her previous owners through a newspaper or something?

As for the housebreaking, I'm sure she'll get better with time. Good luck.

[minniemn]

I just wanted to say that I think it is wonderful that you are taking on the responsibility of another fur baby.

We had a litter of pups dropped off at our door when we lived in the country (rott, lab mix) we got them to the vet and found good homes for all of them but one (it was a litter of 9)... the dogs did come around, learned that we were not going to hurt them ect... and the love they gave back was amazing.

Good luck, I imagine things will work out eventually with a loving home.

[Karen Lynn]

My gut feeling is that she was treated well at some point in her life. I really don’t think she had been out very long though. We live in such a heavily populated area and she was on the outskirts of a neighborhood. I do plan on putting signs out this week with an email address instead of a phone number and do not plan on returning calls from anywhere but a payphone. That may sound strange but I want to be able to ask questions of the previous owner to be sure she doesn’t go back to a bad situation. My gut tells me she may have fell into bad hands at some point in her life.

A good thing is she does not have heart worms. In Texas that can only mean one of two things…. She either lived strictly inside or the owners cared enough to have her on a preventative. However, her anemia had her so frail and skinny that her flesh dipped in between each rib. If you held her tummy-up you could see her entire ribcage protruding out. Like the vet said, this is not the kind of thing that took a couple of weeks to happen. She had to have been in bad shape for a long time. However, I know that it isn’t 100% unfathomable that she had been on the run for a long time. That is why I do plan on putting out signs and have already gone looking for ‘lost dog signs’ many times in the general area. If our little Macy got out and was in bad shape by the time someone found her, I would want the chance to explain the situation. Therefore, I will give them that chance if they contact me.

This little Yorkie girl is one of many dogs that we have rescued. With the one we found last, we chased and coaxed her for hours and hours in the winter cold until about 2 AM. We are happy that we have always found the owners of these doggies. All of whom missed, loved and cared for their pet well. This one however tugs at my gut. I just have a feeling that this baby was in bad hands.

[diva pup]

Poor little baby, I am so glad she found you. If your gut feeling is that she was abused she probably was, how horribly sad.
I just want to cry when I hear these stories and I thank God there are people like you out there.