The medicine isn't what freaked him out, the fact that my husband and I had to corner him and touch him freaked him out...even though he's been here over a week we have no physical contact with him, other than him occasionally brushing against us when he's looking for treats...I don't know how to make him less fearful of touch, we've been trying to give him space and allow him to come to us, but it doesn't seem he's any more comfortable with being touched at all...

After the whole ordeal he looks like he did the first night he was here.

I forgot to answer your question, I used Advantix II

It takes a lot of time to overcome a fear like that and it is something that will only get better with time. It's not really something you can rush, unfortunately =/. You just have to keep giving him treats and making every encounter with you a positive one. It can take A LOT of time - longer than just a couple months. Just have to keep at it

You're right, I just hate feeling like we're going backwards... if only he knew we were doing it for his good so he won't have itchy fleas anymore!!

Sometimes you have to take a couple steps backwards before you can go forward .

Sometimes it will feel like the end of the world - and then you'll have a tremendous breakthrough!

Have you had Bella since she was a puppy, or did you have to go through the same type of issues via adoption?? I wish I knew someone here who had a dog like Drake and could tell assure me everything will be okay, lol. It's so easy for doubts to creep in on a bad day. But you're right, when the good days happen it's all worth it.

He's dreaming right now, and he looks so funny/cute. His legs are all twitchy, hehe. Maybe he'll forget everything by the time he wakes up!

I got Bella at 10 weeks old from an Amish family who wanted to put her to sleep for her heart problem.

She spent the first two months wanting no one but me to touch her or do anything with her. My father who is an over the road truck driver would spend the nights he was home laying on the floor with her talking to her - just to get her used to him. (he hates dogs, btw) no touching her or petting he would just lay next to her and talk to her. It took her those two months before she would even let my mother touch her - my mother who she lives with and sees everyday.

She's 11 months old now - to this day she will not let strangers pet/touch her without leaping away from them. She's more fond of women than men - so it's easier for her to get used to strange woman. She won't let a strange man touch her unless I'm holding her and even then she'll put her paws up and push them away.

She still doesn't like my sister who comes over - she still stays away from her and will still bark/howl at her when she comes over. Even though I did IMMENSE amount of socialization with her from the day we got her - some Siberian's are just shy - that is their personality. You can get them to the point where they tolerate people - but you'll also notice that they don't actively seek petting or affection and long periods of being touched make them really uncomfortable!

I doubt he'll forget, unfortunately dogs are really good at remembering the "bad" things that happen. Bella was attacked twice by dogs and it set her handling classes and socialization back basically to the beginning. It was so bad that not even -I- could touch her rear legs (where she got attacked) forget about someone she didn't know trying to do it. Which really sucked for the class since she had to be examined.

I know what you're going through just not to the extent that Drake is. Some Siberian's are just naturally shy and you can't push them or they'll shut down. That's how Bella is. I don't push her at all and I let her meet people at her own pace in her own way.

All it is is time. And I know it sucks because you really do wish that he knew you were just trying to help him and everything you do is for his best interest. But one day you'll wake him to him jumping on the bed and licking your face or howling and play bowing to go outside - and in that moment you'll realize that every single thing you did and every trial and tribulation that you went through to get to that point was totally worth it and you really wouldn't change a thing .

That was great advice Ceara!

Thank you, it is great advice! I'm just so glad I have such great people to be a support group...this would be so overwhelming and hard on my own! You guys rock!

You're very welcome! I'm just glad to help out

You just can't give up! That's the biggest thing ! Sometimes it looks really grim and sometimes it looks like you haven't made any progress at all (or even looks like you're going backwards!) - but trust me - you're making progress in his mind and eyes. And before you know it you'll have a really well adjusted dog!

Everything takes time (and it sucks!)

Oohhhhh ohoh oh oh!

Also! if/when you try and pet him! Don't go above his head! If you want to try and pet him the best way to go about it is underneath his chin!

Above could be perceived as a threat! especially if he is headshy (flinches when you raise your hand [even if you aren't going to pet him])

underneath isn't a threat AND! giving chin scritches will also help to build confidence!

Have you tried using a pill form of flea prevention? We use Trifexis for our dogs, which is a combination flea/heartworm/intestinal worm prevention. The only thing it doesn't protect against is ticks, so we will have to find a solution for that once tick season starts up here. We can actually trick Ghost into thinking it's a treat and she eats it with no trouble. Lulu on the other hand is wise to our little tricks and is pretty hard to pill in general.

Good luck with him. I know it feels like you guys had a regression, but hopefully he will come out of it quickly.

For the record, we got Ghost from a breeder but Lulu for all intents and purposes is a rescue dog. It's a long story, but Aaron got her from an ex girlfriend when her 15 year old sister got pregnant. The family decided they were going to get rid of Lulu, so Aaron took her. Granted, at the time he and "she who shall not be named" were pretty serious, but its definitely for the better that we got her. We both suspect that she was pretty badly mistreated as a puppy, and Aaron personally witnessed them leaving her locked in a crate like 24/7 and then screaming at her for howling. To this day she's got issues (I've gone on some pretty serious "I hate Cocker Spaniel" rants on here ), but she's improved tremendously since I moved in and we got Ghost. Aaron had never really worked with her issues, he just worked around them instead of addressing them. I kicked in NILIF with her and that alone did wonders. She is very insecure and needed that structure. We also take her out and socialize her as much as possible, and even though she still gets barky and mean occasionally with other dogs, she's much better than she was 6 months ago.

It takes time and patience, and I know you guys are dedicated to Drake enough to help him through this. You will get there eventually!

So I've been reading about the NILIF technique, but I don't really know how to do this with Drake because he doesn't know commands. Can I train him to sit and do other things when he's so skittish?? Since he isn't aggressive or "bad" around the house, I don't really know what types of thing to use this training on. He doesn't jump on people, jump on the furniture, etc...

Siku HATES it when I put flea meds on her. Glad the potty trips are getting better!

I sent you a link on facebook that I think will really help you out!