Bringing Home a Recently Adopted Dog, Mistakes

Rescuing a shelter dog can be very rewarding, both for you and the dog, not to mention it literally saves a life. But recent statistics show that as much as 20% of dogs adopted from shelters are returned within the first couple of weeks. There are a few common mistakes that people make when bringing a shelter dog home. Knowing and preventing these mistakes will help make a smooth transition of introducing your dog into its new home, and help stop behavioral problems before they start.

Most mistakes people make with shelter dogs is giving them too much love, freedom and items. They feel bad that the dog came from an abusive family, or had to live in a cage for weeks, so they let the dog have what it wants. But this is not what the dog needs. Moving homes is a very stressful transition for a dog, and they need rules and boundaries to feel secure in their new surroundings. So with that said, lets start. 

1. Leash up: Once your dog is safely ushered into his new home, your first inclination is to take the leash off. But this will be the first mistake you make. The leash is a very important tool for safe corrections and guidance, especially for the first couple of weeks you have your dog. Leave a short 3 to 6 foot leash attached to your dog until your dog has a good grasp of the boundaries you are going to set. This may take a few weeks, or just a few days. 
2. The couch: When we first fostered our Pointer Jake, he went straight for the couch and made himself so adorably comfortable it was nearly impossible to tell him to get off. But giving your dog free access to the couch and other items of furniture is a recipe for behavioral problems. So, take that leash I was talking about earlier, and gently lead your dog to his own bed. If he jumps back on the couch, do the same, until he gets the point and lays down on his own bed on his own, then give him lots of praise and love for doing the right thing. Do not be angry, or forcibly jerk or push your dog off the couch, as you do not know this dogs past, and he may lash out protectively, which will cause bigger problems. 
3. Giving to much attention: It's our natural inclination to bathe our dogs with love at first, but this can be overwhelming and detrimental to their mental health. Our love should be an item that they must work to get. They cannot become dependent on our every move, as this creates separation anxiety, and they cannot develop protective behaviors over us. If your dog is glued to your side, try safely tying him down in a central room of the house where he can sit and observe the ins and outs independent from you.
4. Proper exercise: If this is your first dog, you may not realize how much exercise a healthy, balanced dog requires to stay that way. Getting into a steady exercise routine, like a sixty minute walk a day, is very important to having a dog. A tired dog is a good dog. Training becomes way easier, and both you and your dog will be happier and healthier. 
5. NILIF: I have mentioned NILIF many times. Nothing In Life Is Free is a training technique that should be in place the moment your dog steps inside your house. He does not get glorious toys or treats until he knows not to become possessive, and he does not get anything, ever, unless he does something for you first.

Follow these guidelines, and you should have a happy, respectful and highly rewarding relationship with your newly adopted dog, and have no reason to ever surrender him to the pound.  

Puppy Socializing-Other Dogs

 
There is a vital stage in a puppy's life, usually starting at 8 weeks and ending anywhere from 16 weeks to a year, depending on who you talk to, called the socialization period. This is the time where you introduce a variety of new situations to your puppy so he grows into a well balanced dog who is used to most scenarios and open to new experiences. But one of the most important steps to proper socialization is often missed, that is the step of making sure your puppy feels safe and comfortable in every new situation you introduce him to. This holds especially true for socializing your puppy with other dogs.
The key to socializing is making sure every situation is as controlled as possible. Learn to read your dogs behavior, and be able to control the situation so as not to over stimulate your puppy and cause him to become fearful or aggressive. To name a few, this means no dog parks until your dog is, in my opinion, a year and a half to two years old, no introductions to dogs you do not know, or dogs that may react poorly, and no overcrowded places where people or children may crowd your puppy past it's comfort.
So how do you socialize your puppy with other dogs if you cannot introduce him to dogs on your walks or go to the dog park? If a puppy is taken away from the litter no earlier than 8 weeks, then he has already been through the critical dog socialization period with his mother and litter mates. From the time he comes home with you to the time he is about a year old, he will be just fine being socialized only with his pack. Meaning other dogs you may have in your household, and dogs of your friends and family whom you know will react properly around your puppy. Puppies do not need to be introduced to an abundance of new dogs in order to become comfortable and well socialized around members of its own kind later in life. It is more a matter of making sure your puppy does not go through a bad experience where he learns to fear other dogs. For example, you meet a dog on a trail and this dog starts to attack, playful or not, your puppy. This dog does not lay off your puppy, thus your puppy learns that submission does not work and becomes fearful and aggressive towards other dogs he meets. He wants to attack them before they can attack him. This behavior then carries on to his adulthood, and you are faced with an aggressive dog from that one bad experience.
Now this does not mean that a bad experience cannot happen to your dog ever. It just means that during a certain period of your dogs growth, the socialization period, all experiences should be safe and enjoyable.

Horse Training...What?

 

What, you may ask, does horse training have to do with dog training? As I am learning, quite a bit actually. After working with a horse trainer, and learning a thing or two myself, I wanted to stray a bit off of dog training for a bit, and look at a few parallels between horse training and dog training.
While the techniques of horse training differ greatly from that of dogs, the main idea is very similar. Of course there is timing and consistency, which are extremely important, whatever you are training, whether it be human or platypus. Motivation is also a parallel between the two, you must give proper motivation, preferably positive but not always, in order to persuade an animal much bigger than you to do something it might not necessarily want to do.
While there are many similarities, there is also a huge difference between the two animals, and therefore many important differences in their training. I find this to be very crucial information, since I cannot approach a horse with the mentality of training a dog, and it would be completely unfair to a dog if I tried training it like a horse.
For example, say I have a dog, and a horse, displaying very similar behaviors that I would like to change. That behavior is that they both refuse to walk over or on new surfaces. For a horse this may be going over obstacles, or walking on a tarp. For a dog this may be walking on hard wood floors. To someone who knows nothing about the two animals, these behaviors may seem nearly identical. But to me, they are completely different. For one, the cause of this behavior is probably not the same. The dog is scared of hard wood floors and doesn't like how it feels on his paws, while the horse just plain doesn't want to do what's asked of it, for whatever horsy reason it has (not a horse expert). Since the causes are very different, and the animals take in the world very differently, you need to have a different approach to training each.
For the dog, the approach I would try is putting rugs or towels on the floor, and tempting the dog with very very yummy treats to walk across, and over time and training sessions start to take the towels off until you can tempt your dog across the floor with less and less treats.   
For a horse, you want the behavior you want to be easy, and the refusal of doing that behavior very hard. Work the horse by making it go in circles and turn a lot, and have it's resting spot be only by the tarp. Every time the horse thinks about crossing, let him rest, the moment he starts to refuse work him hard again.
Again, very different approaches, but timing and consistency and confidence is key to both.

Indoor Games

With the rainy and snowy season upon us, we sometimes want to take a day to relax and not have to go outside to exercise our dogs. But this doesn't mean our dogs still don't need exercise. Here are a few ways to mentally and physically exercise your dog indoors so he doesn't drive you crazy when you take it easy.
Food search: As the name implies, this is where you make your dog go in a down stay while you hide pieces of dog food around the house. Make it as hard or as easy as you like, and once you're done release your dog to sniff out the food. This is great mental stimulation an can occupy your dog for awhile, depending on how well you hid the treats and how food motivated he is.
Tug is a great game to play indoors, but make sure you control the game and your dog drops the toy when you tell him to. Add some more to this game and throw the toy every now again to get your dog moving more.
Food dispensing toys are a good way to mentally stimulate your dog and keep him occupied.
Go on an outing, such as to a store that allows pets, vets office, or just a drive to get him out of the house and into new environments.
Training new behaviors or practicing old can often be just as stimulating and even more tiring than a walk is. Training makes your dog really think, and strengthens the bond between the two of you. This is a great way to exercise your dog indoors.
Have another dog come over so the two can tire each other out.
Hide and seek: this is a game where you hide in a room of the house and have your dog find you. A way to add on to this game is to have two people hiding in two different rooms, both with treats, taking turns calling the dog to them. This is a great way to enforce the recall command and get your dog moving.
Treadmills are a good way to get some of your dogs excess energy out, although some training is usually necessary to get your dog used to a treadmill.

Chews

What dog doesn't like to chew? Chewing is a natural and occupying activity that most dogs partake in. Problems start though when your dog starts to chew on something he is not supposed to. That is why, if your dog is a chewer, you should get a variety of safe and fun chew toys for your dog to choose from. Here is a guide of many chews that we use, our success some and not others.

Chewing No's

I personally would not give my dogs any bones or treats with any harsh preservatives or that is treated with chemicals, I wouldn't ingest these, and nor should my dog. 

Raw hides can be swallowed whole and choked on, and in my experience cause dogs to have upset stomachs and aren't worth the trouble. But they do work for some dogs, and can be beneficial if carefully supervised. 

Cooked bones, chicken bones, or any thin bones or flat bones likely to shard.

Any object, organic or not, that breaks off in sharp pieces that can be choked on.  

Okay Chews

Chews that I have had great success with are:

Kongs, especially if they are filled with peanut butter or some other treat and frozen, kongs can keep a dog busy for hours. 

Safe plastic chews that can be bought at any pet store.

Bully sticks.

Real, raw bones from butcher. Though some precautions should be made before giving your dog raw bones, like freezing the bone for a certain period of time.

And by far the most popular chew for our dogs are deer antlers, buffalo horns and any other antler/horn we can get our hands on. They can be very expensive, but if you happen across one while hiking, or hunt, they are fantastic chews for dogs. Deer antlers rarely break in sharp pieces, and one good antler can keep all three of our dogs busy for months.  

Indoor Marking

Marking, not to be confused with urination, is used by dogs for territorial reasons. It is a perfectly normal behavior, but not appropriate indoors. A dog that marks indoors can be doing so for a few different reasons. It could be because the dog has never been taught that it is not acceptable, out of insecurity, if a new dog is introduced into the household or if the dog is introduced into a new household etc. 

If your dog has taken to marking indoors, you will need to take a few steps of prevention and correction to stop the behavior. 

If you have not already done so, spaying and neutering your dog may greatly reduce the behavior. 

To start, you will need to act as if you are dealing with an 8 week old puppy. Keep your dog in sight at all times, go for frequent potty breaks, and make sure you can quickly intercept your dog if you catch him/her marking. Tell him no and take him outside to eliminate where he is supposed to. I would also advise getting a deodorizing cleaner to clean all the places your dog has marked before. This will reduce the temptation for your dog to remark these places. 

I would also enforce a NILIF lifestyle until you have established common ground and communication with your dog. Your dog, just like a puppy, gets very limited freedom that slowly increases as he learns what he can and can't do, and as you begin to trust that he won't mark the minute you turn your back. 

yo-yo dog

Most dogs can get the point of loose leash walking pretty easily, but I see very few who can walk in a strict heel position for any period of time. Often times, when teaching your dog to heal, they start to 'yo-yo', where they will walk with you for a few steps, pull forward, fall back and walk with you, pull forward etc. All of my dogs still do this occasionally, and one of them is particularly bad at it. This video, made by a dog trainer whom I really enjoy watching and who I think has great techniques, shows you how you can actively stop your dog from this annoying walking behavior. This video is worth more than a thousand words. As usual with dog training it is way more helpful to watch what must be done rather than read it.

One thing I would add to the video is that if you are using a prong (which you shouldn't need to with correct techniques) or a regular collar, you can quickly and lightly correct your dog with a firm yet quick tug on the leash the moment you dog begins to rush forward. If you are being very interactive with you dog, like in the video, you shouldn't need to do this, but if you are out for an everyday walk and your dog starts to 'yo-yo' don't hesitate to give a quick correcting, and then start using the techniques in the video if he continues to pull ahead.