I want to take a dog from a shelter

What to take into account, so as not to harm the animal (and to yourself)

Dogs from the shelter or from the street are often injured by past experience, but you can still arrange a happy life together with them. How to prepare yourself and an apartment and what to pay attention to at first - says a specialist in the correction of dog behavior Nastya Bobkova , who wrote a trilogy of books “Stride, love, praise”.

In order not to miss the main materials of the "cold", subscribe to our Instagram and telegram .

What to think about at the planning stage?

• Talk to loved ones. The decision to take the dog should be joint. If one of the family members against, it is better not to do this. But it is worth clarifying what exactly your loved one does not agree with: perhaps he is against a large and shaggy dog, but would agree to small and smooth -haired. Choose an animal that everyone will like at least externally. If we are in love, then we forgive a lot, and if not, any inconvenience can be perceived more acutely.
• Distribute responsibilities. Who will cook food for the dog? Who will go with her for a walk in the morning, and who is before going to bed? Do not lay responsibility to children, and even more so to start the animal only at their request. This decision is made by adults.
• Set the rules. Choose a book or a specialist you trust, and adhere to one strategy with the whole family.
• Think about the future. If in the next year or two you plan to emigrate or give birth to children, it is better to postpone the dog’s institution to a more predictable period of time
• Plan a vacation. At least for a week, and preferably two when you take a dog. Approximately as much is the primary adaptation. Be next to the dog to get to know each other better and help her survive stress from changing the situation.

When the decision is made, the time comes to choose a dog. Focus only on the photo from the site of the shelter is not the most reliable option. If possible, it is better to come to the shelter and get acquainted with the dog personally: play, go for a walk and check your feelings.

What to do a few days before the appearance of the dog?

First you should secure the space . Perhaps the dog will never do anything forbidden in life, but it is better to play it safe. It is advisable to hide or protect with a voluntary bars of everything that the dog can throw, gnaw or spoil it somehow.

If you plan to get a young dog, hide all the shoes, except for one pair that is not a pity. When the dog is interested in her, your favorite sneakers will be safe. And if she remains indifferent to shoes, it will be possible to return everything to its place.

The next step is to buy an ammunition for walking . It should be selected taking into account the fact that the dog is not yet used to the new owners and she may be scared to walk with you. If on a walk she breaks from a leash, then he will probably run away to look for an old flock or already familiar shelter - therefore, the ammunition should be reliable.

For walking, it is better to purchase Martingale - a collar with a dynamic structure. When the dog is calm, it hangs like a necklace, and if it makes a breakthrough, it drags out clearly to the size of the neck.

Instead of a collar, you can buy a harness, but with three slings: one in the area of ​​the neck, ribs and abdomen. The dog can leave the usual harness, just handing it back. With three slings, this cannot be done. You can use anatomical h-shaped sluts: with proper adjustment, they do not interfere with the movement of the dog. There is an option to buy an ordinary slide and add martingale to it. Then it will be necessary to attach two leashes: one to the harness, and the other to the collar. If the dog tries to break out, the spare leash will delay it.

The leash is better to take ordinary-roulette is injured due to friction of the tape. If the dog rushes, the tape can cut it and you, and then it will be difficult to gradually be gradually. In addition, the roulette handle can hit the dog or frighten it with its roar. It makes sense to take a three-five-meter leash with a rubberized sling. He does not slip out of his hands and long enough to be tied around the owner’s body: even if the hand trembles, the dog will not run away.

It is not necessary to buy something expensive right away. When you learn the preferences of the animal, buy a lot of different and beautiful ammunition. The main thing is to immediately hang the addressee and not even take it off at home. Attach it to a separate lace, and not on a collar or slope in which you are walking. Even if the dog breaks out, the addressee will remain on it.

The same situation with toys. Some dogs like to chew rag toys, others bite something wooden, others adore plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. For the first time, you can buy several toys of different types and textures: soft, rubber food and solid, which can be nibbled. After that, see what your dog likes and focus on her tastes.

In addition to toys and ammunition, the dog will need a quiet corner for sleep and at least two bowls - for water and food. The supply of products for the first time is also better to buy in advance.

Let the dog go into a quiet house: turn off the intercom, put the phone on a soundless mode, do not invite guests.

Dog at home! What to do in the early days?

• Remove the dog to the veterinarian. He will check her health, talk about the schedule of preventive vaccinations and give recommendations for care.
• Ate. It is undesirable to wash the animal right away. But the dog after a shelter or street most likely stinks. If this confuses you, then you can wash it. However, not all animals easily experience this process, some do not even allow wiping their paws. If the dog adequately reacts to the shower, you can wash it from the first day: make a small pressure and water it calmly, as if stroke. The exception is very shaggy dogs, such as Collles or Samoyeds. They should not be washed independently, because it will be extremely difficult to dry thick wool, and skin diseases may appear from constant moisture. It is better for the owners of such dogs to buy dry shampoo for animals and just comb the wool, unless, of course, the dog gives it to.

Dogs that are sharply against washing can at first be wiped with wet wipes or a rag moistened with water. If with cleanliness the trouble is at all and the animal does not lend itself to persuasion, it is better to take it to a professional glory. He knows how to work with animals, and he has everything you need: combs, tangle cutters, dry shampoos and sprays. In addition, the groomer cabinet is not a terrible cramped room, unlike the bathroom, so the dog can be more comfortable there.

• Feed. The first week the dog is better to feed the fact that she is used to eating. Even if it's bad food or just porridge. An extra week of previous nutrition will not hurt a lot, but the dog does not have a bowel disorder from unusual food and stress. Then you can slowly transfer to an adequate diet .
• Make a familiar route. It is important to make a walk comfortable: choose quiet places, not approach other people or animals if the dog is not ready for this. You can take goodies with you and give them even for the most insignificant action: I looked back at the owner - hold the reward, does not pull the leash - hold one more.

If the dog tries to eat something from the ground, do not shout at it, but carefully pull the leash, talk in a calm voice. It is not necessary to swear and get out of the mouth of the mouth: it can undermine trust and cause aggression. In the next dog, he will immediately begin to snap and protect, for example, a rotten fish, which she herself found, and you select. It is best to accustom the dog to the muzzle, this will avoid conflict situations on walks.

The first three to four days are not very much to walk. You do not need to immediately go to the forest with tents or go on a two -hour walk in the city center. Let the dog master: sniffing, studying, watching.

How long will the dog get used to the new environment?

Most likely, you can’t wait to play with the dog, show it to relatives and friends, go together in a cafe and visit. But the dog needs peace to adapt to the daily routine and get acquainted with the family. At first, it is better not to bother her. If she comes and asks for attention, you can stroke her a little, and then remove her hands. If it is asking, put it again. It is important that the dog itself show the initiative, do not tire it with excessive attention.

If the dog climbed under the bed, is afraid and does not go out, put a bowl of water next to it, and with food - away. Most likely, due to stress, the first two or three days it will not eat at all and even, perhaps, the first day will not go to the toilet. This is fine.

Three days later, the dog will probably have a sleep, get used to it and go to explore the apartment: to sniff all the corners, find out where water and food are, and where they sleep. No need to follow her on the heels. Watch lateral vision.

If the dog almost does not get out of the sofa for more than a week, you should think about contacting a specialist. To make the dog easier, you can stick a fumigator with pheromones in the socket or put on a soothing collar.

How much the adaptation will last in advance not to say in advance: some dogs are enough for three days, others, with a difficult past, can come to their senses for six months, and sometimes a year.

You can study literature or professional blogs in order to act correctly and not aggravate problems from the very beginning. In most cases, the consequences of injuries and negative experience can be overcome over time. Perhaps the help of a specialist will be needed.

There are two main features by which you can understand that the dog successfully gets used to the new home:

• Shows attachment to the owner. The dog meets him from work and wags his tail, responds when her name is, behaves calmly.
• It is mastered at home. It does not hide and does not follow the nervously after what is happening, but behaves relaxed, sleeps enough and eats.

Some problems are not related to adaptation and persist when the dog is already used to the house. For example, if the dog is afraid to be alone, it can be fear from an unfamiliar place that will pass with time, or there may be separation anxiety.

What else can the owner face?

A dog with a difficult past may have injuries that will require additional efforts from a person. She can:

• Protect food. In the past, the dog could be fed extremely little or with cruel methods taught not to growl during food. Because of this, she could have a protective reaction: the dog is nervous that they would interfere with her food. In this case, you should put a bowl in front of her and leave the room. Let her calmly eat and learn that no one takes anything, and there is enough food. Usually dogs eat quickly and the situation of potential conflict quickly leaves.

Even if the dog growls and barks terribly, there is no need to say “you can’t” and “fu”. Instead, it is better to freeze, turn away and move away when the dog calms down. So we show that aggression does not drive a person, but he himself does not show aggression in response.

When the dog gets used to the fact that no one encroaches on her food, you can start teaching her that the approach of a person to a bowl means something pleasant. It is better to do this under the control of a specialist.

• Afraid. The dog can be afraid of other animals, people, streets or passing cars. Try to avoid frightening situations until the dog believes that a person can protect it. When she gets used to you, you can start fighting phobias. The treats can help this. But you should not forcibly place the dog in a frightening situation: for example, if she is afraid of other animals, it is better to bypass them during a walk. It is important that she gradually gets used to the irritant. Too an ambulance meeting with him, on the contrary, will aggravate the problem.
• Ignore the teams. If the dog was trained using violence, it can ignore the teams. The task of the new owners to show that training and teams may not be related to pain, but on the contrary, they look like a game and you can get a treat for them. If earlier the dog shouted “standing” and twisted the leash terribly, now it is better to say “wait” softly, carefully hold, feed and praise. Trigger teams should be replaced with neutral. For example, a dog can nervously respond to the word “impossible”, because it causes her negative associations. So, this team is better not to use. But to come up with a new one - you can say any word, at least "eggplant." Many animals do not know the teams at all and calmly live without them. The main thing is that the dog understands a person and obey him in emergency situations - for example, if a carbine suddenly broke down at the leash and you need to stop.
• Show symptoms of depression, PTSR, stereotypia . Dogs, like people, have psychological disorders. They can appear from difficult conditions and experienced stress, including moving. The animal that suffers from depression becomes sluggish and sleeps more, does not show interest in games, does not eat or drink. PTSR is also found in dogs from the street or from the shelter: traumatic situations start physiological changes. With this disease, the dog has “flashbacks”, inadequate reactions to ordinary situations. With stereotypia (something like okr, but in dogs), an animal can, for example, obsessively lick paws or endlessly chase the tail. It is difficult to distract from repeating movements of the dog: at the first opportunity, it returns to them again. If you understand that something is wrong with the dog, you should contact a specialist.

The main thing: do not be angry with the dog if she does something wrong. Only patience and affection will return the dog to a happy life and teach people to trust people again. You can overcome injuries, especially with the help of a dog handler.

What errors can prevent contact with the dog?

Around the upbringing of animals, myths still remain that do not help solve problems, but harm dogs and their owners. Here are some of them:

• Myth No. 1 "Dogs strive to dominate . " Animals can compete with each other for the territory or food. In one situation, the dog will dominate, and in another, to obey. But in the relationship of man and dogs of competition for resources cannot be in principle. We have the keys to the apartment and a bank card, we can open the refrigerator door and get what the dog needs from there. Moreover, the idea of ​​dominance does not take into account that a person and a dog are representatives of different types, so the dog does not seek to be more important than the owner. Her attachment to a person is more likely to be built according to the model of child-child relationships.

The myth of dominance brought a lot of suffering pets. He especially harms dogs from the shelter: the new owners are afraid that the animal will get out of control, and from the first days they behave strictly and even cruelly: the dog can be deprived of food, isolate and often beat. At this moment, she does not understand what she did wrong, it can injure her psyche, aggravate existing problems and undermine the trust in a person.

• Myth No. 2 "The dog is grateful for salvation, so he will behave well." This is not true - the dog does not understand the concept of "salvation". For her, it looks like the fact that she was simply taken from a familiar place to a new one, where everything is still incomprehensible and unpredictable. Of course, the dog will be in stress.
• Myth No. 3 "Foreign animals are less capable than thoroughbred." In fact, the ability to learn is not the breed, but the conditions that contained a dog and her mother at the very beginning of the life path. A pure puppy, with which they communicated a lot and engaged, will be capable of easy training. A thoroughbred dog, which lived in poor conditions, will take more time to get the same skills. There are mongrels living on the street with several generations. These are a second time fertilized dogs that are “weaving” from a person. They rely on themselves, but people avoid people. Such dogs are also able to study, but their adaptation will take more time.

What to do if you feel that you can’t cope?

After the euphoria of the first days, dog owners often understand that they underestimated how the animal will change their life. If you feel that you can’t do it, you should contact the dog handler or the volunteer who was engaged in the dog earlier: perhaps he knows more about her and will be able to advise something.

If nothing helps, then for everyone it may be better if the dog finds a new house. You can talk with volunteers and explain the situation or try to attach the dog in good hands yourself. The animal is a great responsibility, and the understanding that you are not ready for it, does not make you a bad person. The dog will survive another crossing and will be happy with other owners.