Need help with foster dog.

[TantrumsAndOlympicGoldBalloons]

I've got to keep this short cos I'm at work but any advice would be great. We have got a foster rottie, 6 months old. He's fantastic, bless him but from what we know was severely mistreated by previous owners,he was neglected and hit on a regular basis.
We have only had him a few days, he's settling in well but he is terrified of his own name.
I think that whenever he was called by his owners, it was to punish him and now if we call him, he shakes and cries.
I am wondering whether we should establish a "call name" for him so he associates this with good things, we did this successfully with our first rescue but as we will probably not have him for very long, I don't know of its a good idea, or if it will confuse him if we do this and a couple of weeks later he is with his forever home and they don't carry it on IYSWIM.
I just don't want to keep scaring him so at the moment we are just using the "close" command but I don't want him to go to a new family and they have to put him through the same problem.
Or should I just try and create positive associations with his actual name?

Sorry if none of that made sense, I am trying to be quick, work, and look after 3 dogs, 2 who are..shall we say excitable?

A couple of options. Keep working on call/treat so he starts to associate being called with high value treat.

How about using something completely different like training recall to a whistle so no associations with name/calling?

Also, give yourself time. It's going to take a while for him to rebuild his confidence, and be relaxed and happy and comfortable with commands. I'd be concerned if he was going to his forever home too soon actually - from what you've described, I'd expect him to be staying with you to build confidence, establish good training etc for at least a couple of months, unless he is going to a very experienced Rottie home.

Good luck.

I think I'm going to go with the whistle at the moment until he learns to trust us, he is so terrified every time he hears his name.

There is a possible forever home but like you say, it's not really possible for him to go now, plus there is a lot of paperwork, home visits, coming to my house and meeting him a few times, spending a day with him etc before he can go.

Hopefully he will be a bit more confident by then.

Tbh I'd love to keep him, but I don't have room. It's going to be hard to let this one go :(

Just change his name. Say a new name and give a treat. Very very very soon he will realise his new name and be all the happier for it. If his new owners change it again he really will not be bothered at all.

A dogs name just means something good is going to happen so they don't care how many names they have or what they are!

I agree just change his name , lots of people who take on rescue dogs change them anyway . We got our lovely boy from Battersea and they had given him a name ( was only there for 7 days) which has now become one of his second names .( he has 3)

I agree. Change his name, they soon adapt.

Change his name and have his old name noted as a source of distress.

He will learn his new name and a lot of rescued animals come in without a name so many places give a new name.

All the best for him, poor wee thing, hope time is taken to work things out for him and a great forever home found. Just remember that you are doing a great thing helping him adjust into "normal" abuse free life and passing him onto his forever home successfully means you have given him another chance to have that.