[Dsparks]

Hello all. This is my first post on these forums. Hopefully someone more savvy that I can assist me. My wife and I brought a puppy home that was a little older than advertised. She is 5 months old and it’s clear she’s been relatively neglected. Probably spent her entire existence in a small cage (with a raised bed she could just poop and pee where she slept). Hell, she walked like a baby deer when we first got her in the backyard...like she never really got out much.
This isn’t our first dog nor is it our only one...but this is definitely going to be a challenge (I think) to socialize her and normalize her to our household. She doesn’t seem to want to go potty (at the time of writing this post, my wife just texted me that she pooped all over herself in her crate). She also doesn’t seem to want to eat. We can kinda tell she’s mimicking some of our other dogs behaviors and she is a little sweetheart albeit skittish. Has anyone had a similar situation that may have some tips? Like I said, I’ve trained dogs in the past, but usually from very early on, so behaviors/expectations got established from the get go.
Appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

 

[pandora]

Time is going to be your biggest asset. I have also adopted very neglected dogs and it will take time but you will get there it's hard work and you have take it one slow step at a time with toilet training you can't say oh she's 5 months with toilet training your looking at her as a new puppy an 8-week old not toilet trained not housebroken .
I know a lot of people say that the socialization window is closed but I've socialised dogs who were a lot older than this, one was a border collie 9 months old kept in a shed almost all his life he turned out absolutely brilliant. the trick here is again treat them like an 8-week old puppy and introduce them very slowly to every new experience.

 

[Dsparks]

Right. We both kinda understand what we are getting ourselves into and we are completely good with it. Our other dog is a rescue. He was 1.5-2ish when we found him on the streets of Detroit. Rough looking and malnourished. He wasn’t housebroken, food aggressive, etc. but he took to training pretty well...now he’s a pampered little baby and (short of being constantly hungry and begging) VERY well behaved and amazing with our kids. I have to remind my wife (and myself) it’s only day one and she’s clearly learning everything along the way. Thank you for your advice. It is very much appreciated.

 

[storyist]

I had an adult rescue who wouldn't potty on a leash, and one of my own puppies wouldn't go except at home in the yard (she was a winter puppy and had never been outside at her breeder's, so getting her go in my yard was a big deal to start with). In both cases, walking them with another dog who did go and then received praise for it got the idea across (not immediately but in a day as I remember). Since you have a second dog, you could try that.