What you need to know before adopting a shelter dog

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Adopting a homeless pet - what could be better for someone who loves and cares for animals? We have made a lot of material on how to prepare yourself for this important event. Let's discuss the difficulties to be aware of before picking up a dog from a shelter.

Questions and problems with a new pet are normal. It's good if you can prepare for them in advance. If you are thinking about adopting a dog at home, we will tell you what to expect from this event and we will convince you: adopting a pet from a shelter is a great idea. Experts will help us with this: a dog handler (Jay Koes) and Evgenia Drach, a volunteer at an animal shelter.

The easiest way is to compare the appearance of an animal with the appearance of a child. Only this child will never grow up. Responsibility for his life will remain yours forever. Whether bought or rescued from the street, from a shelter, a new animal will be stressful for you. This is normal and it goes away.

Evgeniya Drach is a volunteer at an animal shelter

Animal selection

The animal you choose will become part of your family. A dog has emotional needs and temperament. It is logical to choose the pet that suits you and your loved ones. Evgenia Drach advises: the less experience you have in keeping animals, the more carefully you should choose a friend.

“Although you don’t buy this dog, it’s still worth getting to know each other and understand if you are suitable for each other,” notes Evgenia. Otherwise, a noble desire to save the beast will turn into disappointment and the return of the pet to the shelter.

The simplest and most practical advice: take an animal with a temperament close to yours. Love hiking - take an energetic, agile dog in his prime. If you like to sit with a book or at a laptop - take a phlegmatic, not too active, or maybe even a rather adult animal.

Evgeniya Drach is a volunteer at an animal shelter

Don't rely on the principle that opposites attract. If there is no contact, the most flexible dog will become a burden.

Family preparation

Discuss the introduction of the dog into the family and make sure that everyone, without exception, agrees to such a step. Jay Kus notes: if someone from the family is against it, this almost certainly means conflicts and, as a result, problems in the behavior of the dog in the future.

Agree on your dog grooming responsibilities. Someone has to walk it in the morning and evening, someone - to buy food, someone - to play and teach commands. Also, be sure to agree on who will take the dog out for a minute in the yard in the middle of the day. Jay says it is bad for dogs to endure all day between morning and evening walks. Your pet will be healthier and calmer if he has the opportunity to go outside for at least a short time three times a day.

Very important: if there are children under the age of 12 in the house, they certainly need to be taught the rules of safe and respectful communication with dogs.

The main ones are not to touch the dog when it is sleeping, not to approach it when it is eating, not to frighten it with sudden movements and sounds, not to lean on it, to respect its wishes when it pulls away, leaves, or in some other way explicitly shows that she is uncomfortable.

Jay Kus cynologist

Time

Prepare to devote enough time and attention to your new friend. After all, he will need it.

Evgenia Drach notes: if you are not ready for this, the dog will make you draw attention to itself in a different way. Chewed boots, torn wallpaper, a tattered sofa …

Mutual understanding between a dog and its owner is the result of long work.

It is important that you understand why you are enduring this stress, so that the joy of interacting with the animal easily and quickly outweighs the discomfort from minor problems. You will need to change your daily routine and daily routine. Then you will be happy about it, at first it can be hard.

Evgeniya Drach is a volunteer at an animal shelter

Adaptation

How to behave on the day when the dog finally crosses the threshold of your house? You also need to prepare for this, because your instincts and aspirations are likely to deceive you.

The first thing you will want to do is put off everything and communicate with the dog for the rest of the day, record him on video to post on social networks, offer him food and toys, check if he knows all kinds of commands, and the like, says Jay Coes. …

It’s a shame, but you need to act exactly the opposite. The best thing you can do is pretend to be the owner of a dog hotel: show the animal a quiet corner in the apartment, where a litter is prepared for him and where no one will bother him, put a bowl of water in a conspicuous place and politely forget about the existence of your guest at least for a few days.

What else do you need to do? Here are some quick tips.

• Take your dog outside often. If she looks anxious and hesitates to send her natural urges, try walking her on a long leash and getting distracted from her often.
• Help get used to the new neighborhood and home. Do not rush to take the dog to the park where your familiar dog breeders walk, or introduce it to the neighbors' dogs.
• It is also not recommended to invite guests home to show the dog in the first weeks.

It is better to postpone all this until the moment when you notice that your dog has grown bolder, requires more attention and comes up to you more often during the day, behaves more confidently on walks and shows more interest in things in the apartment. This will be the official beginning of his new life as a pet dog confident in the future.

Jay Kus cynologist

Specialists

Make sure you get to know people in advance who are willing to help you live with your new friend.

1. Veterinarian

If you try and find a good doctor for your dog, you will rarely see him.

How to tell if the vet is good? Evgenia advises paying attention to three main points:

1. How calm does the animal feel in the hands of the veterinarian? A good doctor will not twist the dog or pinch its mouth. In Evgenia's experience, good doctors give injections by gently stroking and not fixing the pet.
2. How experienced is the doctor? This is important, because the more experience the veterinarian has, the less tests and procedures your animal will have to endure.
3. How well do you understand each other? Personal contact with your veterinarian is also important. “If there is no normal communication, the treatment will be delayed or will not work at all. Find a specialist with whom you are comfortable talking and after communication with whom you will understand everything,”advises Evgenia.

2. Zoopsychologist

An animal behavior specialist can help you deal with problems, sometimes even online. If your dog's behavior is problematic, you will need to see a specialist.

3. Cynologist

If you want to train your dog, you will need a dog handler or trainer. Jay Coes talked about how to understand that you have a competent specialist in front of you.

For example, if a dog handler talks about dominance, this is a sure indicator of his failure. A person who talks about how the dog respects / disrespects you, or about the role of a strong leader, may even harm the pet.

Dominance ideas have been around for decades, and since then their theoretical basis has been disproved. The idea of "show the dog who is in charge of the family" has been replaced by a much more humane and effective paradigm based on rewarding the good, positive interruption or ignoring the bad, and creating an environment in which good is easier to accomplish than bad.

Jay Kus cynologist

Another important signal is understanding the mechanisms of behavior change. Jay notes: if the trainer does something physically forcibly (presses on the bottom, saying: "Sit!" paws or put out a knee if the dog jumps on people, or recommends jerking with a leash in any situation - fire such a dog handler without talking.

Other problems

In general, it is obvious: any animal can have behavioral problems. For dogs taken from a shelter or from the street, they are most often the following:

• Fear. A dog may be afraid of the street, people, leash, loud noises, the road, separation, and even completely unexpected objects and phenomena. Evgenia Drach notes: if you do not pay attention to this in time, fear can lead to other problems (destruction of the house, escaping, fights, barking, loss of contact with the owner).
• Health. First, you will need to spend time diagnosing and solving problems if any are found.

In most cases, all problems appear and are finally solved during the first year of marriage. “Many diseases that are difficult or impossible to treat in homeless people (for example, demodicosis - a subcutaneous tick), are easily removed from the home due to normal nutrition, stress reduction and simple but regular treatment,” says Evgenia.

Useful books

Jay Coes talked about books that will help you and your new friend find a common language, make the adaptation process easier and warn against possible mistakes along the way.

• “Don't growl at the dog,” Karen Pryor. The book describes an effective method of positive reinforcement in an accessible language. It will come in handy not only in your relationship with the dog, but also with yourself and your loved ones.
• “What To Do Before And After You Had Your Puppy,” Ian Dunbar. This book is worth reading before you bring your dog into your home. She tells in detail about the periods of raising a puppy and helps to prepare for the moment of meeting a new friend.
• “On the other side of the leash. How to Understand and Become Understood by a Dog, Patricia McConnell. The book teaches you to observe your dog and learn to understand it, and then interact with the dog with body language and voice.
• “Dialogue with dogs. Signals of Reconciliation”, Turid Rugos. The book describes several dozen signals of reconciliation with understandable stories about how dogs use them. She will help you avoid conflicts with your dog and learn to communicate with him.

Kind parting words

I wish the young owners to treat the upbringing process as a kind of creativity, where there should be a balance of logic, intuition, work, love, discipline and emotions. Even if you have a problem dog, do not forget to rejoice, run, stroke its belly, throw a ball, wander in the forest, look in the eyes, scratch behind the ear, because a dog's life is too short not to enjoy it.

Evgeniya Drach is a volunteer at an animal shelter