I'm new to this site. I'm desperately looking for dog owners that have experience working with toy breed rescue dogs. I have a long history working with larger rescue dogs (~70 lb), but as of yesterday, I now have my first toy rescue. By toy, I mean 6.5 lbs. He was found freezing in a parking lot behind Dunkin Donuts. The manager told me that originally there had been 3 of them and my little guy was the only on still there. He looks like a a toy fox terrier.
He's a sweet little guy and doesn't seem to have a problem with my two larger dogs, but he is terrified of everything else: carpet, tile, stairs, noise...I've had him for almost 24 hours and he hasn't eaten or made any noise whatsoever. He seems to mostly want to curl up next to me or my feet. I crated him last night and he seemed fine. As far as I can tell he didn't mess in his crate. He is definitely not housebroken and he doesn't know what a leash is. When I take him outside all he does is shiver and stare.
In a larger dog, this scenario wouldn't seem nearly so daunting; been there done that. But somehow the size of this little thing seems to make a difference. I'm already finding that he's training me to pick him up whenever he's nervous. And I have to admit that leash training something so little does seem a little ludicrous. Right now, he's wearing a cat collar and that's too big for him.
So, does anybody have any experience with rehabing and/or training a dog this small?
Thanks much.
He's a sweet little guy and doesn't seem to have a problem with my two larger dogs, but he is terrified of everything else: carpet, tile, stairs, noise...I've had him for almost 24 hours and he hasn't eaten or made any noise whatsoever. He seems to mostly want to curl up next to me or my feet. I crated him last night and he seemed fine. As far as I can tell he didn't mess in his crate. He is definitely not housebroken and he doesn't know what a leash is. When I take him outside all he does is shiver and stare.
In a larger dog, this scenario wouldn't seem nearly so daunting; been there done that. But somehow the size of this little thing seems to make a difference. I'm already finding that he's training me to pick him up whenever he's nervous. And I have to admit that leash training something so little does seem a little ludicrous. Right now, he's wearing a cat collar and that's too big for him.
So, does anybody have any experience with rehabing and/or training a dog this small?
Thanks much.