- By Vikki Gigante
You have done your research and found the perfect dog for your home. He or she is a shy but sweet little or big bundle of fur. You have brought your dog home. The first thing you do is to let your dog sniff around and get used to you, your family and your house. Now comes the fun part. How do you acclimate your rescue dog to your home and your family? Hopefully, you found something out about your dog's situation before you picked the little girl or boy out. A good rescue society should tell you if your dog was just neglected or abused or both. They may not tell you exactly what the situation was that your dog faced or for how long, but they should let you know how traumatized the dog was.
Depending on what your dog faced before it was rescued, you are going to have to handle your dog with care. In order to get your new friend acclimated to your home and your family, you are going to need to have lots of patience and lots of love. Once the people from the rescue society who have brought your dog to you have handed you the leash and left, it is reality time.
The first thing you want to do is to get your dog familiar with its new surroundings. First of all, take your new pet outside so it can relieve itself. Then come back in and take the dog to the parts of your house or apartment where you are going to allow it to roam and let it sniff around to get familiar with its surroundings. The next thing you need to do is to let the dog get used to each member of the family. Let the dog spend some time with each person. If you have little ones, teach them not to jump or make fast movements with the dog. That might frighten the dog and he or she will instinctively either jump at the person or shy away and perhaps relieve itself on the floor. Teach them to stay very still and extend their hands, palm up, to the dog and allow the dog come and sniff. Then, they can slowly extend their hand to pet the dog or give it a treat. Find out from the rescue society if the dog likes a particular treat so you can make sure you have them on hand when the dog is brought to your home.
Now, the next thing to do is to just relax and get to know your dog. If you haven't purchased a set of bowls, dog food or a crate your dog can call home yet, now is the time to do it. Take your dog for a ride to the nearest pet store. All of the major chain pet stores allow you to bring your pet in on a leash. This is a good first outing for you to try with your new pet. This is a good idea for a number of reasons. First, you will find out how your pet behaves in the car. Some dogs love to ride in a car. Others aren't so good. They shake, whine, shiver, bark and generally are very uncomfortable. A short trip to the pet store is a good way to check this out before you commit to taking a long trip with your dog.
Now, once you are at the store with a good, secure leash on your dog, wander around, let your dog sniff at everything and ask one of the associates there what they would recommend as far as supplies go. We were told to use ceramic or metal bowls for food and water because they would be less likely to become contaminated then plastic. Then, we were told to get a crate because our dog had been crate trained. Make sure the crate gives your dog enough room to turn around and lay down comfortably. Who needs to be cramped? Crates are used to give your dog a place they can call their own where they feel safe and secure. Of course, our dog has chosen a section of our sectional which we have put her for her. Make sure you get a pad or pillow for the bottom of the crate so your dog has a nice soft place to lay down. The only other things you absolutely should get at this time are whatever type of dog food your rescue society recommended and some treats for training purposes. A chew toy or two are also a good idea at this point. Another necessity are doggy potty pads. They sell them at just about any pet store and until you and your dog are used to each others routines, they can keep floors and carpets from having to be shampooed on a regular basis.
Okay, so now you have completed your first adventure with your dog and you are back home. You have spent some time getting acquainted. Now, while one member of the household is busy figuring out how to put the crate together, one of the others should give the dog some food and water. Keeping your dog hydrated is very important. Make sure that water dish is at least half full and it has fresh water in it. I made it a habit to change the water in our dog's water dish at least twice a day. You don't like stale water either, now do you?
If the first type of dog food you get your dog doesn't seem to work out, as in, your dog refuses to eat it, don't worry. Sometimes you will have to try several different types before you hit on the one your dog likes. It took us about five tries to get it right. That is why you should purchase small quantities at first until you find the brand your dog will eat. The only thing you want to make sure you do is avoid anything with lamb meal in it. Lamb is difficult for a dog to digest.
The first day your dog is home with you, it is a good idea to keep the doors closed of any rooms that you do not want your dog exploring. Until you can determine the level of housebreaking your dog has experienced, it is best to confine them to a certain, preferably uncarpeted, area of the house. Put those potty pads down near doorways. If your dog has had any level of housebreaking, it will probably do its business on the potty pad if it hasn't been taken out for a walk in a while. It is a good idea to take your dog out every couple of hours at first for two reasons. The first is to get it used to walking with you on a lead. The second is so the dog can relieve itself outside and not on your favorite rug. You will get to know how often the dog really needs to go out after a short period of time, probably a couple of days.
The first night your dog is home with you can be difficult. I recommend trying to get your dog on the weekend so you are not having to get up to go to work or school the day after you get your dog. It may be difficult to get this beautiful bundle of fur to sleep the first night. He or she may want company because of being in a strange place. You can put a treat in your dog's crate and very firmly but gently tell your dog to go in the crate and stay. Let the whimpering begin! If you are very lucky, your dog will go into its crate and go right to sleep. If not, your dog will begin whimpering or outright barking as soon as everyone has gone to bed. Come back to the crate and pet the dog for a minute to reassure it that everything is okay, then say stay and go back to bed. The next time it whimpers, ignore it for a while and see if it will settle down. Normally they will. If not, you repeat the going to reassure it routine a couple more times and then eventually, it will settle. The first night our dog was with us, my son and I took turns keeping her company. After the first night, she was okay though and settled down and went to sleep without any problems. Guess it was just that first night in a new home with a new crate. Our dog has not slept in a crate in a long time now. She pretty much has the run of the house since she has shown she can be trusted. She sleeps in her own little doggy bed which is on the floor of my daughter's bedroom. This is perfectly acceptable to us, but everyone must do what is most comfortable for them and their dog.
The first days with a rescue dog are challenging as they are with any new puppy that you bring into the house. The dog has to get used to a new routine and new people and is probably still suffering ill effects from the situation it had to be rescued from. Your dog may be skittish, it may relieve itself any time you or some other member of your family come near it, assuming a submissive posture, rear end down on the floor, looking up at you with a pitiful look and before you can tell it that everything is okay, well, there is a puddle on the floor. If your dog starts to assume the submissive posture, grab it and put it outside or on the potty pad to relieve itself. Either that or tell that cute dog to come to you. That is sometimes all you need to do to keep the floor from getting wet.
Your dog may have learned behaviors that are not acceptable to you and your household. When your dog does something that is unacceptable, move it from the place that it is doing that behavior and put it in a different location. Then tell or show the dog what you want it to do. When it responds correctly, offer positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement of good behaviors through giving treats and saying, "good dog" when the dog is doing something you want it to do will keep it from resorting to those bad behaviors after a while. Remember, your dog wants to please you. It just needs to learn what pleases you and displeases you. It also needs help to break negative behaviors it might have learned as a method of survival.
Rescue dogs are wonderful. They are so happy to be given a second chance at a good home that they will work very hard to please you. They do require a lot of patience and love. If you are patient and caring with them, they will give back to you ten fold. After a year and a half with our little rescue, I hardly have to explain any more that she is a rescue and doesn't play well with others. She has developed a sense of self through love and caring and now she is beginning to act like, well, like a self-confident little dog who is well loved and cared for. We wouldn't trade her for anything and we are so glad she came into our lives. Have fun, be patient and give lots of love! You will be rewarded greatly.
Vikki Gigante is a business owner from Frederick, Maryland who has been the proud owner of Cocoa, a rescue dog, for a year and a half now. She is a true joy and a welcome addition to the family. [http://www.ilovethisbusinessonline.com/rescuedogs]
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