HOW TO HELP YOUR DOG ADJUST.
Adopting a teenage or adult Toy Breed of dog, is vastly different to adopting a puppy and these points made in this fact sheet, are to help you better understand how to help your new family member ease into his new home and life style.
TRUST: Is something that is earned. You must get your new adoption to trust you. See this from his point of view. You are a tall, over towering stranger to him, someone he does not know or feel he can trust at first. You pose a threat to his tiny being. When you first take your new adoption home, have him confined in a comfortable size area where he can feel secure and not overwhelmed with too much unfamiliar space around him. Make sure he has his bed, food, water, toys, and give him a couple of hours to settle in.
What you do not do, is put him in an unfamiliar back yard and let him be. Look at this whole thing from way down low at his level. Pretty frightening huh?
Speak to him often, in a soothing, calm, slightly high pitched voice, using his name often and lots of praises. "His Name" gives him the sense of familiarity. A soothing, kind, voice, is calming.
When you allow him out to investigate his new surroundings in your home. Let him sniff and roam and become familiar with all the different sights, smells, and noises. Call him to come to you. If he does not, take a titbit, sit down on the floor and call him over to you. It may take him some time to trust you enough for him to come, but eventually, because you are down low to his level and not up high and threatening, he will come. As soon as he approaches, lots of praise and offer him the titbit immediately. You may have to do this several times, but soon enough, he will be following you around like a little shadow without the need for you to call him to you.
What you do not do, is chase the dog when he does not come to you. Do not become angry because he runs away from you, and lastly do not yell, or chastise the dog, and never, ever, EVER, hit the dog when you finally catch him!
CHILDREN AND OTHER PETS: Slow, supervised, and limited exposure is the correct way of handling the introduction. Remember, they are not familiar with one another and to build trust and a bond takes time.
This will especially be true of trying to make a cat accept the introduction of a teenage or adult dog whom has not been exposed to cats before. It is advisable to ask before adoption if the dog has been accustomed to cats and or young children. It is not impossible to create acceptance, but if you are not prepared for a lot of time and patience, plus clear understanding, then it is best not to adopt a dog in this age group.
Children under the age of ten, and Toy breeds, do not mix well, generally as the child, through no fault of their own, can pose a serious danger to the dog, due to his diminutive size and therefore, vulnerability to getting hurt or worse.
Children should always be supervised around Toy breeds, not left to their own devices. They should be taught how to approach, play, and handle the dog, with adult supervision at all times. If a child gets bitten by a Toy breed, you can be very sure it was a "defence bite' not a bite of aggression. Children should be discouraged from picking up the dog from the floor, chasing and cornering the dog, or pulling hair, tails, ears, or any other part of the dog. Children should also be taught that to hug too tightly, even if through affection, is not the right way. Many dogs have suffocated in this very affectionate, well meaning, hug.
If you are not prepared to supervise your children's interaction and teach your children well, then please re-think your decision about adoption any dog, Toy breed or otherwise.
COMMON SENSE: Is such a wonderful thing and so simple to apply to most all situations. We all have it, but sometimes tend to forget to use it. When you are considering where your dog is to play, sleep, eat, eliminate, which areas he is allowed to frequent, which ones are off bound, please think practicality and use your common sense in making the right decisions for the welfare and safety of your dog, and also what you consider important to you.
For example, if the dog is not allowed on furniture make sure your dog understands this from the start. Do not allow your dog on furniture one day and not the next. It is all or nothing. When you see your dog up on the couch, for example, a firm "no' and take him off immediately, and do this every time until he understands what is expected of him.
The same applies if he wanders into a room that is off limits, an area of the garden etc. Common sense needs to be applied. Think dog…….does he know what is expected of him? Have you been teaching him correctly?
Make sure there is nothing that could potentially hurt your dog in and around the home, especially teenage or young pups with no common sense of their own! Areas to be weary about are, swimming pools, dams, roads, electrical cords, gaps in fences, staircases. All of these, and more are a real danger to your dog. Look around you and ask yourself, "now, what would happen if my little dog………' Use your common sense to see potential danger.
TIME: If you don't have time to put into your dog, then please don't get one. Dogs, like children, need your time and undivided attention, at least some of the time. Especially during the settling in period, they may need a lot of your time. Consider this carefully before adoption, not after.
Please consider and also put into practice these suggestions to make life happy for yourself, your family, and your new adoption.
Written By
Anne Muscat
(c) copyright 2007
Adopting a teenage or adult Toy Breed of dog, is vastly different to adopting a puppy and these points made in this fact sheet, are to help you better understand how to help your new family member ease into his new home and life style.
TRUST: Is something that is earned. You must get your new adoption to trust you. See this from his point of view. You are a tall, over towering stranger to him, someone he does not know or feel he can trust at first. You pose a threat to his tiny being. When you first take your new adoption home, have him confined in a comfortable size area where he can feel secure and not overwhelmed with too much unfamiliar space around him. Make sure he has his bed, food, water, toys, and give him a couple of hours to settle in.
What you do not do, is put him in an unfamiliar back yard and let him be. Look at this whole thing from way down low at his level. Pretty frightening huh?
Speak to him often, in a soothing, calm, slightly high pitched voice, using his name often and lots of praises. "His Name" gives him the sense of familiarity. A soothing, kind, voice, is calming.
When you allow him out to investigate his new surroundings in your home. Let him sniff and roam and become familiar with all the different sights, smells, and noises. Call him to come to you. If he does not, take a titbit, sit down on the floor and call him over to you. It may take him some time to trust you enough for him to come, but eventually, because you are down low to his level and not up high and threatening, he will come. As soon as he approaches, lots of praise and offer him the titbit immediately. You may have to do this several times, but soon enough, he will be following you around like a little shadow without the need for you to call him to you.
What you do not do, is chase the dog when he does not come to you. Do not become angry because he runs away from you, and lastly do not yell, or chastise the dog, and never, ever, EVER, hit the dog when you finally catch him!
CHILDREN AND OTHER PETS: Slow, supervised, and limited exposure is the correct way of handling the introduction. Remember, they are not familiar with one another and to build trust and a bond takes time.
This will especially be true of trying to make a cat accept the introduction of a teenage or adult dog whom has not been exposed to cats before. It is advisable to ask before adoption if the dog has been accustomed to cats and or young children. It is not impossible to create acceptance, but if you are not prepared for a lot of time and patience, plus clear understanding, then it is best not to adopt a dog in this age group.
Children under the age of ten, and Toy breeds, do not mix well, generally as the child, through no fault of their own, can pose a serious danger to the dog, due to his diminutive size and therefore, vulnerability to getting hurt or worse.
Children should always be supervised around Toy breeds, not left to their own devices. They should be taught how to approach, play, and handle the dog, with adult supervision at all times. If a child gets bitten by a Toy breed, you can be very sure it was a "defence bite' not a bite of aggression. Children should be discouraged from picking up the dog from the floor, chasing and cornering the dog, or pulling hair, tails, ears, or any other part of the dog. Children should also be taught that to hug too tightly, even if through affection, is not the right way. Many dogs have suffocated in this very affectionate, well meaning, hug.
If you are not prepared to supervise your children's interaction and teach your children well, then please re-think your decision about adoption any dog, Toy breed or otherwise.
COMMON SENSE: Is such a wonderful thing and so simple to apply to most all situations. We all have it, but sometimes tend to forget to use it. When you are considering where your dog is to play, sleep, eat, eliminate, which areas he is allowed to frequent, which ones are off bound, please think practicality and use your common sense in making the right decisions for the welfare and safety of your dog, and also what you consider important to you.
For example, if the dog is not allowed on furniture make sure your dog understands this from the start. Do not allow your dog on furniture one day and not the next. It is all or nothing. When you see your dog up on the couch, for example, a firm "no' and take him off immediately, and do this every time until he understands what is expected of him.
The same applies if he wanders into a room that is off limits, an area of the garden etc. Common sense needs to be applied. Think dog…….does he know what is expected of him? Have you been teaching him correctly?
Make sure there is nothing that could potentially hurt your dog in and around the home, especially teenage or young pups with no common sense of their own! Areas to be weary about are, swimming pools, dams, roads, electrical cords, gaps in fences, staircases. All of these, and more are a real danger to your dog. Look around you and ask yourself, "now, what would happen if my little dog………' Use your common sense to see potential danger.
TIME: If you don't have time to put into your dog, then please don't get one. Dogs, like children, need your time and undivided attention, at least some of the time. Especially during the settling in period, they may need a lot of your time. Consider this carefully before adoption, not after.
Please consider and also put into practice these suggestions to make life happy for yourself, your family, and your new adoption.
Written By
Anne Muscat
(c) copyright 2007
