Rescue Dog & How Long To Settle.

[Dobiegirl]

Im on my 2nd foster dog for Dogfriends, my first was a lovely young brown Dobe who was rehomed but bounced after the wife said he was aggressive with her, they had him for 3 weeks. He came back to me and I tested him to an inch of his life and he didnt have a bad bone in his body, he has now gone to a lovely home with an older couple who think the world of him.

Now Im on foster dog no 2 Billy a 3yr male Manchester Terrier who had lived in kennels as a stud dog all his life until March this year, he has changed homes so many times before he was neutered and coming to me via the above rescue. He isnt house trained and he is terrified of people especially men, on the plus side he is good with my dogs, he is crate trained, loves his food and is now bonded with me. Ive ordered an adaptil collar and he is wearing a tiny t shirt which is helping. His house training is going well and Ive tried to set him up for success by never allowing him out of his crate unless supervised by me. Ive had quite a few enquiries about him because he is a rare vulnerable breed and he is a handsome little chap. When people ring up I tell them of his problems and it will be some time until I can safely say his house training is rock solid and Im working on his nervousness but he could quite easily revert back to square one in a new home. I ask people if they have the time and inclination to deal with this and after a brief silence they say no unsurprisingly.

Ive asked the rescues vet to test him for Hypothyroidism but theyve asked me to give him a bit longer(Ive had him a month) before they go down this road.


Now after Caylas and Picklenash comments do you think people give rescue dogs a fair trial(this is no way having a dig at Lacunas post), are people put off rescue because they think they all have baggage. How long is a fair trial, what would be a big no no for you with a rescue dog.

I realise this is really 2 posts in one, as regards Billy would you rehome a dog like this if it was a breed you always wanted to own.

 

[{97702}]

I suppose my answer would have to be - it depends. Some people are realistic with rescue dogs, and will give them a fair trial, but others seem to expect them to settle within a few days. As I said in the other thread, I never expect my rescues to be totally and absolutely settled until they have been with me for 6 months but usually I would expect them to settle down quite well after about 4-6 weeks, and usually they settle well before then.

There wouldnt ever be something which would be a total no for me with a rescue, other than the obvious that it would have to get on with my existing dogs. Yes I would definitely offer Billy a home, the most rewarding dog I have ever owned was a rescue lurcher (Talisker) who had all kinds of problems when I got him. To see him transform into a loving, trusting dog was amazing, yet I think most people would have handed him back if they had the sort of issues I experienced with him. It didn't bother me at all, it was just part of the process as far as I was concerned.

I know that I am unusual in terms of the way I handle my dogs nowadays, I am into common sense and practicality not theory, behavioural analysis and clicker training, but I am always open to new ideas and my approach has definitely worked for me and for the rescue dogs I've had over the years.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Disclaimer here, don't rescue but all of our recent dogs have lived in different homes previously/haven't come to us as baby pups.

Depends on the dog - I am reminded of the poster recently who had a foster who attacked her own dogs and another who said her foster attacked her hubby and his friend. In those situations where there were other dogs and kids involved that would be intolerable unless the dog could be very strictly crated and very carefully handled and no quarter ever given which is not realistic in a lot of households. Not everyone has the room to manage segregating a dog.

Aggression I could actually probably deal with better than nervousness - mine is a bit of a crash/bang/wallop type of household and I don't really like nervousness/jumpyness in dogs and it would be a no-no for me in dogs generally.

Just a few musings, I didn't really answer the question

 

[Dobiegirl]

Picklenash I might want your phone number as a possible home lol Clicker training, you are having a laugh, he freaks out at the sound so am just using my tongue to click. If he went to cock his leg in the house and I said ahah he would just run straight to his crate. Cayla is a mine of information and suggested I used a squeaky toy secreted up my jumper so he didnt know it was me and it didnt ruin our relationship, it works.

CC The thing with fostering you have to have rock solid owned dogs, mine are amazing but having said that I am ultra careful, Cody the brown Dobe did try it on with Diesel it was just a test really and Diesel responded in the correct way. Billy only having been recently neutered did try to hump the girls but again the response from them was correct, he also after 3 weeks did try it with Diesel but again was shown the error of his ways, no teeth involved though. I would never ever leave a foster dog alone with mine, I think you just have to be very sensible and use common sense.

 

[bonny]

Just been reading about the awful incident today where a little girl was killed by a dog that the family had for 2 months after the rescue centre he came from said he was good with kids ......makes me think that no matter what you test a dog with and how careful you are if it's a strange dog with a possible bad background they should never be trusted.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Not connected to that incident today but Ive seen pics on fb of people who have rescue dogs and they allow their children all over them, children cuddling rescue dogs that they have had for 5minutes. A lot of these dogs have come from pounds so there is no previous history, its just one of my biggest pet hates. I just think so many people these days are not dog savvy and see dogs as fur babies.

 

[Clodagh]

People buy a puppy and expect it to be hard work - although looking on preloved you wonder if they do realise that - well an adult is going to be just as hard. So, I would expect a rescue to be like a pup in length of time to settle in, so 6 months really I guess! Our rescues/rehomes have always been pretty easy and we have had a lot but we are a doggy orientated household anyway. We haven't taken on any dogs with baggage as we had young children (now older) my mum has taken on neurotic ones as it is just her and her partner, she has always turned them into mostly lovely dogs after not too much time.

 

[blood_magik]

I think I've been extremely lucky with my rescue dog judging from some of the comments on this thread.

 

[Clodagh]

Most of ours have been settled within a week or two I must admit, but we have always had straightforward ones. The worst was the border terrier who the owner gave away because she was so yappy, she never did stop barking for the 14 years we owned her.

 

[SadKen]

Good thread.

If I was getting a rescue, I'd treat it the same as getting a puppy - i.e. if it comes home with me, it's mine for life regardless of nuisance. There are exceptions to this rule - if the dog was aggressive with me or OH, or with my dogs. Then it would have to go back. Wouldn't send back for destruction of my stuff, or barking, or peeing in the house etc. I can work with all of that and would expect a new dog to need as much if not more training than a puppy.

I have to say though, the fact that I would refuse to give up under this level of duress is probably partly why I haven't taken on a rescue. It's probably not logical, and a rescue wouldn't let me have one anyway (OH and I both work full time and have 2 un-neutered boys). Would love to take on an oldie when I'm older, and not in full time work though. I'd just have to make lots and lots of visits with my dogs to be as sure as possible that we could manage whatever we took on.

 

[BBH]

I have 3 rescue dogs and each one settled quickly but then I live in a very calm relaxed environment . I have one girl who came out her shell within a week, a boy who put his feet under the table the first night and then a second girl who although enjoys life is far too damaged to ever be a real 'character '. That's just her though and it took 6 mths for her to let any man near her and still won't allow strangers to stroke her. All different and at their own pace.

 

[{97702}]

I am a great believer in the idea that if something goes 'wrong' with a rescue dog, I will always ask myself what I did wrong to allow the situation to happen? For example, the recent fight between Amy & Flick happened when I had eaten salmon for tea - nice smelly food wrapping in the bin - I went to bed, the dogs emptied the dustbin and disagreed over who should have the contents. It was completely my fault, the dogs were just being dogs!

With my challenging rescue, I would not put him in a situation where he felt cornered or constricted, because if I did he might show signs of aggression - so those situations were avoided wherever possible. This meant he did not show aggression towards me when the potential was definitely there. I would never have a situation where a rescue repeatedly attacked my own dogs, as I would never allow the situation where an attack occurred to happen again.

This is what I was trying to get across by me having a different approach to a lot of people - I would never say that dogs are blameless, and I always think that they should act in a way that is appropriate, but they are just dogs at the end of the day, they don't think in the same way as humans do, they usually react to circumstances. It is up to me to manage those circumstances to avoid potential problems.

Dobiegirl's comment about people not being dog savvy is something I totally agree with, unfortunately I see it illustrated on a very regular basis

And I will get off my soapbox now, this is something I care really passionately about

 

[CorvusCorax]

Agree totally PN. And a dog under stress will always revert to the first ways it learned to deal with a situation.

 

[pippixox]

got my boy 1 month and 5 days ago. not from a rescue, but a family who didn't want to keep him after 6 weeks, as lacked time with 3 young children. before then he lived on a farm in a barn (he is 2). honestly within a few days he was already pretty settled and now he knows his routine very well, but if things change a bit he doesn't have a problem either. however, we are still careful. i know he is used to children, and he sees my friends little girls quite often, but always supervised, as even if I've had him a year you still never know (case on the news is tragic, don't know all details, but sadly could have been preventable, you need to be so careful) but i agree sadly people expect dogs to be perfect- i have seen so many ads on preloved for puppies people have had for less than a month, and shock (sarcasm!), found they need too much attention and energy than they can give. has anyone moved into a new house or started a new job and felt right at home and relaxed in less than a week?!! and that's with us knowing what is happening, you cant really explain it to a dog. i also agree with comments that people see dogs like teddies, i get so fed up with dogs who are allowed to jump all over visitors or grab food, mostly because 'they are only little'. from day one i set rules and boundaries for him to stick to, i wanted to be loving and friendly, but he has to behave. still early days for us, but hope all will continue smoothly and if not we will work on any problems, he is our responsibility now

 

[ladyt25]

It does depend on the dog and is always helpful IF the rescue centre know something about the dog's past but they can't always. The case today of that little girl killed is tragic but, without knowing the details no one can say what happened but people do often seem to let their kids clamber all over dogs sometimes and you can see why some dogs just get pushed too far.

My sister's dog was in kennels for some time and was rehomed several times before my sister got him. He is a Rottweiler x GSD and some people returned him within about a week because they said he was "too strong on a lead". Not sure what they were expecting with a big dog and why people seem to expect a dog to come 'ready made' as it were!

My mum's rescue was only 7mths when they got her and was fab - nervy of strangers and men but no issues. However, about 2 mths in (she's another GSD x) she exhibited real separation anxiety and would go on a mission of destruction if left for any period of time no matter how short (she had another dog for company) The final straw was when she ripped up the stairs carpet and underlay, ate/destroyed several plants and chewed half of a western saddle! It was pretty much like a bomb site on our return and it wasn't even like she was left for long!

She have obviously had time to get in a routine and get attached and got soo distressed when left. We decided to crate her and this was her sanctuary. We did this for several months and voila! A much more relaxed dog. So, it can take a long time for a dog to settle even if at first it seems they have slotted right in!

 

[reddie]

Our two current dogs are rescue and both settled pretty quickly. The jrtx took a few months to house train reliably, and was also quite destructive. With perservance and a crate, she now house trained and no where near as destructive. It's took a couple of years tho! Our lab x had nervous aggression. As long as we didn't put him into challenging situations he was fine. He did improve as the years went by. He fitted in with our lifestyle.

 

[Dobiegirl]

I agree with Ladyt25, people do expect a fully trained dog and some just have unreasonable expectations, the people who adopted from Cayla who wanted an old dog ,are returning him because he isnt affectionate enough, they have had him for 5mins practically.

All my rescue dogs that I have adopted have taken some time to settle and show their true character, my little Battersea dog took about 6months and she turned out to be the most wonderful little dog. 2 of my Dobes had behavioural problems, one was dog aggressive and the other dog reactive, both sorted with training and I was aware of the problem before I adopted.

All the people on this thread who have adopted sound very sensible and gave their dogs time which ultimately is what they all need, but some people expect miracles and pass the dog back to rescue making it more difficult for the dog for the next time he is rehomed.

 

[misst]

I think if you get a dog from a rescue you need to be realistic about what you can offer. I wanted a dog who was house trained and was dog friendly and could be left for a few hours occasionally. I was looking for a small terrier. All the ones I found needed a lot of input and I really felt I was not in a position at this time to offer a home to something needing complete retraining. So I waited and waited and left my name with the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust, a local rescue and The Cinnamon Trust.

Eventually I was offered my lovely girl who is approx 8 years old and of unknown breeding - could be staffy x something, could be cattle dog x something. She is bigger than I had planned but worth the wait. I had time to settle her in and get her used to my JRT and she has behaved beautifully from day one. Unfortunately a week after I got her my father died. He lived abroad. My sons girlfriend moved into my house with their dog and house sat at night while a dog walker came in twice a day to walk all 3 of them. It was a rotten start for her but unfortunately just one of those things. This situation lasted a week.
All 3 dogs coped fine, no accidents in the house, no fights, no destructive behaviour.

Not all rescues are difficult - my girls owner had died and the family did not want her. There must be lots of dogs like this looking for homes.

The moral is to find a dog that suits your needs - I did not want a puppy this time but would happily take a needy dog or a puppy next time if my situation was right. I know I have been lucky with her but I did turn down a few dogs that I felt I could not offer the level of commitment needed.
I am so happy with my new girl and she is very happy with us

 

[CAYLA]

If it was breed I would actually keep then yes of curse, that's why I have a house full of mutts and other people discarded mutts. You are doing a fine job as a foster though, most would have given up on him.

 

[Daytona]

My newest rescue staffy took 5 months to house train , she would have a accident every night. Also took near 7 months to teach her to recall and this last month we been able to allow her off the lead

She would just run off before .

 

[ladyt25]

My newest rescue staffy took 5 months to house train , she would have a accident every night. Also took near 7 months to teach her to recall and this last month we been able to allow her off the lead

She would just run off before .

Mine was very similar. I got her in Dec 2011 and, although pretty well housetrained (she was 9mths) she would have accidents, sometimes every night for a few nights and sometimes she would go ages without an accident and then start again. When I first got her she would wee on carpets if I wet to my parent's house or my sister's.

Her last accident was actually in May this year when I was house sitting at my mum and dad's. No idea why she did it but she hasn't had an accident since. It's taken that long though!