Dop Adoption again!
Hello
I posted a while ago about adopting a dog.I wanted to check a few things.
I emailed the centre yesterday to enquire about a specific dog with our adoption form and they said, you sound perfect, she is being spayed on Friday and you could pick her up Saturday. This sounds very quick compared to lots of rescue centres - is that the usual process? As we're not free until Sunday this won't happen this fast and the charity need to arrange a home check anyway. I was thinking, like Battersea, that we'd meet the dog a few times first.
Also any books that anyone can recommend please? And what should we expect when we bring the little lady home?
Thank you for any replies
I posted a while ago about adopting a dog.I wanted to check a few things.
I emailed the centre yesterday to enquire about a specific dog with our adoption form and they said, you sound perfect, she is being spayed on Friday and you could pick her up Saturday. This sounds very quick compared to lots of rescue centres - is that the usual process? As we're not free until Sunday this won't happen this fast and the charity need to arrange a home check anyway. I was thinking, like Battersea, that we'd meet the dog a few times first.
Also any books that anyone can recommend please? And what should we expect when we bring the little lady home?
Thank you for any replies
0
Comments
How old is the dog and do they know its history? Have they asked to meet all members of your family who will be living with the dog. Does the dog get on with other dogs?
Will they let you take the dog out for a walk first? You could see how she walks on a lead and what commands she knows. That would help guide what book to get.
If its a young dog with little baggage but a lack of basic training something like Gwen Baileys book The Perfect Puppy is great. If its an older rescue dog Gwen Bailey does a Rescue Dog book as well. Other good authors are Sophia Yin and Patricia McConnell (especially "The Other End of the Leash").
I cant remember, have you had a dog before and do you have a dog at home already?
We have shared the care of a dog before as opposed but never been through the adoption part as the dog was my grandmother's. She passed away a few years ago. I do recall her being spayed and she was a real grotbag for a few days after bless her.
I saw Gwen's books so I think the Rescue Dog book would be good as we're hoping that this will work out and we'll be owners of a JRT aged 3
See how you get on with the homecheck and ask any questions then. Rescues are desperate to get dogs out of kennels and into homes, but it shouldn't be to the detriment of the dogs health and welfare.
Thanks ejm, that's a really good point about the vet and not one I had thought of at all.
I think the standard advice (happy to be corrected if anyone disagrees) for taking home a rescue dog is to give it lots of time to settle in, dont overcrowd her or smother her with affection at first. If she comes to you to be petted that's fine. Dont bring lots of people round straight away to meet her - let her get used to the new surroundings and feel safe first. Give her a space of her own and leave her alone in that space. Start of with the basics - food, water, bed. You can introduce toys and training later. Hopefully the rescue will give you some advice on this process as well.
It might be a good idea to learn some of the basic dog body signals as well then you can watch her closely and see if she is happy, stressed, afraid etc. Here is a simple guide:
http://boogiebt.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/doggie-language-and-a-very-funny-book/
Good luck - hope it goes smoothly!
We're going to visit Dogs Trust and Hula too over the next few weekends too. I'd rather take time to get the right dog than work around the shelter owners needs which is what this seems.
That's a very sensible and responsible approach. The 'right' dog for you might be a few weeks away, but much better to take things logically and sensibly and make the right decision for both yourselves and your new 4 legged member of the family. I wish you the very best of luck with your search. Any dog will be lucky to be going home with you. Keep us updated
I'm sure you know about this website but just in case
http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php?act=idx
We've been to meet a dog today with The Dogs Trust, or rather we didn't as she had already been rehomed which is of course, great news. We were introduced to another instead, a lab who is aged 1-2 and is very stressed in the kennels which is showing itself in mouthing and jumping up. We took her out for a walk and managed to get her to sit to take a treat although she was still boisterous and pulls on her harness. She's gorgeous. Due her highly strung nature, they want to home with no children under 14. The shelter suggested that with training she'll settle down and we have already been in contact with a trainer and know that we can have one to one training very close by. To be honest her over excitedness is just like all the dogs I grew up with as a child and I was fine. It could be, hopefully, that she'll get home and in a few weeks flop down with relief from being in a calm environment.
We're thinking about it as we've been offered a place on a new trial with IVF meds this year. Our intention was to get a calmer dog with proven child friendly in case it works (I remain cynically hopeful on this if that makes any sense!) and we're due to see another dog this week who seems more appropriate. Gosh this does pull at the heart strings so much.;)
Blimey, I'm talking like I already own her...funny that!
The JRT was a foundling btw, she was stolen six months ago and wasn't chipped. A friend of the owners saw her on the website and put everyone back in touch so that's good news for her.
Also I will keep my fingers crossed about the new IVF trials- I have followed your story on various threads & it would be lOvely for it to work out for you x
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to reply from me and Molly xxx
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