So, you’ve decided to get a dog and you think that rescuing is the best way to go about it. Great! But what’s the best way to do it? What should you do when you get the dog home? How should you integrate the dog into your household? Let’s take a look.
Many people worry that rescue dogs come with baggage and a lot of problems. Many of these problems are actually created by the new owners doing the wrong things. For the first few weeks you need to put the dog’s needs first. This sets you all up for success. Follow this simple guide to how to rescue a dog and you’re on the way to building a strong problem-free relationship.
Look to the future, not the past
Many dogs that are in rescues have a troubled past. On the whole it’s better to totally forget this. Occasionally a dog can have a negative association with a particular thing. You won’t know about this in advance and if you do find it is the case then these associations are generally straight forward to deal with. As soon as you take the dog away from the shelter you should start with a clean slate, a new name and a fresh start. It is crucial not to feel sorry for the dog. Yes, he might have had a rough start in life but dogs live in the moment, if you provide some loving leadership he’ll quickly form a strong bond with you and live his new life to the full.
Loving leadership means meeting the dog’s needs: exercise, discipline and affection. Exercise is not just going for a walk, although this is important. It’s critical to work a dog mentally as well. Discipline doesn’t just mean telling the dog off, it’s about giving them rules and boundaries and making them accountable. In the absence of rules a dog becomes uncomfortable because it doesn’t know where it is in the hierarchy. This is especially important when you adopt a rescue dog. And finally, affection; for a dog to be balanced they might need less affection than you think. They definitely need less affection than exercise and discipline. And again, for a rescue, this is doubly important.
Getting the dog home for the first time
I have covered choosing the right dog to suit you in a previous post so I’m going to jump straight to getting the dog home for the first time. This is a key step in how to rescue a dog – the right way. The key thing to remember is that if the dog is coming from a kennel environment, as most rescue centres are, it has been living in a small and intense world. In many cases the dogs have been in these environments for months, even years. They will have been surrounded by other dogs, lots of barking and noise, there might have been some fear and even aggression around the environment. If they have been let out of their small enclosures it has been for a short time for an on-lead walk or exercised in a small space. I cannot stress enough how important it is that rescue dogs are not given the run of the house and garden when you get them home. If their small intense worlds are expanded too far too fast then we can see all sorts of behaviour problems bubble to the surface.
When you get them home for the first time keep the dog on a lead and walk them into the house and around the part of the house where they will be allowed to be. This doesn’t need to be more than one or two rooms at this stage, it will be far more than what the dog has become accustomed to.
Once the dog has been shown the inside of the house you should do the same with the garden. Walk around the garden using a standard slip lead at first and then change to a long-line to allow the dog some more freedom. This freedom might relax the dog enough that he is comfortable to go to the toilet. If he does, give him some praise and affection. It is a good idea with most dogs to keep using the lead in the garden for a number of days after getting them home. Too much freedom too soon will slow down the settling-in process, not speed it up.
After ten minutes on the long-line put the slip lead back on and take the dog back inside and to it’s bed. Stand in front of him and give him the command to sit, a little persuasion with some light pressure on his rear-end might help. When he sits you can reward with a treat and take a step back. After a few seconds if the dog remains sitting you can drop the lead and step back further. What we’re trying to do here is to teach the dog to settle in his bed and allow him to rest. Let’s not forget, the dog has had a stressful day, leaving the shelter and going to a new environment are big events for him which he needs to process so we should give him an opportunity to rest. If he doesn’t want to settle yet then repeat the lead walk around the house and garden and try again. When the dog finally settles stay with him in the room but don’t give him any attention. If we make him the centre of attention he won’t get the rest he needs, and won’t learn how to become calm. After ten minutes or so, if the dog is still calm, you can offer it some food. Always feed your dog when it’s calm, this is the state of mind you want to nurture.
This sets the tone for the next few weeks. You have introduced the dog to its new environment and made it clear that the house and the garden belong to you, you have already begun to establish a healthy hierarchy. Expect the dog to be in its bed if you aren’t interacting with it, whether that is playing, training obedience or walking. You should do plenty of these activities over the coming weeks and when you aren’t interacting actively in these ways you should ignore the dog and let it be.
Calmness
The biggest goal over the first few weeks, of course, is to get the dog settled as quickly as possible. This will happen sooner in a calm household. Keep noise to a minimum and don’t have any visitors. This can really unsettle even a confident dog.
After a few weeks if visitors come to the house they need to follow the cup of tea rule: until they are sitting comfortably with a cup of tea in their hand they should not make eye contact with the dog, touch the dog or talk to the dog. I know it’s hard. I love dogs, that’s why I do the work that I do, but ignoring them for a few minutes helps them to dissipate any excitement. Once a few minutes have passed, your visitor can share some calm affection with the dog, but only if the dog seems calm and relaxed. Keeping excitement to a minimum is key. When your friends come to visit the dog for the first time, and they come into the house highly excited, they are going to unsettle him. Excitement is contagious for dogs, but making a fresh rescue dog the centre of everyone’s attention will most likely make them anxious. To be honest, the cup of tea rule is a good one for any household with a dog, not just a rescue.
Building the Relationship
Another building block to getting your new dog settled quickly is to build a relationship of love and respect. If you feed the dog and give it affection it will love you, but that won’t generate respect. A dog who respects its owners is happy and balanced. For the first month or so, the three things you need to do with your dog every day to build a healthy relationship are:
- Take them for a structured walk
A structured walk is one where the dog is working for you, walking at heel. For the first week or two it doesn’t need to be long, we don’t want to overwhelm them. Two ten minute walks will be better than one twenty minute walk.
- Do some obedience
Every dog needs at least some obedience, and the process of developing it is good for building the relationship. It gets the dog using its brain and this mental work is really good for him. As with walking, a few short sessions through the day will be better than one long one.
- Play with them
Playing with your dog is important – flirt poles and tug toys are great interactive toys, using these with your dog will allow them to indulge their natural prey drive and starting and ending a game on your terms is a good way to help establish the hierarchy. Five minutes of play after a little obedience work is a great reward and a good way to let off steam after having to concentrate.
In the first few weeks there should be plenty of rest between these activities, don’t work the dog too hard. Keep walks and obedience sessions short and leave lots of time to rest between. While the dog is adjusting to their new life we don’t want to overload them. Imagine a child starting at a new school, if the lessons are kept short and light the child will settle into the new routine faster.
Rules and boundaries
Dogs need rules and boundaries. In the wild, wolves and feral dogs live in groups with rules and boundaries – they have evolved to need them and accept them. Without rules and the discipline to maintain them some dogs can feel that there isn’t sufficient leadership and can begin to assume the role of pack leader. A happy balanced dog has just the right amount of leadership to make it feel secure in the hierarchy of the household. Rules can be anything, useful ones like not surfing the kitchen counter to steal food, or not such obvious ones, like only being allowed onto the sofa if they are invited. They all help the dog to feel comfortable. With a more pushy dog a good way to enforce the rules is to leave a short lead on him when he is in the house. Make sure you are near-by just in case the dog gets the lead tangled in something. If the dog goes somewhere he shouldn’t or does something he shouldn’t you can say “no”, take the lead and steer him back to its bed.
Week three onwards
By week three hopefully your new dog is starting to relax and feel comfortable. There is still work to be done but by this stage you will probably be able to let the dog into the garden on his own, not use the lead as much in the house, and generally give him a little more freedom. As a rule of thumb, it takes three weeks for a dog to decompress and three months to settle into a new pack. I’ve known rescue dogs take a lot longer so enjoy the process and take it day by day.
In summary
Some people hold the opinion that rescue dogs can be hard work or come with baggage. By following these principles of how to rescue a dog, you should be able to eliminate most of the chances of a newly adopted dog running into problems. It’s a rewarding journey well worth the time.
In next week’s article I’m going to dig a little deeper and cover topics such as rehabilitating a rescue dog with physical or behavioural problems. Until then, enjoy your dog.
