new dog, not interested in treats or toys

Hi,

It's probably early days, as we havent even got him home yet, but I'm trying to get organised for the months ahead

We are adopting a 4 year old staffie boy next week, and while we were spending a bit of time with him at the rescue centre, we noticed he had very little interest in treats or toys / balls. I've never experience this with a dog before, but we know he's found his time in kennels pretty stressful, so could this be the reason? is it just a matter of getting him settled and trialling a few different things?

Thanks all! Sorry for newb question :/

Hey! I worked in kennels for a long time and it's very common for dogs to lose interest in things that they once loved, some even give up on going for a walk! So, yes, I would say it's a case of waiting for him to settle at home and working out what his motivators are

Oh that is good to hear, there is hope!
The poor little bugger has been having a hard time in kennels, staff have had to keep hi mostly in the offices with them

Ah bless him, some really struggle in kennels! Usually staffies.. They're so people oriented. When will he be coming home?!

All being well, this weekend ^_^

I look after my in-laws' staffie-cross once a week, so we are taking her up to the rescue centre today, to see how they get on. Not ideal meeting place really, but we'll see! She's pretty good round other dogs (has a sniff, ignores, or plays.... rarely becomes aggressive unless provoked), so fingers crossed she'll see the potential in her soon-to-be playmate!

The staffy boy was found as a stray, so not much history on him. He loves people, is wary of other dogs, and has over-bonding issues.

I know when Ledger is stressed (some random car journeys etc) as he wont eat and will refuse any treat even his high level garlic sausage so it certainly makes sense whilst your boy is still in rescue. Ledger I was told was very kennel stressed at Dogs Trust and wasn't in the public areas because the presence of hoomans was making him more stressed. He has also not been very toy orientated it was very much like he didn't know how to play he would destroy a tennis ball or destuff a charity shop toy but that was about it. 

It took a while but he will now fetch (tho I do have to take two balls he won't give up his ball but he will drop it near me and I will then throw the other one) I've had him 3 years and he has only recently started to repeatedly bring me a ball etc in the house and inite me to play and throw it for him. And he adores his boomer ball but that is definitely more by accident I think and he initially was determined to try and burst it and just ended up pushing it all around the park.

A big part of this I think is I took him to flyball classes which he loves he now consistently will do the full run of jumps (and yesterday for the first time bounded between jumps in a single stride - he always used to take an extra step) and he brings the tennis ball directly to me, spits it to get his tuggy toy reward and now also gives that up when I release to end the tugging (have to let him win as its his reward) 

It might not be a quick process but chances are he has just never been taught to/been allowed to play have fun trying to teach him

aww poor boy,hope you get him soon he prob never had any one play with him so does'nt know how to play,i'm sure soon has he has settled in with you after a while he'll be full of it

If its any comsolation it took mia 2 years to fully trust me

I'm sure he'll come around to loving treats and toys once he is comfortable with you and in your home! Our rescue boy took around 8 months to be interested in treats when he came home with us.... now all we have to do is walk in the direction of the treat cupboard and he comes running!

Pink was very withdrawn in kennels. I do not think she had a chance to really play until the staff there started to give her time in the playroom. At that point her only real interest was chase and destroy rather than play with the toy.

As she was so withdrawn I made time to get to know her whilst she was still in the home

Once we bought her home we tried every toy we could think of in rotation. Balls were good- kong air balls even better. None lasted more than 10 or so minutes to begin with but over time Pink began to feel safe she started to show more interest and her ability to play has developed. We to had to use two balls to teach 'fetch' as Pink could not 'drop' a ball except for another ball about to be thrown. Kongs bewildered her till I smeared liver pate on the inside of one.

Pink mastered her fear of the scary large football when we gave her a large 'tennis ball' - she paced around it and started to chase it all round our garden. Never seen anything so daft and she wore herself out.

If something badly scares her she does go backwards but is bouncing back and playing after a couple of days.

If you can spend time getting to really know the lad your interested in so you can begin to build a good bond before he comes to your home. Hope all goes well for all of you.