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.

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.

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

Have you checked his ears?

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

@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?

I suppose it could be.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.