[tisha20]

She is very sweet.She never ever barks. We have had her a week and all she wants to do is sleep and lay around. We get in the floor and pet and try to play with her. She will wag her tail but, will just sit or lie there. We take her outside to play and run around she doesn't seem intersted in doing anything.She just stands outside looking around. She will go out to use the bathroom.She hasn't had any accidents in the house. And now she has not eaten anything the past 24 hours. She has been drinking and been outside to pee. Is this normal behavior for an adopted animal. She had a completely clean bill of health from the humane society. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks.

[Wondergirl]

Depending on her first two years of life, she may never have learned to play and be part of a pack (a family). Does the HS know anything about her history?

She may be looking at you as if, "Who are these people and what am I supposed to do here and when will I be taken away to another place?"

[tisha20]

They couldn't tell us anything. She was found by animal control she was a bit skinny. They guess she got out of her yard and was lost.

[Lucky098]

Give her time! Rescue dogs have been through a lot. She's just chilling out and figuring out where she is.

Rescue dogs don't really come out of their shell after 30 days. She went from a home (maybe), to a loud, crazy shelter, to your house.. You have your own routine, your own smell and your own sounds.

Just keep doing what your doing. She'll eventually participate.

As for the eating thing.. Healthy dogs do not starve themselves! Just keep to your feeding schedule.. she won't starve herself. If it goes on 4 days of her not eating, maybe a vet visit is needed.

[SweetDee]

The first thing you have to do is to rule out any medical problems. I have rescued 3 dogs so far and each of them have had a visit to the vet before even coming home. One of my dogs was hip dysplastic which was not detected until he had an x-ray. We didn't know why he wasn't moving around and playing with his new canine siblings. Your vet can manipulate his legs/hips in a manner that can determine whether an x-ray is necessary, fyi.

He can have emotional issues, by way of having fear or shyness due to his past living circumstance. If you can get info into his background it can be easier to determine how he was raised and if he might have these issues. Some dogs come from backgrounds where they have lived in a pen or a crate for the better part of their lives... and don't know how to play or even what to do with so much space that a park or wooded area affords them, NEVER MIND what to do with a ball. Even squeeky toys can cause anxiety.

It's a learning curve to be living with new people... Get down to his level of height and just BE with him. Baby steps... A ball in the hand, bouncing with softly spoken happy coo-ing... and no expectations, is a good start. Any interest he shows toward anything you want him to find interesting comes with soft praise. He'll pick up his interest once he knows what's what in this brand spanking new world with new people... people he will soon enough identify as HIS. <3