What to do for a pup that's terrified of people...

Honestly I doubt she's going to make much improvement in a kennel setting - even the semi feral dog I worked with years ago would approach after about 15 mins of me sitting in the run ignoring him.  Have you tried using food treats?

How old is this pup?  If she's already over 4 months, helping her overcome this is going to be even more tricky. 

I do believe that shelters (specifically those that must euthanize for space) unfortunately need to make the tough decisions and only adopt out dogs with few if any behavior issues - if someone adopts a dog with major problems you can bet that 90% of the time they will be turned off of shelter dogs in general and will tell their friends that shelter animals are messed up.  The average pet owner walking in to adopt a dog does not have the skills, time, or money to invest in a major work in progress. :(

Wish I had something more positive to say.

Oh,

She needs time. She needs to have her space and be allowed to make the advancements. I wish I could have her.

The best you can do is expose her to people. And the people should completely ignore her. Turn their backs toward her. I'm afraid something like this just takes time for her to get to know people and learn to trust them. I wish I knew more to tell you.

stardog85

Honestly I doubt she's going to make much improvement in a kennel setting - even the semi feral dog I worked with years ago would approach after about 15 mins of me sitting in the run ignoring him.  Have you tried using food treats?

How old is this pup?  If she's already over 4 months, helping her overcome this is going to be even more tricky. 

I do believe that shelters (specifically those that must euthanize for space) unfortunately need to make the tough decisions and only adopt out dogs with few if any behavior issues - if someone adopts a dog with major problems you can bet that 90% of the time they will be turned off of shelter dogs in general and will tell their friends that shelter animals are messed up.  The average pet owner walking in to adopt a dog does not have the skills, time, or money to invest in a major work in progress. :(

Wish I had something more positive to say.

 I did have treats, but they weren't really the best.  Just some jerky treats.  I'd thought I might use hotdogs or liver or something, but I really don't know if it will make a difference.  I won't be able to work with her again until Wednesday (because of my work schedule), but if she's still there, I'll take her back out again and try some treats.  I just wish we had a harness or something to fit her, because I have to keep her on a leash or we'll scare the crap out of her trying to catch her again.    She just fights the leash so much! 

I think she's right at 4 months, give or take a couple weeks...  I really believe she could eventually be ok with people, but I know it will just take too much time and a shelter environment definitely isn't making her any better. 

 I just wish we had someone who would foster her for awhile...I know its a very slim chance that she'll even still be there when I go in Wednesday, but she just really grew on me, even though she was completely petrified of me the entire time.  I just feel SO bad that I can't do something to help her. 

I wish you all had more positive things to say too, but I realize that there just isn't much positive about any part of the situation.    It just makes me so angry because this wouldn't be a problem if the dog would have just been socialized!  UGH!

The best you can do is expose her to people. And the people should completely ignore her. Turn their backs toward her.

 
I completely asgree with this. It's really tempting to pay a lot of attention to them, try to give them treats, coaax them, etc....but in the initial stages, the best thing to do is com,pletely ignore them. At most, say "hello doggy!" in a quiet, happy voice while putting down food, keeping eyes averted.

I fostered a semi-feral kitten in the house for a while who would not even tolerate my presence in the room. She would run under the bed, hide, hiss, growl, scratch - absolutely terrified.  I kept trying to coax her out, give her toys and treats, but the attention only made her worse. So I tried the opposite. If I walked in and she ran, or hissed, I did nothing and went about my business, then left. Within a week she would not run away, and within two weeks she would tolerate sitting within 6 or so feet of me, and THEN I started SLOWLY increasing the amount of attention I gave her, but stopping if it became too much and she started running away again. She ended up being adopted with someone who continued working with her (yay) but like I said - ignoring them actually makes them feel more comfortable - attention should be gradually increased only along with comfort level.

 That's so true about attention. Most wild animals get very suspicious when you pay attention to them. Interest ultimately means you might want to eat/attack them. When Kit's in one of his "I'm afraid of all people" moods, I just ignore him and try to keep my distance. The things I've found help him most are routine, predictability, no eye contact, turning your body away from him, and ignoring him or the way he's behaving. With him I say the same sorts of things in the same tone and use the same mannersims every time I'm around him, whether I'm doing something with him or not. I always say "Hi Kit" as I walk past his cage. The more I stick to the same way of beaing around him, the more relaxed he is. Even when he gets worked up, that can help him quite a bit.

Sadly, it's not an easy thing, taming an animal. It takes loads of time and patience, especially an adult rather than a young 'un. I hate to think what kind of life Kit would have had if someone less sensitive to his needs had picked him up. Being terrified of everyone around you is not a very nice existence, and that level of stress is bad for the health of the animal. If they can't escape it, they'll likely develop other behavioural problems. My heart goes out to her, because the bond you cen get with an animal like that if you succeed in taming them is something out of this world, but really think hard about her quality of life in the meantime. It's a lot to put an animal through if circumstances are against her improving with time.