Sunday, February 23, 2020

Helping the Newly Adopted Dog

There is so much excitement when we adopt a new dog and bring her home!  We hold a picture of expectation in our minds of all the things we're going to do together.  It's important to remember that these expectations belong to us, not necessarily to our new dog.  It can take time for a new dog to adjust to a new family.

I always try to be mindful when bringing a new dog into my household, that everything is new to her - the people, the other animals, the house and environment, the routine, my rules and expectations, perhaps even the food and the noises, sights, and smells.  I may even handle the dog in a way that is unfamiliar to her.

How would I feel going to live in someone's home that I didn't know?  I would appreciate having some time to get to know the family there, their routine, and what is normal in that environment.  Our dogs need the same.

To make this transition into a new home as smooth and low-stress as possible, there are things that every newly adopted dog needs.

Trust and Feeling Safe

Every dog needs to feel safe in its environment before it can feel at home.  A dog that doesn't feel safe will have a difficult time learning the rules and routines in a new place.  Dogs that don't feel safe may become reactive or may even growl or snap out of fear and uncertainty.  These are certainly things we want to avoid.

Prior to bringing a dog home, take a look around.  You will want to dog proof your home and yard as much as possible - moving things that could be dangerous or that you don't want chewed, broken, etc.

Think of your new dog as a guest coming into your house.  What else can you do to make this dog's stay most comfortable?

Is there a nice quiet place for the dog to rest when it's feeling overwhelmed and needs a break?  Will it have its own place to eat and drink in case it doesn't want to share space with your other dogs at first?  Are there stress-reduction tools you can put into place?

Here is a post about stress-reduction tools and techniques: https://your-inner-dog.blogspot.com/2014/04/stress-part-3.html

The most important thing you can do when bringing a new dog home is to earn its trust.  Dogs will trust you when they feel safe with you.  Doing the things in this post can help you to build trust, but first and foremost always think about whether the dog feels safe or not.  This will help you decide what to do or not do.

If the dog feels safe, it can begin to trust.  If it doesn't feel safe, it can't learn to trust and it won't be able to relax.  Moving into your home is a huge transition for your dog, no matter what her history is.  Even a dog coming from a loving home environment will be stressed.  Everything has changed for her.  She needs to know that she can trust you to keep her safe at all costs.

Time

Dogs need time to adjust.  We are excited to have a new family member, but our new dog doesn't want to meet the whole extended family and all your friends right away.  Allow your dog time to get to know you and your home before adding a lot of anything new.

Training classes can wait a few weeks or more.  Teaching manners can begin on day one at home, but formal training sessions should wait until you know the dog is settled and has had time to relax and trust you.  A dog that feels safe and stress-free will learn faster and easier than one that doesn't.

There is no easy answer as to how long each dog needs.  This is a very individual thing.  The safer the dog feels and the more time you can give her to relax into this new life, the faster this process will go.  Some dogs will need a couple of weeks, while others may need a couple of months, or somewhere in between.

Learn to read dog body language so you can see signs of stress.  If you are seeing signs of stress, the dog needs more time to settle in, and may need some help to be able to relax.

Some signs of stress in dogs:  https://your-inner-dog.blogspot.com/2014/04/stress-part-2.html

Sleep

We all need uninterrupted sleep to deal with stress and change, and our dogs do too.  Allow plenty of time for sleep in your new dog's schedule.  You may be surprised at how much she sleeps those first couple of weeks.

Try to provide places for her to sleep where she won't be constantly interrupted by people, animals, noises, and commotion.  Calming music may help dogs that can hear.  There is music specifically created to help calm dogs, or classical type music will also do.  Music can also drown out some new background noises that may cause your dog to wake up often because she doesn't yet know those are usual sounds in her new home.

Dogs enjoy being part of a group, and allowing your new dog to sleep in the same room as you can help with bonding.  Many people want to put a new dog in a crate at night until it can be trusted loose in the home.  Some dogs will be fine in a crate by your bed or in the bedroom.  Others will be upset being confined.  You can also use an ex pen to create a larger safe area in the bedroom that doesn't feel as confining for the dog until you have a chance to teach her to feel safe in a crate.

Allowing her to cry and bark herself to sleep is not going to create that trust you're trying so hard to develop.  If the dog is not already comfortable in a crate, please don't expect her to get a relaxed night sleep in one.  Teaching about a crate can take time.  Being confined is very stressful for some dogs.

Crate training is important, but please do it gradually.  Ignoring a dog that is obviously stressed in a crate only creates a dog with more stress about the crate, not one who knows how to relax and nap in one.

Keep Things Low Key

Keep things low key for the first few weeks.  If you must have guests during this time, please don't have guests for the first couple of days.  After that keep guests to one new person a day for another week.  Remember that you want your dog to learn to trust you and that you are her new person.  Too many new people can overwhelm some dogs and cause anxiety. 

The same holds true for taking your new dog on walks.  Keep walks calm.  The first day or two, confine walks to the area right around your home.  Explore the yard together.  Be leisurely and allow your dog to sniff on a long leash as she feels comfortable.  As you begin to venture out away from home, try to go at times when the area will be quiet with only a few people to meet and not a lot of traffic.  Build up slowly.

You don't know how your new dog will react to surprises, or to things that you think are normal but your dog may not know about yet.  By staying close to home and going at quieter times, you have the ability to get home quickly if your dog gets overwhelmed or becomes difficult to manage.

Walking is great exercise for those first few weeks, especially if paired with lots of opportunity to sniff and explore.  Playing wild and crazy fetch games may be fun for you, and you may think the new dog enjoys them as well, but this will not help your dog to relax and be low-stress as she settles in.

Arousal of any kind is stressful.  A dog that is already relaxed and settled can play fast fetch games without too much concern, as long as the game is not allowed to continue for too long and the dog doesn't become obsessive.  But a newly adopted dog is not yet relaxed, so save those games for a while.

Providing calm enrichment activities can be a great addition to sniffing walks.  Food puzzle toys, scatter feeding, licki mats, etc. are all good choices.  If using puzzle toys, choose very easy ones at first.  Many dogs have not experienced working to get food out of toys and will become frustrated if the puzzle is too hard.

I find a stuffed Kong is a good toy to start with.  I put the dog's meal into a Kong toy.  I don't freeze it at this stage.  I want the food to be easy for the dog to lick out.

Scatter feeding means sprinkling the food around an area for the dog to sniff out and find.  Start with sprinkling food around the kitchen floor.  You can also try this out in the grass by letting the dog see you putting the food out first.  Snuffle mats are also a good way to do this - again, start easy, letting the dog see you hiding the food.

More about enrichment: https://your-inner-dog.blogspot.com/2017/08/benefits-of-enrichment.html

Predictability

A consistent routine and handling will go a long way toward teaching your dog what the rules and expectations are.  A routine will help set up housetraining right away.  A dog that knows when it will go outside, be fed, get its walk, go to bed, etc., will settle in more quickly than one who is always guessing.  Routine and consistently = predictability = trust!

Blind and Deaf

Of course, with all of the above, dogs that are blind will need extra help feeling safe and learning the routes to all the important places in the home.  Guide your dog for several weeks until she starts to show you she is learning the lay of the land.  Stay close and help her as needed.  This builds trust and a feeling of being safe.  Many blind dogs do better with a smaller area of the house at a time, instead of having run of the entire new house and yard.  As they feel comfortable, you can expand that area for them.

Deaf dogs will need special care that they aren't startled by sudden touch or woken up suddenly.  This can be very stressful for them if they haven't been previously taught to associate these with something good.  Try to create spaces away from activity and give the deaf dog time in those spaces to get that much-needed uninterrupted sleep.

Be sure to have safety measures in place at doors to the outside, steps, etc.  You certainly don't want a new blind and/or deaf dog sneaking out the door before she really knows you and you know her.  Having a gate across doorways will give you peace of mind.  Gates are great tools for creating safe places.

Some blind and/or deaf dogs may not feel safe being reached for by someone they don't know, or touched unexpectedly.  This is something that you can teach, but for this time while your dog is getting settled, you may want to allow her to drag a light piece of clothesline or leash when you are home and supervising. This will allow you to easily pick up the end of the line to guide the dog where you want her to go without reaching suddenly for her collar or touching her when she's not expecting it.  Remember, you want to build trust.

Don't leave this line on the dog when you're not home or supervising, as it may get caught on obstacles or tangled around the dog's leg.  Not all dogs will need this, but it is a useful tool to use with some.




**For more information about blind and/or deaf dogs, visit my website at www.yourinnerdog.com  You will find articles, books, online classes and resources there to assist you!  To subscribe to this blog and receive emails as each new post is published, please scroll to the blog header above and add your email address!**