help. my new corgi is scared!

Just leave her be for now and let her adjust at her own rate. If the crate is somewhere you can sit and watch TV or play on the computer, put it where you can see her out of the corner of your eye and a few feet away from you and put out food and water.

When I brought Shippo home at 12 weeks, he sat in his crate for several hours with the door open. I just left him alone, and he eventually got curious (and hungry) and ventured out. >^^;<

A dog that is newly rehomed can be quite fearful.  In the wild, a dog that loses its pack fears death, and sometimes he's right!  Let her come to you on her own accord.  You can toss a treat on the floor where she can see it, but don't force yourself on her.  Speak in a light soft voice, but don't coddle her fear.  Just quietly say "good girl" if she is brave.  In a few weeks, you won't recognize her! []

Corgis, like most herders, attach to a family very strongly, and can be wary of strangers.  She should come around, as long as her breeder socialized her properly as a young one.

I agree with the above; be aware of her needs but let her be for a while. It's good that she's apparently comfortable in the crate. Do you have any idea how she was kept and cared for at the breeders' place? ... What I'm getting at is was she trained to walk on a leash at all or might it perhaps be totally unfamiliar to her?

thanks for the replies. she did come out some a little while ago...we tried the leash again and she DID NOT like it at all, so i'm thinking she has never had one on. i'm not sure how she can be house trained if she wont even tolerate a leash? i'm getting a little nervous about her. i'll try to keep updating her status. thanks again guys.

As for the leash:  if you can, let her drag the leash around for a bit tonight.  When she has to go out, pick up the leash and gently guide her to the door.  Make sure you are calm and breathing evenly, with no stress on the leash, even if you are nervous.  If she won't budge, try to entice her with a treat or a toy, but do not pull her.  You may even want to treat her after she goes so that she associates the leash with good stuff.  Once you are back in the house, let her continue to drag the leash to get use to the feeling.  After she starts to feel comfortable with both the leash and being in a new home, pick up the leash and let her lead you around.  After doing that a few times for a few days, pick up the leash and gently lead her around. 
 
As for being housetrained, her owners may have had a fenced yard attached to the house and just let her out the back door = housetrained without the aid of a leash. 
 
Sue

First, get her a [linkhttp://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=13]premier collar[/link]. They aren't choke collars, but they tighten slightly so that way their head can't slip out. We have an extremely fearful BC, and this works wonders.

Next...If she is outside and something startles her and she wants to get away from it, let her go. If she wants to run, run with her. Always keep hold of her leash though. Our BC won't take treats under slight pressure, but if your corgi will, give her treats while she's being a good girl, and after the scary monstrosity passes. I know when I was walking her in the marsh today, a jogger startled her from behind and she squared out and started barking her head off and then took off at full speed.

Still give her time to adjust. Try and play with her at random times of the day, give her extra special nummy treats frequently for no reason...anything for her to get the idea that she's a good girl and you are trying to get along. If she'll play, tug of war is a great confidence booster. Tug for about five to ten seconds and let her win. Let her shake it around like her prize. Let her bring it back to you, have her initiate play.

thanks again. well, this morning we awoke to find that she had done no.1 in her small room where we had some newspapers( the crate door was left open) and she hadnt gone at all since 2 yesterday. we we're finally able to get her outside (i picked her up and she seemed ok) and she just sat on the concrete for awhile. she seems to be getting better w/ the leash,we walked her around with the aid of treats and she finally went no.2. we brought her back in and she immediately started jogging around our house. i thought, "wow that worked" but then she squatted for no.1. we both said "NO!" but didnt touch her, she immediately ran bacj into her crate. about an hour later we tried again to take her outside but she wont come out of the crate again! did i screw this up?

Don't worry, dogs are very forgiving. But you've learned that this dog needs a very soft touch. In the future, if it were me, I'd just chalk up the accident to an oops moment and forge on ahead. Let her adjust at her own pace.

It sounds like she didn't get a lot of interaction that happens with show dogs, they're treated like dogs not like an beloved pet!  You mention that she cowered? I can sense she was neither abuse or just didn't have a lot of human contact. That can happen as well Just take it slow, leave her crate door open, place her water & food dish next to her crate. Try not to talk a whole lot. I watch The Dog Whisperer, he says you don't  reward the fearful, & the tense behavior. You reward her when she comes to you etc But it will take time for her to adjust to a new home!  Also leave treats out for her, so she can start creeping out of the crate etc Do not encourage her fearful behavior like I said. No talk, no touch, & no eye contact, sometimes dogs will see it as a threat if you stare at the dog. You need to allow her to sniff & learn who you are etc When she finally comes out on her terms, gentle put the collar on the dog, & take her outside, & be sure to keep her in a small space b/c if you have a big house, big spaces will be to overwhelming.  Take it step by step, by end of the week she will start coming out of her shell  

she has improved quite a bit since awhile a go. we took her out at 2:30 and she didnt fight the leash too badly, although i did have to carry out of the house and onto the grass. she walked awhile and then did no.1, so she's free of that worry for now. she keeps heading to the crate though. but i think she will improve in a few days......she's made great progress just today.

The crate is like a safety nest for her, for now! But I'm glad she's making good progress [] Keep us posted

ok....we were successful at getting her out to go no.1 AGAIN! kind of....she is VERY against being taken out. (ex. if she is in her crate and it is time for her to go out and i try to get  her out of crate, gently and calmly, she gets very skiddish. once she outside though, she seems ok, just a little skiddish.

How is she with playing? That can ease her time adjusting.