Has my dog been abused?

[crazycatgal]

I adopted a dog from a kennels awhile ago and there are some things that are bugging me. When he first came home he didn't like his head being stroked, he was always ducking if you went to touch him, this has improved a lot but is still there.

He is terrified of bowls, if you put a bowl down near him, he runs away and seems to be really scared. This makes it hard to get him to have a drink when out walking.

He is nervous in general but bowls seem to terrify him and after an incident today where he shot out of my hands because a bowl was placed near him I'm starting to think that something bad has happened to him.

I'd really appreciate it if anyone could offer their opinions.

[pigsDOfly]

Yes, I understood a lot of dogs don't like having their heads stroked.

My dog does though and she likes to have the space just above her nose and between her eyes stroked. She stretches her neck out like a cat and closes her eyes; you can almost hear her purr.

[bluetongue]

The trainer taking one of the obedience classes I took my whippet to told us that most dogs don’t like having their head patted or stroked. Mine loves it but then again he’s a bit different and thinks he’s a cat.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Another thought - when you are out and need to give him a drink - I found a cloth fold up bowl on Ebay that clips to your belt and that might work as it is nothing like any conventional bowl - looks a bit like a hat upside down.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

How about if, for the moment and until he has been with you some months and realises you would do nothing to hurt him, you get a piece of that plastic stuff you can protect carpets with - just a large square or rectangle of it and put the food directly on that? It can easily be picked up and washed after each meal and it may be much less threatening to him, poor thing. He obviously has been abused in some way and it will take a long time, with such fear, to learn to relax and trust people again.

[Greystar]

Hi, not sure if this has already been suggested but if you do leave bowls around for him to get used to try to put really good treats in them like sausages pieces / chicken and chicken skin so he starts to slowly associate it with a good thing rather than a scary thing. My dog was terrified of wheely bins out of the blue and we did this, took a while but now they don't bother him at all.

[thegirlsallgrowedupnow]

I wouldn’t put bowls around the house, the chances of them getting knocked around and increasing his fear is too risky and not very nice for him really.
I would leave a water bowl(filled) and food bowl(empty) out in the same spot where you normally feed him. As others have said, put food on a mat, in a Kong toy, feed him by hand for a few meals to break the association with the bowl and to build his bond and trust in you. Feed him as near to the bowl as he is comfortable. Whilst the bowl remains empty, praise him any time he is near to the bowl, looking at the bowl, if he touches the bowl with his nose, praise and reward with a tasty treat.
When he is happy being fed near the bowl drop a few tasty treats into his bowl of better value than his normal food and see if he is willing to get them. If he isn’t then go back a step, if he is then start putting a few bits of his normal food in with the tasty treats and build from there with lots of praise for eating out of the bowl.
I think this may help to replace the negative association of eating from a bowl with a positive one but may take time and the treats need to be of the cheese, hot dog variety.

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

I suppose it could be.

[crazycatgal]

@ChardonnaysPrettySister He had a full vet check when we brought him home and he did have sore blocked ears. He's had medicated ear drops since and they look great now. It seems like he did have sore ears for a long time though so he may have got into the habit of ducking because of this?

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

Have you checked his ears?

He might be unhappy with having his head stroked because his ears hurt?

[pigsDOfly]

Try stroking his chest slowly in a circular movement and gradually work your way to his shoulders for a gentle massage.

[crazycatgal]

He has a raised water bowl at home, his food dish is on the floor though because he's awkward. He's generally fine if the water bowl is left down, he will approach it whenever needed but if you put a bowl down near him he will panic and run away.

He's never worn an ID tag until we got him and he doesn't wear his collar in the house so that can't be the problem.

We've had him for around 6 weeks and have started to place water bowls away from him when out and let him look and approach when he wants to. Unfortunately today my DP placed a bowl containing food too close to him and he panicked and tried to bolt.

I understand that lots of dogs have issues with head stroking, this is only concerning me because it is in addition to his extreme fear of bowls.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

I've heard some people say that an ID tag clinking on a bowl can set up a negative association; might that be the source of issues that have then become bigger?

Perhaps you could try obscuring the shape of the bowl - perhaps by putting some scrunched up fabric around the base or similar? What's he drinking out of - is it a bowl but only when totally desperate?

Lots of dogs don't like the top of their head being stroked; the side of the head is a lot less intimidating. Mine (rescue, no reason to believe he was abused though certainly some of his needs weren't met) will duck out of the way or not depending on his mood. Let him go at his own pace; mine has gone from wriggling out of cuddles after 3 seconds to occasionally asking to be picked up for cuddles (he knows that if he starts to wiggle I'll always put him down, so he has that element of choice). Going into a family home is a big adjustment for an ex puppy farm breeding dog, so patience is always required!

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Poor boy. Patience & time!

Feed him off a plastic tray or even straight off the ground - more mess & waste but hopefully only short term.
If he would drink from your cupped hands then maybe scooping water from a water dish to offer to him would work?

[Cheripie64]

Could you try to feed from a shallow long rectangular or square dish, maybe he doesn't like putting his head in the bowl, seeing as he is headshy. There are also raised tables that you can get with feeding bowls built in, could it be it hurts his neck when he reaches right down to eat?

[Honeyroar]

How long have you had him? Personally I'd leave him to get used to it. He will learn that bowls aren't an issue for him in his new life, don't make it one. Let him walk away and come back, don't take him places where he needs to drink from a bowl until he settles down. Just give him time to get his head round the fact that he's safe now. We've had a few rescue dogs with initial fears (of men mostly) and they've all got over it eventually.

[crazycatgal]

I'm not sure that asking the kennels would accomplish much. He came to me with bad dental issues that needed veterinary treatment.

He's also scared of running water from bottles. I'm wondering if he's had water bowls tipped over him or something like that.

[catkind]

Maybe the kennels trained them (?over aggressively) to keep out of the way while food put down? Or they were trained to leave human food in bowls alone and dog food was served in something else? Could ask the kennels how dog is used to being fed, see if they can cast any light?

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

It's maybe the sound metal bowls make when they scrape on a tiled floor, and now he's scared of all bowls.

One of mine was scared of that.

Try to put some tuna in spring water on top of his food, mine will sell their grandmother for that.

[Joboy]

When out pour water into hands . Get dog to drink out of hands . Then get them to drink as you pour bottle.

[JurassicGirl]

One of my dogs ducks her head & doesn't really like to be stroked on top of her head, the other - her sister is fine with head strokes etc.

The same dog who ducks her head is also scared of balloons & kites but nothing bad has ever happened around them. She's more nervous in general.

[Saucery]

Oh bless, that is a problem, isn’t it, unless he would drink a stream from a bottle like Ihavent says.

[SilverHairedCat]

Sounds like my dog. Don't try to pet his head. If you must touch his head, touch his chin, rub there and build up to bringing the hand round. Putting the hand on top of the head, aiming towards the eyes if you like, is quite aggressive when you think about it.

As for bowls, change out the metal bowl for something else and build confidence back up. You can always carry a small folding bowl for your dog to drink from when out and about.

[ScreamingValenta]

It might not be ideal, but in the short term, could you put his food on a rubber mat?

For water, you could try a water fountain (designed for cats but if he'd accept it, it might work). Something like this is non-bowl-like

www.argos.co.uk/product/6988896

This could be a way of meeting his refreshment needs while working on breaking the negative associations in the ways suggested by pps.

[Aprilshowersinaugust]

Plastic tray for food? Cat fountain for water?

[crazycatgal]

@Saucery He's the same with water bowls too, when we're out he doesn't like to go near bowls I put down for him and will normally wait until his is very thirsty before he will drink.