I have recently adopted a dog from a shelter. She was a rescued stray and we think she was neglected and abused. She is a very shy dog and especially afraid of men. She is the best dog ever. She just has no energy at all. When we take her to petsmart to get a bath and her nails done when we return to pick her up she goes absolutely crazy but after that nothing. When we walk her outside she gets a little peppy but not for long. She doesn't play with toys at all. She is really healthy and has gained some weight since we have owned her. When they rescued her they guessed she was around 14months old and already had a litter of puppies. They think that she was taken from her puppies and maybe that's why she is so shy. She is really attached to my wife and is well behaved with both of my sons. They told us she was around 3 yrs old when we got her and that was about 3 months ago. We were just wondering if maybe we could get her some type of vitamins of some sort. The food she is on is purina pro plan with lamb and rice.

You could always try pro plan performance. It has more nutrients in it designed for high energy dogs. The only problem is, is if she is not high energy that food will make her obese fairly quickly.

Your dog is shy and was found as a stray.. That does not indicate abuse in any way. I'm sorry, but I just cannot stand how everyone thinks that because it's a rescue dog, it must have been abused. Not the case.

Dogs can be shy. Dogs that are overly shy are very submissive dog. This does not mean that your dog was beaten bloody every night by some mean former owner. It just means she is shy and will not challenge a thing. If you can understand and accept that, then maybe your outlook on how she acts will be different.

She is a low energy dog. That doesn't mean she is sick or lacking anything. You can try the pro plan performance formula to see if that will perk her up.. but if it doesn't, than you got yourself a lazy, laid back girl.

I don't think you need to add vitamins to her diet. Pro plan is a pretty good balance diet.. all you will be doing is wasting your money.

Good luck with your new pooch.. and thank you for rescuing :)

Well first off I never said my dog was beaten bloody every night so I don't know how you can make such a statement. I said I think she was abused. When my grandfather comes over she runs to the corner and shakes the whole time. It was a thought. How can you even justify what you are saying if you have never seen this dog. I really wish people like you would just leave your comments to yourself. If u don't have any facts on the matter how can you justify commenting at all. I thought this site was to explain what was going on and maybe receive some help. Not have your story beat done by someone who does not know the extent of the situation. Well anyway thanks for nothing. I will not keep it in mind.

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Originally Posted by chrismccrum17

Well first off i never said my dog was beaten bloody everynight so i dont know how u can make such a statement. I said i think she was abused. When my grandfather comes over she runs to the corner and shakes the whole time. It was a thought. How can u even justify what u r saying if u have never seen this dog. i really wish ppl like u would just leave ur comments to urself. If u dont have any facts on the matter how can u justify commenting at all. I thought this site was to explain what was going on and maybe recieve some help. not have your story beat done by someone who does not know the extent of the situation. well anyway thanks for nothing. I will not keep it in mind.

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Did you misread Lucky098's reply to you carefully: "This does not mean that your dog was beaten bloody every night by some mean former owner." You need to realize that we are all volunteers here and if you had read carefully, you would have found good information in the reply. There are helpful suggestions. Read the reply again. Attitude like this will get you nowhere on this site.

Yes I understand but she said but I just cannot stand how everyone thinks that because it's a rescue dog, it must have been abused. Not the case.
This does not mean that your dog was beaten bloody every night by mean former owner. I am simply saying I didn't say that. I am giving info that I received from the place where I got her and from my own experiences. So why add words to my mouth. Even if you are volunteers how about donating knowledge only. Why run down what I say. I am being honest and giving the best info I have for someone to twist what I say. These are facts

Also I read carefully but after that statement I do not have confidence in obtaining information from someone who finds it so easy to dismiss what I said and change the wording of how I said it in there own interpratations. Instead of that comment it would have been just as eaasy to ask why we thought that instead of instantly running it down

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Originally Posted by chrismccrum17

also i read carefully but after that statement i do not have confidence in obtaining information from someone who finds it so easy to dismiss what i said and change the wording of how i said it in there own interpratations. Instead of that comment it would have been just as eaasy to ask y we thought that instead of instantly running it down

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Lucky is a certified vet tech, therefore an expert working with animals. I wouldn't dismiss the information in the least.

Wow.. OK.. You are hanging on words that really don't need to be hung on.

All I'm saying is that a lot of people.. and by a lot of people, I mean A LOT OF PEOPLE claim that just because a dog is fearful, submissive and so on that it was abused by someone else. If you knew anything about animal behavior, you would know that about 99% of the time fearful, submissive dogs were never struck, abused or beaten. They are simply submissive, fearful dogs. Maybe your dog is scared of large, over-animated men because people who are like that have more of a presence. Maybe your grandfather looks different, acts different, smells different. Dogs can sense these things beyond what a human can. I've worked with hundreds of rescue dogs.. in the 14 years that our rescue has been run, maybe 3 or 4 of the dogs passing through were true abuse cases.

Shy, fearful dogs that run to the corner and shake is a dog that is under socialized, a dog that was never introduced to strangers or strange situations. Because your dog is an older dog, having her over come these situations is going to take more time and more coaxing.

So yes, I have a lot of knowledge, experience and so on with dogs in your situation.

You asked why your dog is shy, and I answered you. I'm sorry you cannot take advise when you don't like the answer. I'm sorry that I didn't feed into the "abused dog" case because, like I said, its only a small percentage of rescue dogs that are actually abused. The other percentage of dogs that act like this are just shy, submissive and fearful dogs... NOT ABUSED! And I'll say it again.. if you can understand that, you will treat your dog differently.

There may be nothing wrong with your dog period.. she just may not like older men... that's not uncommon and definitely doesn't suggest abuse... she may just simply not like older men. Many dogs have preferences on who they like.. some dogs don't like women, some dogs don't like men, some dogs don't like children. Do they get over it? Yea.. sometimes.

I never meant to offend you, I was just simply answering your question.. and once again, I'm sorry I didn't fall into the "My dog is abused which is why it acts the way it does" scenario.