Hostage situation!

OK, this is Nikki again. I returned from my guilt-ridden travels to my distressed family and a wild outdoor dog. I did manage to lure her in so that she spent the night inside, and she actually came back in willingly after her 5am pee break. After that, she refused to come back in. After putting out a distress call on a puppy mill survivor forum and lots of consideration, we (mostly I, but with lots of family support) decided to commit to a three-day nonstop stretch of "umbilical cord" therapy--she and I would be joined by the leash for intensive bonding therapy.

This began yesterday morning with me "catching" her just outside the door with the leash. She panicked!! Her little heart was about to come out of her chest as I held her there. Then I carried her inside and she let loose with a torrent of urine. It was obviously deeply distressing to her, but I found it distressed me so much that I had a pounding headache afterwards and it took a while before I could calm myself down and not feel nauseated. Thus began a really long, difficult day of carrying her places in the house, sitting in a sea of mosquitoes in the yard, waiting for her to pee/poop (on most occasions unsuccessfully). She finally had some bathroom success late last night after Andre had her out for a pretty long time.

This morning began on a happy note with her wagging her tail as I followed her around the yard in my bathrobe. I was so tempted to just let her off so she could run and play without her captor, but I knew it was critical to let her know that she and I were together no matter what.

She has now withdrawn back into "shelter dog" again today. Dejected, eyes following me everywhere, not willing to play, barely willing to take a treat. Hopefully we'll make a small breakthrough today.