How to help a withdrawn/depressed foster dog
July 24, 2017 10:40 AM   Subscribe

I've just picked up out newest foster dog, Blossom, a little Jack Russell terrier type. The rescue who have had her for the past few months say she is very withdrawn and unmotivated. She spends almost all her time sleeping, has never wagged her tail while they had her. Does anyone have any suggestion for how best to look after her?

My husband and I have been fostering dogs over the summer months for the past few years. He is a teacher so is at home during the day at this time of year. We have two dogs of our own, and two cats. Blossom is the 5th dog we've fostered. All the others have been pretty healthy normal dogs who haven't needed any special care.

The rescue we foster for have had Blossom for two or three months. She has been living in the house with them, not it kennels, but still hasn't shown any real sign of improvement.
They describe her as not really interested in anything apart from sleeping.

She also has something wrong with her fur/skin. They've washed her multiple times but she still seems to have a sort of tacky stickiness to herself, the edges of her ears are very leathery, and she has a bald patch.
The vet has looked at her and can't really find a cause, they think that maybe her ears were burned, but they don't know know the cause.

We're really only minding her for a few weeks, the couple who run the rescue are taking a well deserved holiday and trying to keep numbers as low as possible in their care (they have two shipments going to Sweden fairly soon). Is there anything we can do to help Blossom? Or at the very least what should we avoid doing?
posted by Fence to Pets & Animals (16 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm not a vet, so take this for what it's worth. I lived with a cat with symptoms like this. Washing her made her worse, as it irritated her skin. Even though she was a kitten, she didn't engage with us, and just hid under furniture.

She turned out to be allergic to virtually every kind of filler found in cat food (grains, vegetables, you name it). We switched her to pure tuna fish and her skin cleared up right away. She became more perky, and we guessed she was feeling better from the high-fat zero-filler diet. The vet didn't diagnose this; we discovered it kind of accidentally, and the vet later confirmed it, saying, "Oh yeah, that makes sense."

My dog is allergic to wheat, and is happier and healthier when eating the expensive filler-free food.
posted by Capri at 10:49 AM on July 24, 2017 [10 favorites]


I have a JRT and he is motivated by tennis balls. Throw the ball, he brings it back, repeat. They like learning, so teach Blossom to sit before you throw the ball; this helps them to not get too grabby for it. A JRT who isn't delighted by a tennis ball needs a vet.
posted by theora55 at 10:49 AM on July 24, 2017 [2 favorites]


For the skin/fur, try adding coconut oil to Blossom's diet.

Honestly, with that degree of withdrawal/sleeping all the time, I'd be wondering about an undiagnosed medical problem, but it's probably not your place to take Blossom to the vet for further testing unless you notice something alarming while she's with you. It's not impossible for a dog coming out of a very bad environment to be very withdrawn/shy, and, if that's the case, moving households may not help. I would be very very gentle with engagement.
posted by praemunire at 10:56 AM on July 24, 2017 [2 favorites]


I have also had experience with a dog with skin issues, which completely cleared up from a grain-free (in that case also raw) diet. Sending good thoughts to the pup.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:12 AM on July 24, 2017 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Hiya. We also have had a small parade of foster dogs through our home and our lives and, honestly, sometimes you just get one of these. Two dogs might go through an identical experience and one may shake it off and be normal as soon as he's in a healthy environment, and the other may be traumatised and withdrawn for the rest of his life.

We have a two-pronged approach. We make sure the dog is comfortable, warm, well fed and comfortably medicated if appropriate. We make toys, blankets and bedding available. For a withdrawn dog, we might make a safe space in a crate (we do not normally crate ever.)

Other than that, we pretend to practically ignore the dog. We speak to the dog barely above a whisper, as the crazy GOOD DOG GOOD GIRL excited chatter you use for a normal dog does not work. We sit near the crate or the dog's bed and read or watch TV or read aloud or paint our toenails or whatever. (If your husband works from home, setting the dog up nearby is a good plan.) And then we make sure we have at least one positive interaction with the dog every day of possible: offering a treat the dog will take by hand, or play a YouTube video the dog likes, or if the dog will play (I feel like this dog won't) rolling a ball or whatever.

But basically, we try to meet the dog where she is, and if that is withdrawn, then we back off and make no demands and ask nothing. That gives the dog plenty of room to come to you in her own time, but if she never does, consistency and cheese are sometimes all a damaged dog will take from you.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:19 AM on July 24, 2017 [30 favorites]


Our foster failure started off this way. What helped us most was routine. Like almost to the minute, & even then it took him 6 months to begin to play a little, he spent most of that time "sleeping" under a blanket on our couch (it also took him that long to stop having nightmares where he'd wake up whimpering) and 2 years before he'd come & seek out affection. What I'm saying is there is probably not a lot you can do in such a short time. Stick to a routine. Talk softly & be radiate calm energy around her (that sounds strange to say about a JRT).

We found taking our dog to obedience & agility classes really helped him come out of his shell. It was like he realized we could communicate with each other & it gave him a lot of not only self confidence, but confidence in my husband & me. Maybe if she's up for it you could quietly & calmly work on some tricks with her. Just sit on the floor with just her & get him to sit or lay down or shake paws. Keep it low key, with lots of quiet praising & delicious treats.

Maybe give her a kong with some peanut butter frozen into it, something to keep her mind occupied.
posted by wwax at 11:43 AM on July 24, 2017 [2 favorites]


First thing I thought of was a health/pain issue here. If her uninterest is for all things equally (pets, walks, other dogs, the cats, and, to a lesser degree, food), then I would assume undiagnosed pain.
posted by Vaike at 11:44 AM on July 24, 2017 [4 favorites]


If you decide it IS food allergies (and I think that's a good guess) I made our JR's food for the last five years of her life. If you want a fairly quick and easy process, memail me and I will send you the info.
posted by raisingsand at 1:04 PM on July 24, 2017


I would put my two cents on the dog has some kind of skin rash, allergy, or other skin condition that is extremely painful. Washing is just going to irritate it more, and even in humans (who have specialized skin-only doctors) these kinds of things are difficult to diagnose properly. In my personal experience better diet helps both two and four legged animals with skin afflictions so that seems worth a try to me.

Otherwise just be nice and mellow.. hopefully dogger feels better and likes the company of other animals.
posted by love2potato at 6:22 PM on July 24, 2017


Response by poster: Thanks for all the help guys. We've been leaving her to herself for most of the time, 5 or 10 minutes interactions max when we take her out for pee breaks.

The rescue think that her fur/skin issues are due to lying in her own urine, and maybe then scratching at herself, so it should hopefully ease with time.
She is a fussy eater, we've been told that cat food is all she really seems to enjoy, but have tried her with a bit of ham too and she loved that.

She was a bit brighter this morning, so hopefully the quieter environment is helping her. The rescue would have been a very busy place. And in case any needs pictures here she is.
posted by Fence at 2:40 AM on July 25, 2017


She was a bit brighter this morning, so hopefully the quieter environment is helping her. The rescue would have been a very busy place.

FWIW, I know every rescue works differently and what is possible at one isn't always possible at another, but within our rescue, we have a fairly unique profile: we have no kids, one ancient resident dog, two people home all day on split shifts, and a very quiet home. We primarily take dogs like Blossom and dogs on palliative care, who need a quiet, stress-free foster home. If she perks up, it would be worth considering if it is possible for her to perma-foster with you rather than returning to the stress of the rescue, both to avoid more change and to give her an environment better suited to her needs.

If that can't happen, though, that doesn't lessen the good thing you're doing here.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:05 AM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


have tried her with a bit of ham too

Please don't feed your dog ham! It's very high in sodium, fat, nitrates and nitrites and the jury is still out about how much, if any, ham a dog can safely eat.

How about peanut butter, freeze dried bison or baby food as high value treats?
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:48 AM on July 25, 2017


Response by poster: We've cleared it with the rescue to get her checked out by our vet. They did have her looked at, but a second opinion can't hurt so we have her booked in tomorrow.

Like you DarlingBri we're a no kids household, although our own dogs aren't ancient they aren't mad puppies either. 5 (ish, he was found by the side of the road) and 6, so far they've actually been very quiet around her. Ripley is usually very good at knowing when a dog is and isn't interested in getting to know her. (Pictures of Ripley & Bodie)

I think if she does begin to improve we may offer to keep her longer term. As I said we foster every year at summer and just handed back the most beautiful loving collie, we would have kept her (or any of the previous ones) in a heartbeat, but for our own sakes. Keeping Blossom for a bit longer would be for her sake, so that'd be different.

She has no interest in playing, or tennis balls, she is so unlike any terrier I've met before. Hopefully she improves with peace and time.
posted by Fence at 11:49 AM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Just in case anyone wanted an update, Blossom has been to the vet who can't find any underlying cause, so thinks it is probably the result of long term malnutrition and being left locked in a cage. Most likely a puppy-farm breeding bitch.
He has taken a skin scraping as well that we're waiting on results for but thinks time and food should hopefully bring her round.
posted by Fence at 10:47 AM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


You do you, lovely little Blossom. Happy tails! xoxxo
posted by DarlingBri at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Just an update in case anyone was wondering.
It's a sad one I'm afraid. Poor Blossom had to be put to sleep last week. She was probably quite a bit older then first suspected and in the end she developed some sort of dementia that got quite bad very quickly.

Very sad that she didn't get to enjoy life for longer but I like to think that at least her last few months were happy ones.
Thanks for everyone's advice.
posted by Fence at 11:10 AM on October 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


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