We recently acquired a little male Sheltie. He was rescued from a puppy mill where he was kept caged and only used for breeding. We think he is about 4-5 years old and is completely unsocialized. He won't drink water and will only eat if left in a quiet closed room. He is so traumatized he will only lay around. If you place him somewhere you can rest assured he will be in that exact spot 8 hours later. I've recently been able to get him to walk around the back yard with me on leash, but he wants to bolt for the house at every chance. We've had him for 5 days now. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. He is a sweet little guy and it breaks my heart to see him so depressed.

Hi Akela
I just joined the forum and I had a similar situation with one of my breeder bitches. We were looking for a compatable mate for Jack the Dog, and saw an ad in a newspaper for a 2 year old female with pups on the ground. Sounded like what we wanted so we drove a few miles and at first it looked like anybody's house that has more than one dog. But when we were taken around the back, :shock::shock::shock: the older dogs were all on chains, mud all around, and only a small space for them to get out of the rain. oh my !!!
When we got her home, she wouldn't interact, she wouldn't eat, and God forbid we try to take her outside !!!! We are blessed with a fine female as an addition to our kennel, but it took time, patience and lots of puppy love. The other pups her (5 total) socialized her, and made her part of our pack We just had our 4 litter out of her, and she did well.
I hope with patience, understanding and love your pup will turn out as well as mine.
Congrats for the resuce, we need more people like you.

Hi Akela,
It´s going to take time....patience. The poor thing never saw anything else than the small space. Everything is a threat and unpredictable... his small predictable world was his safe spot.
It has taken me more than a year to interact with an adult cat that we received. Slow movements...be predictable...repeat patterns, and slowly things will change. Congratulations !!!

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate hearing that. We are very patient with our little guy. I'm confidant he will come out of it, but I know it will take time. He IS warming up to me and is beginning to look to me as his protector. In fact, when we do our short walks around the back yard, 1/4 acre, his tail hangs down now and is not tightly tucked under his legs. A good sign I think.