Welcoming a rescue dog into our home

tishandy

So after many months of visiting our rescue centre we have reserved a gorgeous dog who we are collecting tommorow. We took this time as our 4 yr old daughter has autism and is quite nervous but lives animals.
The dig is 1.5 yrs old , is a small breed , and will obviously be indoors sleeping in our kitchen.

How can we start off on the best foot?
We have three children so have installed a stair gate in the kitchen to separate them if the dog or children need a break .

I've no clue if she's house trained but I assume not as she was abandoned and this is usually one of the reasons.
She is very placid and all workers say her temperament is gentle.
We bought Red Mills leader small dog food. Toys , harness , collar and identity tag. She's microchip pedals, neutered etc. Hope I'm not boring you with questions that might seem obvious to you.

Fakediamond

Sounds like you're good to go!

Id say don't let the kids overwhelm her, although that will be difficult, I'm sure!

Lots of training videos on YouTube, and here on boards. I use nuggets of dry food as training rewards,,better for the dog than packets of treats.

There's loads of advice threads on here re house training, behaviour etc.

Best of luck with her, getting a dog is such a special and exciting time, I'm jealous!

aonb

Congratulations, and I hope all goes well with your new family member!

The most important thing for your new dog will love and kindness and gentleness and patience and patience and patience. until she settles.

The dog will understandbly be nervous and worried and a bit stressed. It will be very important that her first day or two will be quiet and gentle - you need to explain to your children, that your little dog will be frightened and scared of everything new, so they shouldnt overwhelm. If you have been told that she is a gentle, placid type, this will be a good start - tell the children that they must be gentle with her too. Keep the noise levels low while she investigates her new home. Have a few treats for her - get the children to give her a little bit of kibble/treat as a treat, over the course of the day. If your autistic child is noisy or doesnt understand to be gentle, you must keep an eye open until they are used to each other.

You will be introducing her to a new food, her tummy may be upset with the strange kibble. Be prepared for this. Get some high value treats to start training her from day one - bit of cooked chicken or a bit of hotdog or something. Keep an eye like a hawk for tell-tale signs that she wants to go out to the toilet. She'll be distracted/circling/sniffing - hard when shes new to you I know! The minute she arrives, take her outside for a min to pee, make a big fuss of her when she does it, give her a treat. Keep an eye on her, and take her outside every hour or so, praise and treat. She'll get the idea soon enough. If there is an accident, just clean it up, DONT make a fuss, take her outside in a bit and start the routine over again.

Leave a nightlight on and a radio the first night. Make sure she has a cosy bed. Take her outside last thing before bed, and first thing in the morning to pee. Get into the routine of walks. If shes not trained on the leash, some walking outside in the garden and in the house on the leash. Establish the rules from day one - where she may or may not go in the house. Keep her busy with walks and play. I hope your children you and your new dog settle together very soon, and have a wonderful New Year!!!

Cheshire Cat

Congratulations! My only tip would be to get her a crate. Our rescue loves hers as it is a safe retreat for her and teach your children to leave her alone when she's in there.
It's also useful to keep her out of harm's way if the need arises.

Best of luck!

volchitsa

Definitely agree about the crate, I was a bit dubious about the idea but she sees it as her bedroom and goes in when she wants a bit of peace.

Now that she's older we almost never lock it, but it was also useful to prevent night time accidents while she was in the process of being house trained, and also meant she didn't chew things when left unsupervised in the living room at night.

Another advantage is when we go camping or to friends, we fold it up and bring it with us, and she just settles right in anywhere. We do still sometimes close her in it when away from home of course.
It makes arriving somewhere new so much easier or all of us.

razorblunt

Best of luck OP.

I adopted almost 6 months ago, here a few things I've learned:

1. Don't assume it will be toilet trained, don't assume it won't be toilet trained. It may be stressed and have anxiety so will more than likely have accidents. Just get into a routine of, say, every 2hours taking it out the same area and rewarding when it does a #1 and/or #2

2. As above, if there's an accident, clean it up, disinfect, try to get a scent killer and move on

3. Watch their stools to see how the food is going

4. I don't use a crate, but the dog will probably find a quiet spot for itself that it likes going to (if you don't use a crate), once known, leave it be if it wants some "me" time

5. Train/Re-train. Spend time finding out what it knows and use it as a refresher if anything. I found out our wee one, knew the word "pub"


Enjoy! Exciting times ahead.

B0jangles

Be kind, be gentle, be loving.

Last february we adopted Henry, who was, according to the rescuer, the most withdrawn, damaged dog she'd ever met. He was afraid of everything, to the extent that he would lie down and hide his face if anyone came near him. He'd never been taken for a walk, he'd never been played with, he'd never been cuddled.

9 months later Henry is the funniest, sweetest, most loving and playful dog you'll ever meet. He ever loves to meet strangers because now he thinks people he hasn't met before are likely to be good playmates who'll throw a toy for him.

Love that dog and that dog will love you

(toilet training is still a problem but he's doing his best -he just isn't good with verbal communication, but he tries reaaaally hard)

B0jangles

edit: I meant to include a photo to illustrate just how much calmer and happier Henry is now:

(Totally not just showing off how beautiful and cuddly and adorable he is, no sireeeee...)

aonb

^^^^ plus the fact that you are totally unbiased of course :D

Knowing you have helped turn his life around from a wreck, to a happy contented calm family pet must give you SUCH satisfaction - lovely to read such good news posts

pilly

The best advice I would give is to be as casual as you can about them being in the house. Don't cause a huge fuss. I have adopted a couple of rescues and find they settle in if best left to their own devices for a couple of hours. I would bring them into the kitchen, leave the back door open and go in and out myself. If they follow me out and go to the toilet I sing their praises. Other than that leave them to find their way around by themselves but confined to the kitchen at first.

I've never been a fan of crate training but some people swear by it so wouldn't totally discount it I suppose.

B0jangles

pilly wrote: »

The best advice I would give is to be as casual as you can about them being in the house. Don't cause a huge fuss. I have adopted a couple of rescues and find they settle in if best left to their own devices for a couple of hours. I would bring them into the kitchen, leave the back door open and go in and out myself. If they follow me out and go to the toilet I sing their praises. Other than that leave them to find their way around by themselves but confined to the kitchen at first.

I've never been a fan of crate training but some people swear by it so wouldn't totally discount it I suppose.

This, So much this. Being ignored was so relaxing for our poor Henry at the start. Watching him/being helpful all the time made him anxious, he was much happier being ignored in a busy room and left to work out what was going on.