Why Do Dogs End Up Needing A New Home?
Things To Consider Before You Adopt A Dog.
How To Introduce Your Rescue Dog To Your Home And Family.
What To Look Out For.
Do Not Gamble On The Outcome Of Your Dog.
How To Enjoy Your Dog For Ever More.
My Insight.
In this blog I hope to encourage more people to adopt a rescue dog ahead of buying a puppy. Not because I do not like puppies (it even brings a smile to my face thinking about puppies as I write this) but because I know that there are hundreds of dogs in the rescue centres that would make a fantastic family pet and enrich any household that they join. I also hope that if you or someone you may know are considering adopting a rescue dog that this blog will inspire you and help you give a forever home to a dog and that it be as plain sailing as possible.
Why Do Dogs End Up Needing A New Home ?
There are a multitude of reasons why dogs may end up in a situation that they need a new home. Many times it is when the responsibility of owning a dog becomes too much for their owner, this can be mainly due to a change in circumstance for the owner which could be illness, change of accomodation, loss of a job, change in a relationship or death. Sometimes the correct relationship has not been established between the owner and their dog so the dogs behaviour becomes too much for the owner to bare and they do not have the correct knowledge to remedy the situation. On occasion people have taken on more dogs than they can cope with and when the dogs multiply intervention has to be sought for the welfare of the dogs. Luckily in the UK we have great centers that accommodate dogs that no longer have a home. I would say strongly that it is never the dogs fault! that they are in a rescue center.
Things To Consider Before You Adopt A Rescue Dog.
Firstly I would consider what kind of dog will complement your lifestyle. For me this is always thinking of the dogs energy levels, All dogs are as unique as we are yet different breeds have different energy levels as some dog breeds were bred for purpose, the age of the dog can also have an impact on the energy level of the dog. For me a dog is in its prime between the ages of 2-5 years old. Some dogs will continue to perform well beyond 5 years and some will show super ability and stamina before 2 years. So between 2-5 years is a good guide if you are an active household or the outdoors type and you want an active dog. If you want a dog that is happy to have a daily walk around the block then lay beside the fire then I would definitely look to get a dog that is over 5 years old. Larger dogs tend to have lower energy levels than smaller dogs in general.
Consider your personal abilities when selecting a dog to re-home. Can you give your dog daily walks or can you lift a dog into a car. Will you still be able to in a few years time?
Consider how patient you are. Will you be even less patient in a few years time?
Consider Insurance and all the other expenses that need to be met during the life time of the dog.
Consider the joy that a new dog brings and also the commitment needed to fulfil a dogs life.
Consider the welcome you get every time you come home it really is second to none.
Consider how long your dog will be left on their own. Dogs that come from a rescue center will often go hours in between human contact so could be more suited to being left for slightly longer periods. Try always to select a dog on its energy over looks.
How To Introduce Your Rescue Dog To Your Home And Family.
The first thing that I would recommend once you have decided to adopt a dog is to sit down as a family and work out the rules and boundaries of the house that you can all implement without stress. This will help to keep a new dog stimulated and also help you all bond with your new dog. Then list all of the things that you want your dog to learn, there is no limit to what a dog can learn. Usually the limits come from inside our minds, or our lack of patience or our lack of determination. Also list the things that you will not want your dog to do or anything that you will not like them for. So imagine your perfect dog and there will be many candidates inside the rescue centers.
When ever I introduced a new dog to the pack of dogs at my house in the midlands I would always do it in silence and I would do some blocking on the new dog. I would block in doorways and gateways using my legs. I did this for a few reasons firstly to learn about the energy of the dog I was about to introduce and to calm any high energy down, secondly was to encourage eye contact and control. I never used words! So I suggest that you do the same when introducing a new dog into your house. A lot of blocking, watching, learning and a lot of silence because the new dog does not know your commands or words and definitely not in your house because they have never been there before.
What To Look Out For.
Rescue centers and kennels can have an impact on how the dog is when you visit them at the center. In my experience they tend to be more subdued at the rescue center yet they can be also be more excitable. My point is that most dogs will change initially when introduced into a new home with new people and new smells so be prepared and you will not get frustrated. Many dogs lack confidence in a new new situation yet as they become more confident some unwanted behaviours may develop even some that you may have thought you had under control. Do not be despondent, it is something that you can overcome and not anyone's fault especially the dogs. If you have established rules and boundaries of the house then it is unlikely that this will happen, yet we have to realise that all dogs are unique so never compare your new dog with dogs that we have had in the past and always be prepared to be proactive and never reactive. For example Recall, when a dog lacks confidence and you first let them off lead they will probably stick very close to you and you may think that this perfect and every time you want your dog to come to you they do it pretty well, this would be the time to get proactive make yourself so appealing and get the recall on point because if they become more confident and we have not put the effort in they will start to get further and further away from us and our recall will get more difficult by the day with no seemingly obvious reason why. Also dogs lacking in confidence will probably not make too much noise to when they first arrive into our homes yet as they get more confident they may start to bark or whine or both. In my experience it is not uncommon for the dogs that I have rehabilitated to change in some sort of behavioural way once I have given them confidence and they become more comfortable in my home. So as dogs become more confident then the behaviour can change in many ways so always be proactive and never reactive.
Do Not Gamble On The Outcome Of Your Dog.
This is why the planning and careful selection of your dog is necessary because it is proactive. If you take the time properly train your dog in every aspect of the lists that you have made you will not be gambling on the outcome of your dog. Many dogs will push against the rules and boundaries that we make because they are human rules in a human house and they are dogs not humans, so this means that we should never think that once something is taught to a dog they will know it and do it perfectly every time. Be patient and view everytime they do something wrong as a chance to practice your control and training, be patient. Yet many of my clients do not do this which is why they need my help. Teach your dog what you want them to do, and how you want them to behave. Always promote calm, calmness in yourself and your dog. Be Patient.
How To Enjoy Your Dog For Ever More.
"A dog is a mans best friend" is so true because dogs are inherently loyal, they are inherently joyful and they are inherently genuine. 3 solid attributes to easily make them a candidate as a best friend. Yet do not be fooled into thinking that a dog knows your words or thoughts until you have taught them. Do not baffle them with human words and thoughts, see them as an amazing animal that can live amongst us and that can bring so much joy. Remember that they need us to properly teach them how we want them to be. Never use tone of voice or tell them off. Train them.
My Insight.
Quite a few of the dogs that came to me from Leicester Animal Aid and privately were in some sort of turmoil when they arrived at my house. Some were really poorly and had completely shut down or worse, yet all had little to no trust in humans. With my knowledge of dog behaviour I could try to guess why they were in this state or what had happened to them to create the issues that I was facing yet I did not do this. I did not try to assume what had happened to the dog because if I did I would probably be wrong. Unless I knew for sure I would never try to guess. The main reason for this is because you can not change what is in the past so why would I let it affect the future of the dog. My sole focus was on how I wanted the dog to become so that they could find a forever home and a quality of life for the future. There was no time limit some stayed for weeks others stayed for months and one stayed forever.
Both of my dogs are rescue dogs from Leicester Animal Aid my old boy Buddy a Boxer cross and my Presa Canario cross Wendy who is who I am going to tell you about along with Bernie a little terrier cross.
Bernie was the first dog that I fostered from Leicester Animal Aid. They had had an influx of dogs in that were taken from a terrible situation and were desperate for foster homes for the dogs. So even though Buddy came from LAA Bernie was the first foster dog from them. A small black and tan terrier with a complete lack of trust in humans. Yet he had great energy, he was calm and curious which is always a good starting point even if he was scared. He stayed with me for about 6 weeks and then we re-homed him into our local village pub The Crown believe it or not. Every dog that has stayed with me has visited The Crown because it was a great place for socialising with a great garden. The dogs would see plenty of other people and dogs. They could also see how my dogs behaved in them situations. So it was a great place for them to learn trust and for me to learn about them. As Bernie developed he became a solid dog, not overly affectionate with very little prey drive and like I mentioned he had a lovely calm energy about him. So the landlord and his partner became very attached to Bernie. However because Bernie came to me with the issues he had LAA thought it was not a good idea for him to live in a pub. So the center manager Linda came to the pub and we had a meeting there. I managed to convince Linda that Bernie was a solid dog and that he could live happily in a busy pub. So Bernie ended up living at The Crown. The Crown was owned by a small pub chain called the Little Britain Pub Company and Bernie ended up as the unofficial mascot for the chain with his picture being in a few of their pubs. Subsequently Mat the landlord had a second dog from me Beertrix yet she was not from LAA and she never stole Bernie's crown as star of the show!
Then there is Wendy my dog. A whole different ball game to Bernie in many ways. Firstly was the state that she arrived in, she had zero trust in humans and did not want to be around them at all. Her anxiety levels were through the roof to the point that anything slightly new in any given situation would send her backwards on what she had seemingly come to terms with previously. A clothes airer in a different place or a curtain only half opened could put her in a meltdown. Things that were so innocuous to us yet were terrifying to her. She had no confidence whenever something changed and would give anything to get out of a situation as fast as possible. Her body language very rarely got better yet there were glimmers of hope along the way. She ate 2 sofas and destroyed many items toileted a lot and was by far the most challenging dog that had ever stayed with us. So we kept her and she became our 3rd dog at the time. Years later and she is still challenging she still has issues when she goes into enclosed spaces to start with and is always aware of her escape route and she still has meltdowns if things change even in tiny ways. Yet she does have a quality of life that even I was sceptical about for a short while at the beginning. For all of her issues she still brings joy to our lives especially when we see her content and happy and we still go regularly to our local pub and she loves it.
We had dogs staying with us in between Bernie and Wendy and also after we adopted Wendy. In all we had 38 dogs visiting us over 15 yrs. 6 was the most at any one time that I took to the pub. 7 was the most that lived with us at anyone time. All different ages and different breeds and I never once used a crate or stair gate. I taught every dog. We lived in a 3 bed semi detached with a medium sized back garden.
I offer a 20% discount on my hourly rate for rescue dogs. If you do need my help please get in touch.
I wish you nothing but joy and good fortune on your journey with your new rescue dog.
