Settling A Rescue Dog

[skunk]

hey everyone

picked up cain from the RSPCA & he is seriously such an awesome dog. craves attention & will do anything to get it but hes also really really shy.

question is, how do i ease him into sleeping on his dog bed ? i know everything new to him & hes probably thinking oh crap what do i do now? am i allowed to do this? etc etc.

he isnt toilet trained yet & he will be an indoor dog. im wondering if im guna have any dramas with him tonite ? my plan is to let him sleep in my room with me on the floor in his dog bed & hopefully he will wake me up & tell me he needs to go to the toilet if he needs to !!

problem is i cant really get him to go into his bed lol

he also doesnt make alot of noise infact i havent heard him whine or bark yet !

just hope he makes some sounds to wake me up so i can let him out to use the toilet.

any ideas on how i should go about tonite ?

thanks.

[Cordelia]

Get a crate and put him in it... he isn't going to know to wake you up for a toilet break if you've only just brought him home AND he isn't house trained.

Did the RSPCA not give you any information regarding training him or using a crate??

[Golden Rules]

How old is the dog?

He might whine if he needs to go to the toilet :p I guess if this is your first night, you will soon find out!

If it's an older dog, he may be fine with being toileted last thing and again first thing and not need to go in the middle of the night.

He may also not be used to sleeping in a bed and might prefer a piece of the floor somewhere - just leave him be, he will work it out in time.

Just go about your usual routine and the dog will soon settle down into your routine.

[Kirislin]

I think skunk needs to know what to do tonight, unless he/she already has a crate it's unlikely they will get one until at least tomorrow.

Hopefully Cain will settle when he realises you are going to bed. Try not to fuss over him but show him the bed, even place him in it if he wont actually step in.

If you have some rescue remedy on hand it might help to relax him a bit. Not sure what else to suggest. Good luck

[RubyStar]

If it's a pup, I would crate the pup if you have one. If it's an older dog, I second GR's response in leave him be to settle where he pleases, at least on his first night. I tried crating Millie on her first night with me (she was an adult rescue) and not ever being crated before and being in a new house, she barked the house down. I ended up letting her out and put a dog bed in the tiled area of the house and let her be. She settled in her own time. It took her a few weeks to feel comfortable enough to want to sleep in my room on the floor with Ruby. Until then, she wanted to sleep out on the tiles by herself. I think key is, don't confine the dog if you find they are stressing out. And if it is an older dog, it should be fine with toileting before you go to bed and then again in the morning. You could always set your alarm for the middle of the night like you would with a brand new pup and take him out :p

[PaddyForever]

Hi, Skunk,

First of all, Good on you for being prepared to take on a dog from the RSPCA. If Cain is still a pup/young dog, he should not be too difficult to train, you just need to work out the methods you are going to use, and be consistant. An older dog will learn, also, it may just take a bit more time and persistance. I took on a 5 yr old Golden Retriever who had been kept at a 'puppy farm', basically, and it took me a month to teach her that it really was o.k. to lie on a dog bed rather than on a hard floor. She had apparently never had a soft bed before. She was 10 kilos overweight when I got her, but she still lost the weight, despite the fact that I am a food trainer. It's amazing the results you can get using a bit of barbecue chicken, and a lot of encouragement. With a 'worrier', you are going to need to be gentle, but firm. Babying him will only lead him to believe that he may really have something to worry about, if you seem uncertain yourself. Treat him as you would a new puppy. Take him out frequently to the same area, esp after meals, and if he is drinking a lot, as a worrier may tend to do. Take him out before you go to bed, set your alarm and take him out again during the night, and then first thing in the morning. A crate is a great idea and always a handy thing to have, anyway. A collapsable one is useful to have when you go away, or to keep him confined when he is sick. If you associate the crate with food, tossing in a tasty treat to entice him to go in, and then rewarding him with another(small pieces, of course,)after you close the door, he should learn quickly. Take him out of the crate to toilet just as often as if he was out, and let him out first thing in the morning. Don't keep him crated through the day, but allow free access to the crate as he may even find it a safe haven. Some dogs just love having a quiet place to feel safe. My dogs tear into their crates at night for their Good-Night doggy snack. They are still let out to toilet late at night, as I am a night-owl, which is useful, and my husband lets them all out first thing in the morning, about 6am. They never have accidents in their beds. Most dogs will try not to mess where they lay, although there are exceptions, but a crate can be a great first step to toilet training, so that hopefully when you start to leave the door open, and then perhaps leave him free at night, he will have learnt by then that his toilet area is outside. You will find that most dogs choose an aea that they try to 'go' in the most. In his general training, all the above rules apply. Be kind, consistant, encouraging and patient. Preferably, use your voice and 'reward' based training, using food or toys. Most shy dogs respond well to these methods. Show him that he can depend on you, and he will start to respond to that. He WILL learn, esp if he is eager to please. Wishing you both the very best of luck. :p Sorry I didn't get to you before your first night, hope it went o.k., you did get some other good advice here, though. Let us know how you go.

[Kirislin]

Did he settle eventually skunk?

[skunk]

hey everyone, thanks so much for the replies !

cains over a year old now so not a pup, last night went surprisingly well !

in the end i opted to put him to bed in the Landry room for a few reasons,

firstly i know most dogs wont soil theyr sleeping area & the laundry room isn't all that big, although there is enough room to move away if he did soil the area.

hes not a puppy so bladder control shouldn't be an issue

also being his first night, i hoped to see if he would toilet indoors or prefer outdoors as most dogs do.

initially i felt really bad not letting him sleep in the room with me & also when he started to whine a lil while he was in the laundry, but i know that if i keep rushing to him every time he whines, he will soon know that all he has to do is cry & ill come get him.

left him alone & he was fine after bout 10mins !

i put his bed in the laundry & sat in it as its the only way he would know its ok to get into it lol

not sure if he actually slept in it or not but i will leave him be & eventually im sure he will prefer the bed vs cold floor !

woke up this morning without an issue ! good boy he is ! was very happy to see me none the less.

let him out n he went around the back straight away probably to do business lol.

took him for a walk & he didnt pee or poop so im guessing he did that as soon as i let him out.

im plan on letting him in my room with me tonite & see how he goes. im sure he will be fine!

[skunk]

btw, id like to start training asap, can anyone recommend a good school ? RSPCA has some classes so i will check with them too

but if anyone knows of one in the cranbourne/hampton park area that would be good too.

hes an awesome dog n very very dog friendly, i was abit worried when the neighbors lil white fluffy thing came up to him lol but they both just started playing.

[Kirislin]

so far so good. One thing I would suggest is if you dont know if he's actually house trained you need to follow him outside when he does his business. Dont just assume that's what he's doing out there because you need to start praising him for doing the right thing. So, follow him, when he does his business you start saying whatever command you want in future, do wees.... whatever at the same time he's actually doing it. Soon he will learn to go when you tell him to (assuming he actually needs to at that time) so then at night, before you go to bed you can take him out and tell him to go. And praise him when he does it right.

The other thing, and I am not sure if you did this or not, keep him on the lead until you know he will come back to you, and you know what he's like with other dogs.

[skunk]

hey kirislin,

thanks for that, yeah hes always on the lead when hes out walkies. i dont want him just shooting off although hes pretty shy & really follows me everywhere lol either way im not going to take any chances!

i did walk him last night before bed & when we were out he did wee n i did praise him for that but yeah ill have to do it way more often. something i will definitely be working on with him.

thanks for the tips !

[Tokkie]

hey everyone

picked up cain from the RSPCA & he is seriously such an awesome dog. craves attention & will do anything to get it but hes also really really shy.

question is, how do i ease him into sleeping on his dog bed ? i know everything new to him & hes probably thinking oh crap what do i do now? am i allowed to do this? etc etc.

he isnt toilet trained yet & he will be an indoor dog. im wondering if im guna have any dramas with him tonite ? my plan is to let him sleep in my room with me on the floor in his dog bed & hopefully he will wake me up & tell me he needs to go to the toilet if he needs to !!

problem is i cant really get him to go into his bed lol

he also doesnt make alot of noise infact i havent heard him whine or bark yet !

just hope he makes some sounds to wake me up so i can let him out to use the toilet.

any ideas on how i should go about tonite ?

thanks.

Hi Skunk, :D

For the first 2 weeks after I picked Ringo up from the RSPCA (he was also 1 year old) he did not make a noise.... he did not bark or whine at all. It did make house training difficult.... he would just wee in front of the door if it was closed.

I had to take him out every now and then and then praise him for doing his wees. After the first couple of times he would wee and look at me, with a "look what I am doing mommy....." look on his face

I crate trained him and it’s the best thing I ever did.

Good luck with your new doggy..... can we have some photos?

[fainty_girl]

My stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie didn't make a sound the first few days and we thought how great it was that we had a quiet dog. She was quiet because she had kennel cough, so once she got over that she has been very vocal ever since!

My other rescue dog Tilly was not house trained when we got her and she clearly wasn't used to spending time in a house, but she caught on fairly quickly. I would take her into the yard and would hang out there with her and if she did her business then I praised her verbally. If the back yard wasn't working, then I would put her on an extender lead and take her into the front yard or for a little stroll past our neighbours. She was pretty good overnight, I just made sure that she went out before I went to bed, then first thing in the morning again.

[frufru]

Having has many foster dogs and a couple of dogs that have come in as adults myself I find that they are very quiet for the first 3 days or so - really follow you about and don't say boo - then they start to settle in. Once they have been with you for a couple of weeks the real personality emerges and after several months you can see them finally accept where they are as home. JMO

Any new dog that comes into our house: permanent resident, visitor or foster is crated at night until the pack and toilet training situation is sorted - this varies from dog to dog. You cannot toilet train a dog that has free run of the house be it a puppy or an older dog requiring training.

Edited August 24, 2010 by frufru

[skunk]

hey everyone, thanks heaps for the replies once again.

cains been really good so far but iv really noticed now that he must have been abused in the past. he cowers as soon as i bring him his dinner which is really sad but im slowly trying to teach him its ok to eat from his bowl.

past few nights have been fine as hes now willing to go into his bed n sleep. havent had any issues with him peeing or pooping at night as yet as iv been taking him for walks b4 bed & first thing in the morning. as soon as i see him poop or pee i praise him. hopefully he will catch on soon !

hes alrady learnt to sit & to "leave it" when wer playing ball/tug. amazing what they can do when they WANT to lol.

hes has some kennel cough which iv got meds for now so we will see how he goes !

as for pics, my cameras broken so once i get another i will post some up!

thanks guys !

[Kirislin]

good to hear things are going well. Hopefully soon he'll realise tucker time is good time and he wont get a whallop over the head. Then again some dogs act like they've been abused when they haven't.

[skunk]

hey everyone, quick update on the whole rescue dog situation,

everythings been going really well so far, havent had any accidents whatsoever inside the house & he seems to be pretty happy these days!

here are some quick pics of him looking happy at the park.