# Incredibly scared Romanian rescue dog



## Rachel Thomson (Dec 18, 2017)

I am looking for advice please. We rescued an old Romanian street dog. The rescuer knew very little about her, she was found on the streets and they think she is about 10 years old. She needs an operation on her eye. She was in foster care for about 4 weeks in Romania before she came to us. She never let them touch her and never came out of her crate. I don't think she has has interaction with people and if she has it can't have been good as she is absolutely terrified. If you glance her way she shakes. If you try to feed her she looks away and backs away. When I needed to put her slip lead on to transfer her into her crate to get in the house she nipped. We have her in a pen with one end covered over to give her privacy. She is calmer around my old jack russell if she looks through the pen. I am not going to even attempt toilet training outside as I don't want to stress her out putting a lead on. I plan to slowly feed her treats without making eye contact and I hope she may trust us in time.
Has anyone ever had a dog this scared that has recovered?


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I haven't but I've known people who have.

It takes time and patience.

I would carry on as you are for a while, just giving her what she needs, avoiding eye contact and speak gently to her to reassure her.

She is probably still at maximum stress hormone levels at the moment and they continue to build with every stressful experience. A few very quiet days should see that level reduce back down and she will, hopefully, be more receptive.

As you found, any pressure could resulting her snapping so avoid if you can.

Just be aware that escape is often high on their list of priorities to making the garden/entrances very secure is paramount.

If she takes to your JR hopefully that will ease her path.

Good luck.


----------



## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi Rachel, she sounds so much like my girl Gypsy, & what Lurcherlad says is pretty much what I was going to say.

She will come round, with lots of time & patience, & having another settled dog to show her the ropes will help, I was going to show a sneaky video I took of her playing with one of my other dogs a month after arrival- it was still another 3 months until she let us people touch her, but nowadays she is by far the most cuddly of our 3, to people she's comfortable with.

Unfortunately I can't get it to upload from my Facebook!


----------



## Rachel Thomson (Dec 18, 2017)

Thank you so much for your reply. We have a pen with one end covered over so she has a safe place. We are lucky that we have a front and back porch so we have an air/dog lock! We also have stair gates. She can't just over them as she is tiny... 4kgs. I have just returned from the vet and her eye is very painful and probably will need removed. She has pain relief. She had no sight in that eye and there is a chance they could save it but not the sight. It would involve eye drops 4 times daily and lots of vets appointments. I feel that will be far too stressful for her as the "safe" person will be force holding her continually to put in drops etc.


----------



## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Rachel Thomson said:


> Thank you so much for your reply. We have a pen with one end covered over so she has a safe place. We are lucky that we have a front and back porch so we have an air/dog lock! We also have stair gates. She can't just over them as she is tiny... 4kgs. I have just returned from the vet and her eye is very painful and probably will need removed. She has pain relief. She had no sight in that eye and there is a chance they could save it but not the sight. It would involve eye drops 4 times daily and lots of vets appointments. I feel that will be far too stressful for her as the "safe" person will be force holding her continually to put in drops etc.


Bless her, removal of her eye sounds like the best option in the long term.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Sad about the eye but it does sound as though removal would be "easier" to manage with her.

Being in pain won't be helping her to settle, so hopefully she can have the Op quickly and start to recover physically and mentally.

You've taken on a lot - bless you!


----------



## Rachel Thomson (Dec 18, 2017)

We knew what we were taking on and have no expectations of her. She may never be a cuddly dog but as long as SHE is happy that's all that matters


----------



## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Rachel Thomson said:


> We knew what we were taking on and have no expectations of her. She may never be a cuddly dog but as long as SHE is happy that's all that matters


That's lovely to hear, I see too many dogs bounce back into rescue because of peoples' expectations, I wish there were more people with your kind of attitude.

I carry out home checks for rescues & have Rommie experience so if the adopters are adopting a Rommie I always tell them about the issues that may arise, as well as the good side.

I would rather see a dog wait in rescue a bit longer than someone with rose tinted glasses changing their mind & sending the dog back, that just adds more trauma for the dog.

They are special dogs & you will be rewarded tenfold by her.


----------



## Rachel Thomson (Dec 18, 2017)

She travelled 3000 miles to come to Orkney, there is no way she is going back. Everything can be overcome or worked around. It frustrates me when people expect so much from their animals or let them escape. I had a springer spaniel who the vets did a study on as they don't normally see the condition due to people rehoming and eventually putting to sleep. He had incredibly erratic behaviour and at one point thought he had a brain tumour. He could only sleep completely in darkness and destroyed everything within reach hurting himself badly umpteen times. He was brilliant at dog training and won medals but couldn't cope in thd house. He was eventually sent to a specialist vet school and diagnosed with autism. He got medication and it changed his life and mine. He never did quite master housetraining so I bought a vax!!!! He lived till he was 14.


----------



## Rachel Thomson (Dec 18, 2017)

We sat on the kitchen floor for ages and she came out and sniffed our other dogs bed... she ate some chicken out of my hand!  XX


----------

