How should we handle this stray dog?

We recently took in a stray cocker spaniel that had been wandering outside of our house. We don't think that the dog has ever had a home before. She won't let us pet or get close to her. What could we do to make her more comfortable with us?

the best thing you can do is to call your local humane society to have the dog checked to see if he is aggressive use caution around the dog cause he could bite at anytime especially if he is eating
good luck

Try to play with the dog and let the dog come near you or you could throw a toy and see if the dog will bring it back and just show the dog that you will not hurt her.

Sometimes animals just take a while to get used to you (it took my idiotic cat about 15 months...) you just need to leave them alone, let them come to you when they want, and eventually they will learn to trust you... I know it can be frustrating, but dont give up... If I got my cat to sleep with me, you'll get your dog to come around...
Dont spoil her though... she needs to know the rules of the house and who is boss...
Eventually she will come around...

It's really hard to say how long a dog has been out on it's own...a shy, nervous, or fearfull dog would be much more suspicious than a dog, who by nature, didn't have those personality defects...even if it'd been on it's own for a while. If you're feeding this dog, it will probably come around...heck, it takes a couple of weeks to gain the trust of many rescue dogs...and this poor little thing, may have been chased and ran off at every turn. It sounds to me like somebody just dumped it.

p

PS...hold off on 'rules and regs'...for a good while after you've gained her trust...and then ease into them.

p

Give her treats to coax her near u, then try to pet her. repeat the sequence until she realises that you are no harm.

treats, food, water, love. she has probably been beat or hurt in some way by humans so she is skiddish around people. give hertime to gain your trust. I'd say give it about 2 weeks.

I THINK you SHOULD call you are LOCAL HUMANE SOCTIEY AS SOOONNN AS POSSIBAL if you keep the dog it will eventulay get your trust if you let the soctiey take it it will get a good home