We have three wonderful dogs and recently agreed to foster two Shelties for our veterinarian. The dogs are 3 years and 10 months old and were never socialized (puppy mill). The older dog will allow us to touch her, but her son (younger dog) runs from us and avoids us at all cost. They get along with our other dogs, but do little else. Any suggestions would be appreciated. It is heartbreaking to watch these dogs. All of our dogs are members of our family and reside in the home with us.

You must realize that these dogs have been put through an unfathomable nightmare for their entire lives and they have no reason to trust humans and every reason not to. Getting them to understand what has happened and that all humans aren't bad may not be an easy or quick process. It will take time and a very gentle, subtle approach.

You cannot and should not force yourselves upon the dogs. Nothing on this earth can make a dog trust or love you. That is something the dog must create on its own. All you can do is give it reason to.

Right now you are the enemy. You need to become neutral before you become a friend. I would suggest doing small exercises such as blocking off a room with the rescue dogs with you and just sitting on the floor, and paying to attention to them. That's right. Ignore them. Do not try and pet them, do not stare at the directly, just sit there in a very nonthreatening way and let them get use to your presence. They will be scared of you at first most likely and perhaps hide, but once they realize you aren't going to monkey with them they will gradually become bolder and more curious. This may take quite a few sessions before you get results. When they finally decide to check you out, maybe sneak up and sniff you, keep ignoring them. A sudden movement on your part might scare them back to step 1. After they are more consistently checking you out you may try and pet them with very slow, deliberate motions, palm up at first, over handed can cause a fear response if they have been hit before. You may also try giving them a yummy treat in the same manner such as a piece of chicken. If they balk, let them go.