Bringing rescue dog home tomorrow

Censorsh!t

So after a while of looking around, I have found a lovely dog to adopt. She is a small two year old terrier cross.

I have a few questions regarding introducing her to her new home.
She has been at the centre since November, and she has been using a big sort of kennel (with an indoor and outdoor section). The dogs are let out to play in an area everyday. The lady who runs the centre is not sure if she is housetrained, as obviously it's hard to tell in such living arrangements.
If she had been house trained before, will this kick back in? Or seen as she has been at a centre for a few months, will she have forgotten?

I have read up on house training and get the gist of it - positive reinforcement. When we bring her home, should we put her straight into her living area (kitchen). Should we let her into other rooms, even for short periods of time, or should we keep her in the kitchen until she has been house trained or until we know she is? If so, after how long should we introduce her to new rooms?

What's the best way to get her to settle into her new home?


We have had a dog before for 16 years, but to be honest, I was 5 when we got her, so can't exactly remember any of it!

jimf

first thing well done for taking the rescue route for getting your new dog

to be honest id let her settle for a few days until she gets her bearings and starts to trust you not saying for a minute she should have reason not to after a few days you will have a better idea of what you have to deal with

and we need photos please you cant get a new bf and not let us see what she looks like

orchidsrpretty

I recently got a rescue dog that had been in a shelter for 6months before I took her home. She has settled in really well but is having trouble vwith the house training. She goes when I bring her outside but has no problems peeing in the house, but has never pooped. The advive I got here was to treat her as house training a pup. Out every two hours or so, snd she generally goes but cant/wont hold it in at nighttime,

Edited to add: dont worry about restricting her etc if you have no other pets, she will find her own comfort levels. I took a rescue cat and it took him over two weeks to come out from under the kitchen table when we were around. After 2 years he is a cuddle bunny.

aonb

Good advise from JimF
Give her a few days to settle in.
It will be a pretty scary time for her.
You will soon see what her personality is like, but if shes timid/nervous at all, be quiet/gentle/slow with her for a few days.
She will start exploring herself as soon as shes ready.

SO well done on rescuing a dog - hope she settles into your heart & house quickly!

Oh and another request for a picture please!

TooManyDogs

My advise would be

+1 on what Orchidspretty said, treat house training her like a puppy. Bring her out often and praise for her going. In my experience adult dogs do catch on quicker than pups cos they can recognise the signals but you still need to do a bit of work on it

Whatever your house rules are going to be regarding a pet dog enforce them day one. She won't understand that you felt sorry for her the first week or so and relaxed the rules until she settled in.

I'd give her plenty of space in the first couple of weeks, give her the space to come to you on her own rather than forcing yourself on her, it'll give her the space to suss things out and figure out her new home. Same goes for bringing people into the house to meet the new dog, keep your routine as normal as possible, including guests.

A well exercised dog will often worry less about changes in their life, that's my experience anyway

Time, routine, rules and love will help her settle in perfectly well

Enjoy!!

jsabina

My first dog was coming from the shelter.
He was 6 months old and they were living all dog together in a fenced area of the shelter (under a crazy sun.. not in ireland).
Anyway, he came home and he NEVER did anything in the house! And we were living in an apartment.
I didn't have to teach him anything.
With Jago, 7 months now, I still have some problem sometimes

So I suppose it also depends from the dog?

Well done anyway!!

Censorsh!t

Thanks for the advice guys.

She seems like a quiet dog, but not in a nervous way. She's extremely friendly towards people and dogs alike, so hopefully she'll settle in very quickly.

Here's her photo from the website!

username123

She is gorgeous. A very pretty girl.

ISDW

Best of luck, she's lovely. I usually find it takes about 2 weeks for a dog to start showing their true personality, although it does depend how the shelter that she came from is set up, hopefully if she's had lots of human interaction there, it won't be too much of a culture shock for her. Just let her have her space when she needs it, and keep us posted please

4th horsemen

Well done for going the rescue route,
If there are certain rooms you will not allow her access to at all then don't let her in them but I'd let her wander around everywhere else and let her get used to her new home.
We have 3 dogs, 2 rescues and our latest, a husky, was roughly 6/7 months and was not house trained.

Timing is key,
After sleeping they will need toilet
After eating they will need toilet,
After drinking they will need toilet
Some will hold it longer than others but it's seeing the signs.
e.g. walking around sniffing floor or walking around aimlessly or in circles(hard to explain but u'll know when she does it)
At these times bring her out and say something like "go toilet", then it's the waiting game till she does it, once she does it give plenty praise BUT wait till she is finished because if you praise in middle of her peeing she'll be interrupted and might stop!! a small treat the odd time for praise will be no harm, make sure she does not see treat before she goes to toilet!
After weeks (depending) she will associate the word "Go Toilet" with going to the toilet.

They are the main times to watch for toilet times but during the day, if she has not been in a while, keep eye open for the signs or just bring her out for 5-10 minutes and see will she goes.

There will be accidents but only correct her if you catch her in the act, not few mins afterwards cause she won't know why your correcting her!

Crate training is also very effective and very beneficial.

Good luck

jimf

There will be accidents but only correct her if you catch her in the act, not few mins afterwards cause she won't know why your correcting her! this is a very important point from 4th horsemen i have often picked them up mid flow and brought them outside to finish

so as you can see from above posts we all have different views once shes settled and gets in to a routine im sure she will be fine

and just to say she is a little cutey spoil her rotten they deserve it but im sure you will its a new start for the little mite after all

jimf

forgot to add in last post find out what food they are feeding and for some to take away for a weeks feeding you can always change over yourself but do it gradually over a week or 10 days

aonb

shes LOVELY - not unlike my two in colouring (but have more black on their bodies). How is she settling in?

noddyone2

Censorsh!t wrote: »

So after a while of looking around, I have found a lovely dog to adopt. She is a small two year old terrier cross.

I have a few questions regarding introducing her to her new home.
She has been at the centre since November, and she has been using a big sort of kennel (with an indoor and outdoor section). The dogs are let out to play in an area everyday. The lady who runs the centre is not sure if she is housetrained, as obviously it's hard to tell in such living arrangements.
If she had been house trained before, will this kick back in? Or seen as she has been at a centre for a few months, will she have forgotten?

I have read up on house training and get the gist of it - positive reinforcement. When we bring her home, should we put her straight into her living area (kitchen). Should we let her into other rooms, even for short periods of time, or should we keep her in the kitchen until she has been house trained or until we know she is? If so, after how long should we introduce her to new rooms?

What's the best way to get her to settle into her new home?


We have had a dog before for 16 years, but to be honest, I was 5 when we got her, so can't exactly remember any of it!

Well done for taking a rescue dog. You'll be repaid many times over. Remember: KINDNESS, KINDNESS, KINDNESS + PATIENCE xLOTS. No beating or slapping - it only teaches fear. The lad we have now (terrier cross) came from the ISPCA, he had been kicked, had cracked ribs and ran whenever I picked up a newspaper or plate. He's fantastic now, totally loyal and a good watchdog. Best wishes on your journey with her.

Censorsh!t

She's settling in very well!

We were concerned that she may be nervous for a while, but nope! She's very confident and not shy at all. She absolutely loved chasing her ball and loves people and dogs and cats and licking the dishwasher.

She makes no peep at all at night, happy to sleep in the kitchen by herself, which is a relief.

She appears to have been half-arsedly housetrained in the past, so gotta keep a good eye on her for a while.

I just put up some pics in the photo thread