Help with fearful dog

Yes, don't respond to her fearfulness with soft words and reassurance. Talk to her in your normal voice, as if she wasn't fearful. She will think that if you need to reassure her, there must be something to be frightened of. If she's tiny, that only adds to the problem. Get down on the floor, on her level, when you approach her so you don't look so huge and intimidating. Don't pick her up or handle her unless its necessary, like taking her out to use the bathroom. You might even try ignoring her as much as possible until she gets used to her new home. Let her come to you for attention. Put her food and water in the place you want it to be, don't bring it to her, and she may get hungry enough eventually to go looking for it. It won't hurt her to go a day or so without eating. Be patient, she will come out of the corner eventually, once she learns she can trust you.

Dogs can be fearful of many things for many reasons. Often,people assume a dog has been abused when it shows fearful tendencies, though this can be the case, it is not always so. If a dog was not socialized properly in its formative months, it can develop strange fears and phobias that have little to do with actual abuse. The fearful dog does not need our pity, he needs our strength and proper leadership to get him past the things that frighten him. Coddling him, doting excessively on him and trying to reassure him when he is acting frightened are all counterproductive to helping him. It is perfectly normal to feel sorry for creatures who have had a tough time in life, but dogs do not understand human gestures of goodwill - they only know what they have been taught or what they know instinctively. The best thing you can do is be a fair, firm leader who gives clear signals about what is expected and reward the proper behaviors in a way that is pleasing to the dog. This website may help: http://www.fearfuldogs.com

Sorry, I dont really have any tips or advice, I just wanted to say that Im glad there are people like you that take in animals and care for them instead of just abandoning them. I would just treat the dog like any other animal and given time, it will learn to trust you and lose its fearfulness.