Rescue dogs - what can I expect?

[fizzyntiffy]

As some of you may know we've taken Tiffany into our family and she's been here almost 2 weeks now. After reading about rescues and the problems they can bring with them I was expecting a hound from hell but if she is she's keeping it well hidden  .  She has a few issues, but nothing major (she'd opened the post for me when I got home today  ).

What I want to know is, when she feels a bit more settled, what can I expect? She was a real velcro dog for the first week but now she quite happily goes in search of my daughter although she keeps an eye on me.

[joanne_v]

Every dog is different, same goes for rescue dogs. It all depends on how she was brought up and what she is used to. It generally takes 4-6 weeks for a dog to settle in but up to a year for them to truly feel at home. It all depends on their background. I've found that you tend to know they are feeling more settled when they start to misbehave and test the boundaries!

[Nicola]

As Jo says, every dog is different. I've had Tilly very nearly 2 years now ( !) and she never went through a pushing the boundaries thing, she just settled in like she'd always been here but lots of dogs do take more adjustment time. Tills isn't perfect by any means, she can be a cheeky minx but she's never done anything 'bad' and her obedience is pretty much spot on so if Tiffany is being really well behaved I'd just enjoy it 

[minimoo]

ive had Ella 7 weeks today  she has just fitted in with my other two, there are a couple of things she will do like steal food from anywhere, and she would attempt to run off as we got back to the car as she was never walked with her previous owners and she wanted to stay out as long as poss, im working on her and shes getting much better as she realises shes getting walked often, each dog is different ,but i always try to remember these dogs have been taken from the only home they know (good or bad ) and left with a stranger in a strange place and they need a few weeks to understand what is happening to them,and settle in ,ive heard of people who adopt a dog from a rescue and return it after a week for some silly reason like it wee,d in the kitchen TWICE, i wonder what these people think they are getting  , you sound like you are doing great with tiffany and it sounds like she will settle in fine, shes stunning by the way 

[JaspersMum]

Jasper had been rehomed twice by the time he was 9 months and although he didn't end up in a rescue, we expected some problem to manifest itself if he'd been soooo bad......

It never did, other than a bit of chewing of the house, think he was just glad to have a settled home where he could enjoy going out and being a pup - or maybe we were just more tolerant than his previous home 

They end up in rescue for all sorts of reasons, don't look for problems, enjoy him for what he is, a lucky dog to find you 

[Sarah.H]

I got Millie last October when she was 18 months, pretty much untrained and had been allowed to roam free. She is a bit highly strung and we've had a few problems with her being protective of me and wary of strangers/fear aggression. To start with she was really clingy to me at home but would actively run away when on a walk. Now she is fine at home and acts like a normal cocker, and out on walks she mostly pays attention to where I am and panics a bit if she can't find me. I would say 6-12months before the real character shines through, bless them it must be so confusing suddenly being part of a different family  .

[fizzyntiffy]

Yes, it must be strange for Tiff as she was living with 14 other dogs before and there's only me, dd and Fizzy in our house. She seems to be loving the attention and I've been sticking to a routine to help her settle. I've also made sure that I give Fizz attention at the same time, and separately, and after a few 'worried eyes' from Tiff if she's on my lap she seems ok with it. She won't rush over now if I'm giving Fizz a cuddle.

She did a sweet thing this morning, she stood on tippy toes and put her paws on Fizz's shoulder and gently sniffed her ear, her tail wiggling away. And they had a mad play moment together in the excitement of getting ready for a walk 

Don't think Tiff has had any training so we need to do a bit of work there

[Harveypops]

The last dog we fostered was with us for over 3months. We found she began to settle properly after a couple of weeks and was fully settled after a couple of months. Rescue dogs are the best. You're a star for giving a Tiffany a second chance in life!

[GinnyB]

what about ex breeding dogs? Are the easier or more difficult to settle into a [new] home?

[marbledmolly]

what about ex breeding dogs? Are the easier or more difficult to settle into a [new] home?

You can never say as you won't know how they have been treated before, expecially if they have come from the puppy farming side of breeding. Sometimes it can take longer if they have been kicked or hit etc. A foster dog of mine jumped out of his skin everytime i picked up the washing basket.

Remy is an ex-breeding from Many Tears. Like many ex-breeding she had never been house trained, ever walked on a lead before and never been in a home environment with all the noises etc  All of which takes time to learn and adapt to. You can never predict how long an individual dog will take to adapt to their new surrounding as they are all different. But Remy was so layed back from day one, the took everything in her stride and has adapted well. She probably thought all her birthdays had come at once.I can honestly say that her temperament hasn't changed one bit from the first day she came home. After about 3 months i felt like she had always been here    I know I'm biased as she is my dog, but she is the sweetest, dopiest dog I've ever met.   Don't look for problems that might not happen just enjoy.

[GinnyB]

so toilet training, socialisation etc would have to begin as if the dog were a pup?

[AnnieG]

what about ex breeding dogs? Are the easier or more difficult to settle into a [new] home?

Neither, in my experience ... just different.  Some of the others who have adopted puppy-farm dogs seem to have housetraining problems.  We didn't - Millie was sorted in a few days. The main issue was her fear of so many things - televisions, rapid movements, loud noises and - at least initially - the outside world. But, unlike some other frightened rescue dogs, it never manifested itself as aggression. Frankly, if these poor dogs hadn't been co-operative, they would probably have been knocked on the head years ago.    The real risk is creating separation anxiety. It may be different for the others but I think these dogs have had so little in their lives that they tend to cling desperately to their new-found security.  It's essential to take it slowly and make certain of leaving them alone for a while from the very first day. The great bonus is that most of them get along with other dogs.  They have been kept with a load of others, albeit possibly in separate cages, and are used to having them around. Again ... I don't think the fighters get to stay around for long. They damage the production line.   It takes a lot of patience and time to make them 'normal' but we never found it particularly difficult - just a bit puzzling at times. I wouldn't advise anyone to make their first dog a puppy farm rescue though.  It helps to have a bit of experience with less complicated dogs before taking one on.  But it's certainly worthwhile and I couldn't be prouder of my lovely, gentle girlie now.  

[GinnyB]

thanks Annie. Would I be silly (can't spell nieve) to imagine that an existing dog would help with settling in and toilet training, that the rescue dog would copy them?

Sorry for all the questions  but I'm very tempted to enquire about Patch 

[emilyjw]

thanks Annie. Would I be silly (can't spell nieve) to imagine that an existing dog would help with settling in and toilet training, that the rescue dog would copy them?

Sorry for all the questions  but I'm very tempted to enquire about Patch 

I think Many Tears generally look for a home with another dog to help the exbreedig bitch out. Like you say they have an example to follow etc.

We've had four fosters and like most have said each was different. It really depends on why they came into rescue, what their previous experiences have been etc. One dog that we had was fine with us (she had a bit of fear agression on walks but this was improving), she then went to a home as an only dog and didn't settle at all. She ended up coming back into the rescue and has now been happily rehomed with another dog.

[AnnieG]

thanks Annie. Would I be silly (can't spell nieve) to imagine that an existing dog would help with settling in and toilet training, that the rescue dog would copy them?

Sorry for all the questions  but I'm very tempted to enquire about Patch 

We had actually just lost our much-loved old cocker Binnie when we took Millie on.  I think Sylvia at MT was being kind to us as she much prefers to see the puppy-farm dogs go to a place with a resident dog.  She took pity on my wobbly lower lip!  We still managed pretty well without a chum for Millie.  But a year later Cassie came to join us from Four Paws (and her introduction bears out everything the wise EmilyJW says - but that's another story ) Millie immediately became much more lively and, I am certain, much happier.  So, on balance, I would say you can do it with a dog-alone but it is probably a lot easier with one already in situ to pave the way. Good luck with Patch - she looks an absolute darling.