new dog :) any tips?

pippixox

pippixox

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Hi
as many of you know we tragically lost our GSD Harvey, aged only 5, to cancer, a few weeks ago. It all happened very fast, but we both knew within days of him gone that we needed another dog. The house was too empty, and there are so many out there needing a home. We contacted a few charities as knew it could be hard, as we have a 5 month old baby.

well we got a message on Sunday from a charity who had home checked us for a another dog, but they were not 100% sure how she would be with a baby, as she had only had a few visiting toddlers in foster. A single mum with 3 children under 6 had contacted them as she needed to re-home her dog, so it had grown up with babies no problem, just had far too much energy. 2 yo border collie, who she had from puppy, and had barely left the house....

so today we drove 130 miles (me and my 5 month old baby!) to meet Sky.... and we bought her home on trial!
She is a bit nuts and doesn't even know 'sit', but she is understandably stressed as suddenly been in a car for hours and in a totally different place. she has finally settled down on the sofa next to me after a bit of pacing and whining when i left her to put the baby to bed.

sorry i can never remember how to do photos!

So, obviously she needs time, as after 2 years in one house with the same people, this must be a big shock to her, but does anyone have any tips to help her settle? its been 3 years since we last got a rescue (he was also 2 and from a family who could not meet his exercise needs!) and feels like ages ago.
 
Congrats, we brought home our 5 month old collie who did wall of death round the house for hours as it had previously been kept in a cage at all times whilst in house, she settled quickly but we couldn't leave her without caging for 6 months as she would destroy the house (even if I was only gone for 5mins) yours sounds more sane! I would make it feel settled by keeping if you can to a routine but I am sure others with much more experience will have better advice. Keeping its brain active is key to a happy life together, if I take mine to work, even if she gets less time at yard she is shattered by the evening whreas if I have a day at home she is much more needy in the evening!

Pics please!
 
I will try and remind myself how to upload them!
She started howling when shut downstairs when I went upstairs to bath and bed baby/ but it was bad timing as due to the long journey she had only been in the house about 30 minutes. So I let her wonder around upstairs. She has not been crated before, but apparently in the past has been a bit destructive- but often when being left for 8 hours. She was living with run of downstairs- not sure what the plan is tonight! As want to start as we mean to continue- which would be bed downstairs- but not sure what to do if she starts howling downstairs, and there is a risk of an accident.

She is currently lying on the rug- like my last dog she likes the rug not the bed!
 
Congrats on your new addition and I hope she settles in :) Do you still have my email address? I can post some pics for you if you like.

Do you know much about her background and whether the owner had any special routines? Obviously the most important thing is give her space and time to settle in. As you have a small child (and possibly a noisy/busy household at times) I would ensure she has a quiet place of her own to retreat to when she wishes. Is she crate trained? If so, I would put her crate in a quiet corner and even cover it to give her a feeling of safety and security.

Don't overdo introductions initially. She will need a bit of time to get used to you and your family before introducing lots of strange people.

Once she settled a little I would try to get her into a routine as quickly as possible in terms of exercise, meal times, training etc as most dogs thrive on routine and it gives them a feeling of security. Is she house trained? The stress of moving might be enough to make her revert, so I would treat her like a puppy again and take her out often and praise for doing her business outside.

Enjoy her. It must be lovely to have a dog around the house again.
 
Just seen your comment that she hasn't been crate trained, but I would still pop her bed somewhere nice and quiet. Personally, if you aren't completely against it, I would allow her to sleep on her own bed in your room. You can gradually move her bed further away from yours and downstairs over time, as she settles in and feels more secure.
 
If she gets at all stressed when we go upstairs to bed she can come in our room! She was apparently normally shut in the kitchen, but with another dog and the back door open.

Basically she has been in a busy family home since puppy- owner had her from 8 weeks and she has been around babies lots and chaos! She basically has never had any routine or training. But I think she is probably going to be very pleased to have some consistency and ground rules. Definitely starting from scratch like she is a puppy.

She has fallen asleep on the sofa next to me.

Husband working late so still not home yet to meet her! (He was aware what we were doing today! Luckily trusts my judgement- did the same with Harvey- he came home to a dog!)
 
She feels tiny compared to a GSD! 17 kg instead of 40! I feel like we could still fit a GSD but baby, cat and dog friendly is a tough list! And she will need a lot of training to start (puts sensible hat back on head!)
 
She is currently very anxious and clingy- but no surprise really as she has barely seen anything her first 2 years,
Last night was not great- we didn't go to bed till 11. Within 20 minutes of leaving her downstairs she started to wine and howl and when I went down she has soiled. Tried just letting her onto the landing, but ended up having to let her in our bed where she finally settled for a few hours. I'm not used to a dog who gets separation anxiety even if just left downstairs. Apparently she only soiled when left for long hours, so I am hoping this really is just due to anxiety from the move and she will calm down.
I've never done crates before (although I do have a huge one out dog used to use when on a tent). But wonder if it would make her feel more secure and force her to chill in one place! Don't want to bombard her with new things.
 
The most important thing for new adult dogs in a household is plenty of exercise, especially physical, I walk a new dog on lead road/Street walking (if they can cope with the streets), interactive feeding and learning to relax inside the house.
Hope all went ok last night.
 
If you are happy with her in your bed for now, then might be worth continuing like that in the short term as she is settling in to a new home and new routine. In the meantime, you can start to get her gradually introduced to a crate, at first with the door open. Then when you have her relaxed and calm in the crate and can shut the door without her getting distressed you can put her to bed in the crate next to your bed. Make sure the bedding is something really comfortable and equivalent in comfort to your bed. Mine like a nice thick duvet in a duvet cover, folded to fit the crate. The first night you do this make sure she has had tons of exercise during the day so is tired and more willing to sleep. Once she is happy like this you can gradually move the crate away from your bed, to the landing, and finally downstairs to wherever you want her to sleep.
 
pippixox said:
She is currently very anxious and clingy- but no surprise really as she has barely seen anything her first 2 years,
Last night was not great- we didn't go to bed till 11. Within 20 minutes of leaving her downstairs she started to wine and howl and when I went down she has soiled. Tried just letting her onto the landing, but ended up having to let her in our bed where she finally settled for a few hours. I'm not used to a dog who gets separation anxiety even if just left downstairs. Apparently she only soiled when left for long hours, so I am hoping this really is just due to anxiety from the move and she will calm down.
I've never done crates before (although I do have a huge one out dog used to use when on a tent). But wonder if it would make her feel more secure and force her to chill in one place! Don't want to bombard her with new things.
Click to expand...

We cross posted, how much exercise did she get yesterday?
 
I literally met her at 1 yesterday and brought her home- we then had a 2.5 hour drive, quickly skipped the horses and got home to put my baby to bed. Husband was home very late so did not fit in an evening walk, so she was not exhausted, just a bit wired from a manic day.

This morning she has been to the horses- with me while I mucked out, on lead as no recall, and met another dog. Up to the horses later and will give her a decent walk to try and help.

She just wants to be next to me all the time! But is napping a bit except when I move!

I was just on a Facebook dogs for rehoming site and saw a dog I liked (not actually her) and got home checked- they are a tiny rescue in Essex called 'paws crossed', didn't mean to travel so far but there are not many dogs out there that have being well children tested. The first dog was not suitable but they contacted me a few weeks later with sky. The lady said she just tries to be a match making service!
 
I wouldn't be too concerned about the whining and generally stressy behaviour just yet. Her whole life has been turned upside down and so she won't know whether she is coming or going. Collies do have a tendency to be overly sensitive and her soiling downstairs was probably a stress reaction to being "abandoned" in a strange environment after a very big day for her. How long has she been with the rescue? Was she in kennels or a foster home before she came to you? Unfortunately previous owners can be less than forthcoming with all the truths about a dog they want to give up - so it would be nice to know the rescue had done a full assessment of her character prior to her coming to you.

As a high energy breed, I would try to give her plenty of exercise during the day with lots of little short, training sessions (clicker training and shaping behaviour is ideal to tire her busy brain) to help her settle at night. Personally I would keep her in your room at night for the timebeing and see how she goes.
 
She came from the family home- never went into foster or kennels. But yea the story seems to change a little- apparently she used to sleep in kitchen, but more recently on owners bed. She did sometimes soil inside, left for quite a while with no exercise.

She is certainly a sensitive soul. Went for a pavement walk in the rain and now she is asleep on the sofa.
 
You could give her a filled Kong when you leave the room to sort baby - will give her somthing to do and help her realise that being left isn't terrible.
 
I gave her her dinner in a slow feeder- but still only took her minutes! But she only wined a little bit when I was upstairs. I left the gate open so she could come upstairs (but cat tells her off as she is grumpy) and she came part way up to check on us but then went back down with a little wine, no howling tonight :)

I've been popping up and down quite a bit today to try and make her realise it's no big deal. Although also made sure I sat still for a while so she would chill enough for a proper nap!

We also need to master her jumping in the boot- she won't currently get in! She travels ok though once in the boot. Luckily she is half the weight of my old boy- who I was lifting in and out when he was ill. I tried sitting in it earlier, to see if she would then join me, but didn't have much time so had to lift her in.

ahe has met 4 dogs today- with just a friendly sniff :)
 
Bless, she sounds like she'll settle quickly with a routine. If she's going to be left in the house, it's worth crate training. Feeding her in there with the door open would be a good start.
 
She has already made a lot of progress in just 36 hours. Last night we put her bed in our room and she briefly was on our bed but then settled on her own.
We only had once incident, as she went downstairs for a drink and in return the grumpy cat hissed at her so she did not want to go past her. So she paced downstairs as felt she could not get to us and did a poo. I had to get her so she could get past the cat! Then decided we would shut the bedroom door to keep her in with us. At 2 am she woke me up to go out (in past house she apparently often had back door open all night so is not used to holding too long) and then slept until we got up with baby at 6am and went outside for her business

Husband going to try a little run with her this morning. She did brilliantly on lead with the buggy yesterday.

Anyway enough rambling from me! Thanks for the tips. The only crate we have is an extra large one we took on holiday with our GSD so I may look at buying a slightly smaller one (she is half his size) as it takes up the hole living room. Definitely something to consider. We can shut her in the living room but quite a lot of stuff in there she could damage if stressed.. at least we have no carpet downstairs!
 
Hello pippixox, I have been following you post. You are doing really well. Sounds as if she is improving all the time and you are getting to know each other. The jumping in the boot will come with confidence and when she looks forward to where you are going. I had a rescue who was terrified of the car and travel sick. You wouldn't know it now, she jumps straight in. Good luck. Keep us updated on progress.
 
All sounds positive then. Dogs are incredibly adaptable and once she's settled in and you have learned each other's little foibles it will be fine, I'm sure. Will you have to leave her alone for any length of time in the foreseeable future? I think it's worth getting her to settle on her own (whether crate trained or not) from the beginning so (as you did with the going upstairs thing) just leave her (after exercise and with a stuffed Kong or something to keep her occupied) for short periods. Don't make a big fuss of leaving or upon your return and she'll learn it's no big deal your going out and that you will return. Some trainers advocate putting up a wind chime (or other visual tool) to signify when you are leaving and teach the dog to associate the chimes with a tasty reward (i.e. Kong filled with yummy stuff) and then take the chime down on return. It's not something I've ever tried, but sounds interesting. I think COAPE are the organisation that do this.
 
Sounds like she is improving a lot already and it is great news that she leads well with the buggy as this can sometimes be a problem when you are trying to exercise a dog with a baby in tow!
 
Although we will rarely need to leave her for long, we are already starting to try and leave her for short periods.
She wines when we leave her downstairs- but does stop more quickly already- just 48 hours in. But we are purposely popping upstairs and shutting the dog gate various times in the day so she has to learn to not always follow us.
We had baby swimming today- out for 1 hour- left her with a Kong shut in living area, and walked out without saying anything. She was very hyper when we returned and had not finished Kong, but no accidents.
She is not keen on even eating dinner while we go upstairs, but will pick at it, and still only very early days. She literally had barely left her house for first 2 years of life so is doing brilliantly.
Walks around the farm today and she is so tired!

Already mastered the boot (and I have a highly Landy disco) as husband sat in it and enticed her in and then just been jumping in fine
 
she looks lovely and you have made huge progress in a very short time. the more exercise you can give her the better....also try to make her brain tired by doing short bursts of training during the day while indoors...if she likes playing with a ball that would be a bonus...i have a 3/4 border collie and as long as she gets her 2 walks and time playing ball she is very chilled indoors....mine also likes me to be there when she eats her dinner and she is 10 now so that may not change...good luck
 
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