Adopting a rescued dog is an amazing commitment, and one that not only benefits the dog by you providing them with a loving home, but also you with a new loyal companion - it must be true, I've seen the ad! (https://youtu.be/a3kuQrLUl0M)
Taking your dog home is a crucial step in the process, and we advise prior planning and consideration to help the event go smoothly. We do provide a guide to help with those early days, and also assign a liaison who can be contacted if you need advice or guidance at any time. For those first days, time and space are important considerations = you can learn more in the guide below:
Congratulations on making the decision to adopt a rescue dog from us
Adopting a rescue dog can be a hugely rewarding experience, and with the increasing numbers of homeless dogs, you are not only gaining a devoted new furry family member - you are also saving a life.
You are embarking on a new and special relationship that is likely to change both of your lives for the better. This guide is to help you settle your new dog into your home and set them up for success.
Caring for your new dog and building up the routines needed to take care of their emotional, physical, and psychological needs are beneficial for both the human and the dog as it promotes the wellbeing and health for both parties.
Dogs are sentient beings, and we need to ensure their needs are being met, including emotional needs such as being able to feel safe.
There are a number of factors that tend to cause a dog stress:
- A person bending over them
- Prolonged hard eye contact
- A person’s face being in theirs
- A person’s angry voice and behaviours
- Directly walking towards a dog (dogs will walk in curves around each other rather than direct)
- Emotional conflict (e.g. being asked to ‘sit’ for a treat on a cold hard floor)
- Long training sessions
- Mixed messages in training
- Too close contact e.g. hugging
- Feeling restrained or restricted
Before choosing to adopt, it is a good idea to have all the family present to discuss where the dog will sleep, what he is allowed to do and where he can go. Making these decisions prior to bringing him home will ensure he doesn’t get confused by one person allowing something and another not.
Consider using stair gates to manage your new dog and prevent him accidentally escaping when the front door is open for example, especially in the first week.
Remember, your new dog does not know you well and has arrived at an unfamiliar house. It will take some time for his stress levels to drop. The first week should be calm and quiet. Please ask interested visitors to stay away for the first week, to avoid overwhelming him.
Dogs need time to decompress and some may be quiet and shutdown when they first arrive.
Give them time to adjust and get used to their new home. Avoid putting too much pressure on them with lots of verbal cues and instructions.
Calm – calm dogs can concentrate and are able to learn and feel good. We can help create calm within a dog’s life by reducing exercise and stimulation and adding in enrichment such as brain games, Kongs, snuffle mats and sprinkles. Keep interactions positive and calm. If a dog is over excited or over stimulated, it can easily tip over into other things.
Connection – dogs who are connected to their handler are able to trust them to guide and protect them from difficult situations. Connection is also the basis of many training needs such as walking nicely on a lead.
Choices – dogs who can choose behaviours, where to sleep, where to walk, when to sniff and so on often become more confident.
Confidence – leads to a well-rounded dog who is resilient to changes.
The first day/night
Allow your new dog to explore the house and garden. If you have decided he is not to enter one room, keep the door closed to avoid needing to call him away.
If possible, provide him with several choices to sleep and rest.
Sleep
Sleep is essential for dogs, along with exercise, play and mental stimulation. An average dog, depending on breed, needs around 12 – 14 hours’ sleep per day. Dogs need to have a place they can rest, undisturbed if they wish.
Play
Playing together with our dogs strengthens the bond between us. Researchers believe that playfulness in dogs was a trait that was selected during domestication, and that it is an important factor for forming emotionally based bonds with our dogs. Play is also important for dogs as it provides mental exercise as well as physical. Play with toys allows dogs to use and practice physical skills such as chasing and catching prey. Play with other dogs allows them to practice social skills. Do not be tempted to play rough with your new dog. This can lead to accidental injuries with seniors or young children.
An important factor when playing with our dogs is to keep it short but exciting. We need to stop before the dog starts to get tired or loses interest. Play can be a powerful reinforcer (reward) for our dogs and can be used to teach them new skills.
For many years, it was thought that we should not let dogs “win” games such as tug. We now know that dogs do not seem to regard competitive games played with a human partner as "dominance" contests. The simple act of “winning” possession of objects during games appears to be simply rewarding.
Walks
For the first couple of days, do not be tempted to take your dog to lots of new locations. Give him time to settle, time to learn the routines of the house so that he can build confidence. While whisking him off to the beach on his first day may seem like a nice thing to do, it can overwhelm him, leaving him stressed and anxious.
It is so important to keep their world small to avoid flooding them with too many new things. Now is not the time for visitors to come and meet the new dog or lots of long walks to new places.
It is often suggested NOT to walk a new dog for the first couple of days or even the first week. This allows stress hormone levels to drop and avoids flooding them.
First walks should be short and positive. If you see any signs of stress or anxiety, return home. Walks can be replaced with lots of enrichment and mental stimulation. Dogs do need physical exercise each day, and if we do not provide this and met their needs, problems may develop.
It has long been believed that dogs must have at least one walk, if not two each day. This is true for some breeds, but we must also consider the individual dog.
Taking a dog for long brisk walks two or three times per day may actually cause behaviour problems if they are over stimulated. Daily exercise is necessary for mental and physical well-being.
We should also consider the type of walks we provide. A walk round the local streets, using the same route every single walk may be insufficient for some breeds. For other dogs who are a little anxious or worried about new places, using the same route each walk is ideal. We must always consider dogs as an individual and consider their individual needs.
Enrichment/mental stimulation
It is important to remember that any enrichment should always be supervised and make the dog's life more interesting and enjoyable, not more difficult, or frustrating. Enrichment is not about tiring a dog out – it is about enriching his environment and lifestyle.
While each mealtime offers an opportunity for enrichment, it does not always have to be about food. There are many ways we can enrich a dog’s life without having to use food.
Avoid overstimulation and over excitement. While stimulating dogs mentally and physically is the goal of enrichment, overstimulation can increase stress levels (i.e. playing music at too loud of a volume or for the entire day).
It is important to spend time identifying things that the individual dog seems to truly find motivating or reinforcing. What one dog finds motivating may be uninteresting to another.
If fun training is used as an enrichment tool, all training methods used must be based in positive reinforcement, and reward-based training.
Dogs experience emotions and we must be mindful of this. Expecting a dog to perform a behaviour “just because we say so” is unfair and unrealistic. Forcing a dog is unkind and damaging.
The RSPCA says
“All training should be reward based. Giving a dog something they really like such as food, toys or praise when they show a particular behaviour means that they are more likely to do it again.”
All dogs should be treated as individuals. Each dog will have a preference for rewards. We should take time to find out what the dog really enjoys – what motivates him.
We can build a wonderful, trusting relationship with dogs by providing rewards (nice consequences) for desired behaviours.
Things to consider:
- Give the dog lots of praise, especially for things you like him doing
- Ensure the dog has sufficient undisturbed rest
- Avoid stressful encounters where possible
- Set the dog up to succeed
- Avoid giving the dog verbal cues all of the time – allow choices
- Advocate for your dog – if your dog doesn’t enjoy meeting strangers – tell them to stay away when out on a walk
- Manage your own stress around the dog
- Provide lots of mentally stimulating toys and enrichment opportunities
- Reward calm behaviour
- Avoid over stimulating the dog
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