I have a Doxie that seems to prefer being left alone rather than showered with attention. Vet has given clean bill of health so I just take it for what it is. But I do understand how you feel, I feel like that sometimes when I see one bed full of toys and the other one with zip. If vet clears him, I wouldn't worry about it.

That actually sounds like an anxiety driven behavior and something you may be able to correct over time with a thunder shirt. If you read thru the hundreds of reviews on Amazon, you'll see it helps with all sorts of issues. Living on the streets for any amount of time can be pretty traumatic for a dog and God only knows what they went through so it makes sense that he feels safer in the crate. The Thundershirt will hug him and offer him that same sense of security and in turn relief him of the anxiety. If the shirt doesn't work, I would visit the vet and ask for something mild to help ease his fears.

Thundershirt

Lukki, that's a good possibility too, anxiety, uncertainty.

Brcp, my dog has been with me a couple years now, and I've seen a lot of changes in his behavior, confidence, minding me, etc. over the months, even past a year. (Even tho' he was not neglected when I took him in.) So give your dear pup time to relax and let go of his past with growing awareness that he's in a good place.

Can I share my story ? I have a nearly 10 yera old shihtzu male. Love that animal more that anything. We live in Iceland and our first winter I was so tired of cleaning his under belly that always got wet and coverd with snow, I got a friend of mine a long time dog owner to shave it. The pore thing got so tramatised that he just layed on the floor and did not want to move or just do anything. I took him to the vet and he told me that I would need to work on him to get him out of his trama. I was to lay on the floor in front of him and make eye contact with him as often as I could, have some dogtreat in my hand and hold at eye level so he would look at me, this I did for a vile and took him for walks as often as I could and the last thing I did was to take him to a dog outing to be with other dogs. He soon snapped out of it and became the wonderful happy do he was before. Today I shake my head at the stupidy of shaving him like that. I hope you can help you little guy. Shithzu´s are the best.

Sometimes it just takes time and attention for a dog to feel comfortable. I'm glad he came around for you, Ice.

Does he goes to his crate at night only? If so, maybe he likes an early bedtime:)

If not, you may wish to try exercising and engaging him with play. Some shelter dogs just don't understand the concept of "play" and need to be shown. Try keeping some alluring (scented) toys near you to give him options other than retiring.

My Doxie could not get more love, attention, space to run and play, grooming, treats--you name it! He's still a little uptight and has always been like that in his almost 14 years. Medical issues aside, pets have personalities.

the other lover boy, a schnauzer is the opposite and one time DH was shooting tree rats and you've never seen a dog so upset, he almost seemed to tell us where we're shooting his play buddies. The Labrador, a hunter extraordinaire couldn't wait for squirrels to drop so he could finish them off... Diff personslities, I say