Just got a new dog, but she won't leave the tile in front of the door?

Maybe it is cooler lying on the tile. You could entice her with a dog treat to go to other rooms and when she does, give her the treat. As you say, she will come around on her own.
Is she a puppy or a dog? If she is a dog, maybe she is confused about this new home. Lots of petting and praise and hugs will bring her around in no time.

Put her food and water in another part of the house where she can still see it and smell it. She’ll come around.

I wonder though….how was she treated before you got her?

It might be something to do with the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet? Hard wood?

Is the dog a rescue?

She is about 1½ years old and she is a rescue dog I got yesterday. The woman told me she was brought into the shelter as a stray and although her owners were notified they did not come to pick her up. I’m not sure how her life was at her previous home, only that she is very shy and timid and sometimes gets scared when I reach out to pet her. I assume her last owners weren’t that great with her.

We have carpet everywhere except the kitchen and front door where we have tile. I did put her bed in front of the door so she could lay on that instead, but she still doesn’t leave the area. I’m hoping in time she will venture out, @Val123 I will try moving her food somewhere else.

It could be that she had a bad experience on tile and is afraid to walk across it. You might pick her up and move her to some other flooring and see if she responds differently.

I’ll bet the previous owners wouldn’t let her on carpet…that was my first thought, anyway.

Congrats on getting a rescue dog!
I knew someone that had adopted a greyhound racing dog at around 2 years old and that dog had never been on steps before so stairs and steps terrifed the dog at first. These dogs are kept in kennels and not in homes, so it never had contact with homes or humans except for their trainors. Eventually, the dog got used to living in a house, going up and down stairs and loved her owners.
Love, patience and positive reinforcement will help with your dogs anxiety and fears. She may never had been on carpet and doesn’t know how to walk on it or as @Val123 said, was punished or not allowed on it. Let us know how it works out.

She may not have been allowed indoors. Gently coax her using a treat into other parts of the house. Praise her when she follows you.

Give her time.

We took in a two year old Collie who was beaten and abused for most of his life, and even after three years living the high life with us he still wakes up barking and snarling from bad dreams sometimes. However he is the most loving and affectionate Collie I have ever seen. He’s even really good with cats (as long as they don’t walk near him when he is sleeping) and other dogs.
It takes a lot of time for any animal that was abused to regain his or her trust in humans; so treats, compliments and a good positive attitude do wonders for a speedy recovery.

Just give her time. She’ll come to trust you even faster if you don’t force her into doing something that she’s afraid of.

In the meantime, you can use a training method called “staging”. Get some truly yummy treats (like liver treats, not dog bones) and when she does anything that you see as progress, say “yes!” and give her a treat. For example, if she looks toward the hall (or wherever is away from the tile), treat. If she sniffs the floor outside of the tile, treat. If one foot steps off the tile, treat. The idea is that you’re training her to seek out the behavior that results in a treat. After a while, she starts to look for things that result in a treat.

Good luck!

Awww, poor baby. How sad. You need to put something very tile-like in her area, and let her get used to it. Don’t force her to leave her comfort area, but put her bowl of food and water farther and farther into the house, and she will eventually get used to it.

Let her take her own time getting used to the new surroundings.

Well, good news everyone last night we tried making a trail of dog treat pieces toward the bedroom and she walked the entire way through the house :) She went back to her tile immediately after, but as we were eating dinner we noticed her sneaking up to go look around, so all is well in this department now!

Thanks for the update. She is so lucky to have you guys.

YAY!!!!