Whether you paid a high price for a dynamite dog or adopted a destitute dog, the period of adjustment will last for from four weeks to four months. You will need time to get to know your companion and become accustomed to performing the activities of a dog owner such as feeding, exercising, grooming, and training. Dogs are creatures of habit, so your new dog will also have to make adjustments. Even if living with you is paradise compared to his past, Spot will still be stressed by the sudden changes in his life.
The First 48 Hours
Being alone in a strange place can be quite frightening to a dog, so try to acquire Spot when you have a vacation or a long weekend so you can get to know each other slowly. Spot may not be ready to accept you just yet, but he does need your comforting presence. This isn’t the time to do spring cleaning. Keep household activity to a minimum during Spot’s first couple of days with you and give him time to adjust before inviting your friends over to meet him. Help him become familiar with his new home by going along as he investigates every nook and cranny, and don’t hesitate to set the limits. For example, if Spot tries to play with a potted plant, tell him “No!” sharply and praise him softly when he turns away from it. Most new dogs begin testing the limits of your permissiveness during the first week in their new home. They want to please but don’t know your expectations yet, so they are extremely receptive to education at that time.
During Spot’s first few days at home, don’t push him to relate to you. He needs time to watch, listen, and adjust. Invite him along as you go through your regular household routine but don’t get your feelings hurt if he doesn’t follow you from room to room right away. No matter how strong your urge to smother him with love, wait for him to come to you. Sit down and write a letter, or read, or watch television as long as the volume is low. Any activity where you’re sitting in a fairly quiet part of the house with your dog in the same room is fine. Ignore Spot unless he asks for attention. If he does, welcome him quietly as if it was no big deal (even though it was!). Put your hand out toward him, and if he doesn’t move away, stroke him casually, while continuing to concentrate on your book or TV. program. If he shies away, don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. Just ignore Spot until he moves toward you again. Then let him get as close as he dares but don’t try to pet him, until tomorrow. And if that doesn’t work, try it again the next day, and the next. Depending upon Spot’s past, it may take a while before he asks for and accepts your affection, but it’s worth the wait. Forcing affection on him could crowd and frighten him, slowing down the physical and emotional process of his coming to you.
Older children, who can be trusted to take it easy and let Spot make the first move, may bring him out of his shell faster than you or your spouse can. Sometimes kids and dogs achieve a natural communication that eludes busy adults.
Kids and Dogs
Young children should never be left alone with a dog, but it’s especially important that they be supervised when Spot first arrives and barely knows them. Babies and toddlers move erratically, have disparate body proportions, and smell different than adults. That’s why dogs who haven’t been around babies may not even realize they are human at first. Be especially vigilant if the children seem to want to tease Spot. Dogs perceive poking, prodding, and fingers or faces crowding right into their face as threatening. Some dogs simply walk away, but youngsters often follow. With no way out, Spot may growl, or even snap to make the teasing stop. Don’t let it happen. Use positive teaching, not punishment, to show your children how to “make nice” to Spot. Supervise their play until they are old enough to be trustworthy, and when you need a break, put Spot in his crate.
Rowdy play, such as a ball game complete with tackling, pushing, shouting, and chasing, may over-excite Spot. Some dogs fear “their child” is getting hurt and try to protect him from his playmates. Others just want to join in the fun, but they may use their teeth—the only means they have for grabbing. Either way, someone could get hurt. Watch how Spot reacts to boisterous play and bring him inside if what you see worries you even a little. If the children are old enough to understand, explain that Spot can’t handle rough games and they can have him back when that game is over and they play something quieter.
About the time they are in third or fourth grade, some children develop a real understanding of animals. If your children are eight or over, have patience, and want to work with Spot, show them how to teach him to sit, down, and come (training tips appear in Essential Education for your Dog, Lead Breaking Your New Dog, and Commands for Daily Living). Children often have a way with dogs and get the job done better and faster than grown-ups. The articles Old Dogs Sure Can Learn New Tricks! and Activities for You and Your Dog include games that people and dogs can play together, as well as a few tricks your kids may enjoy teaching Spot.
Dog to Dog
If you already have a dog, he and Spot should meet in a neutral place before Spot enters your house or yard. That way your dog is less likely to see Spot as a stranger invading his territory. Arrange for a friend or family member to take your original dog out for a ride or walk, on lead, to a designated place. Then meet them there with Spot also on lead. A park or a friend’s yard is a good place, and walking distance is best because then you can walk the dogs home together.
When the dogs first meet, start a conversation with the other person and let the dogs do their thing. Keep plenty of slack in the leads so they can sniff noses, dance around each other, and perhaps growl a little, as they decide which of them is dominant. Keep talking through it all and avoid petting either dog. They will get to know each other better and faster if they do it on their own terms with as little human interference as possible. However, if the growling becomes so intense that a fight seems imminent, both of you should snap your leads hard enough to get your dogs’ attention and head out in opposite directions. As soon as the dogs simmer down, try again.
After you bring both dogs home, don’t leave them alone together until you’re sure they get along well. Use their crates, or keep Spot in a crate and your already established dog in a different room when no one is home.
Cats and Other Critters
Cats and dogs can get along, and often become good friends, provided Spot doesn't have a history as a cat chaser or cat killer. Once a dog develops a prey drive toward cats, it can never be trusted with them. That’s why “okay with cats” should be on your “Dream Dog Check List” if you have a cat or plan to get one.
Spot should be on lead when he meets Tabby, but she should be free to move at will. Correct Spot immediately if he barks or growls at Tabby or lunges toward her. A correction on lead entails snapping the lead, as you will learn in Lead Breaking Your New Dog. Just holding it tight and letting Spot pull won’t do. In fact, it may tend to excite him even more.
If Spot isn’t especially agitated at the sight of Tabby the cat may become curious and try to sniff noses with him. If Spot sniffs back gently, this is good. Just be careful because even a small dog can kill a cat in a heartbeat. Most won’t try, unless Tabby runs. Then the instinct to chase moving prey is stronger than most dogs can deny. But that won’t happen to you because Spot will be on lead and won’t be able to chase Tabby even if she does run. If Tabby takes off and Spot tries to follow, correct him with a solid jerk on the lead and a firm “No!” He’ll soon learn that this is Tabby’s home too and will either ignore her or become her best friend. Until then, don’t leave them alone together.
Almost every other popular pet appears to be prey to a dog and should be housed in a sturdy cage out of Spot’s reach. Ferrets, birds, gerbils, hamsters, and rabbits are all creatures that a dog’s instincts tell it to catch and kill. So keep Spot on lead when making introductions and correct everything, from too much interest to a menacing growl, with a lead snap and a firm “No!” You just want Spot to ignore your other pets, he doesn’t have to love them. Very few dogs make friends with furry or feathered little critters (although some do become buddies with ferrets), but if Spot is supervised every time he is near these animals he will eventually learn to ignore them. Until then, don’t take chances. Dogs have been predators for thousands of years, but millions of dogs live peacefully with other dogs, cats, and an array of other animals.
Routine and Exercise
Even before Spot accepts you as his best friend, a good routine will soothe him. Regular hours for food, exercise, training, and even affection will give him a sense of security and help him relax. It will also make housebreaking much easier.
Exercise is always essential, but it’s especially important when a dog is adjusting to a new home. Tired dogs relax more easily and get into less trouble than hyper dogs, so use exercise to take the edge off Spot and help him calm down. Brisk walks are excellent for both of you. Retrieving games, keepaway, and catch are great fun and help you become buddies—but only if your dog is ready to relate. If Spot doesn't know how to walk on a lead and won’t play, read on.
Your Dog Has a Past
Spot may remember his original home and family with love and longing. Death, divorce, an allergic child, or a corporate move may have suddenly left him in the hands of strangers, and he may be in mourning—waiting, hoping that his beloved family will return. Your home is comfortable but still very strange, and its smells are similar but not the same. You talk to him nicely, but your voice, touch, scent, and appearance are different. Spot loved and trusted people in the past and will learn to love and trust again, but for a few weeks he may be bewildered and punchy; stunned by the sudden loss of everything familiar to him.
On the other hand, Spot’s former owners may have made him view ordinary household activities with alarm. Newspapers, the rolled up magazine you carry in from the mail box, your hand reaching out to pet him, and anything that resembles a belt or stick may remind him of past pain.
If your Spot is a retired show champion or a wanna-be show dog that didn’t win often enough, he may have lived in a comfortable kennel with heat, air-conditioning, affection, and good food, but still not be familiar with life inside a home. Household items will be strange, and perhaps somewhat scary, but he’ll gradually get used to them. At least he won’t have to contend with terrifying memories while adjusting to his new surroundings.
Maybe your Spot never had a home and had to find his own food. He never felt a carpet under his feet, walked up or down stairs, watched someone cook and salivated over the tempting aromas so new to him, heard a door bell, or encountered the frightening vacuum cleaner monster. No one ever gave him a hug. Tossing a ball for Spot in play may make him panic. Street dogs don’t learn to play ball, but they do learn to dodge the rocks heaved at them when they raid garbage cans for a hasty meal.
Pity is not the Point
Okay, life may have been unkind, even cruel to Spot, but just look how his luck has changed. He’s with you now, and the rest of his life is still ahead of him. Although he may have been a victim, he isn’t one now, so don’t treat him like one. Save your pity for unwanted dogs that never get a break. Spot needs your help all right, but your pity will prevent progress, not encourage it. To blossom in his new home he has to become confident, and dogs gain self-confidence by learning how to please their owners. So the best thing you can do for Spot is train him, and the sooner, the better. Don’t wait for him to adjust. Instead, help him adjust through gentle, but firm training. Spot especially needs direction when he first arrives. Letting him get away with actions you plan to correct later is confusing and unfair. Start him on the road to good manners and keep him from developing bad habits by teaching him the basics from day one. Praise every correct move he makes, and he w ill gradually develop the confidence you seek to instill.
Do you need a lot of specialized knowledge to train Spot? No. But you do need two attributes: common sense and consistency.
Common Sense and Consistency
Even before Spot enters your household, your family should discuss what a dog will and will not be allowed to do in your home. Except for the obvious, such as soiling the rug or stealing food from the dinner table, there is no right or wrong, just personal preferences. For example, some families may allow their dog to sleep in a bed, while others provide the dog with its own comfortable crate or doggie bed and teach it to sleep there. Some people invite their dog up on their lap or encourage it to sit on the sofa. Others don’t permit their dog on the furniture. Don’t worry about other people’s rules. Set rules that suit you, and Spot will adjust to them provided they are upheld by the entire family. Common sense tells you how confused he will be if Dad doesn’t allow him on the sofa, but Mom invites him up beside her the minute Dad leaves for his Elks meeting.
Children sometimes allow or even encourage their dog to break the house rules, believing this leniency will make the dog love them best. If you think this may be happening at your house, review the rules and the importance of consistency with the whole family. Then mention that if someone allows Spot to do something that gets him into trouble later, the dog will soon lose confidence in that person’s leadership.
