Bringing home a rescue dog is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming for both you and your new family member.
It takes time for a dog to adjust to a new environment and social system, but a thoughtful approach in the first few months can help set you both up for success.
Here are 9 ways to make the transition smoother:
1. Provide a Crate or Pen & Tether
Crate: give your dog a place they can retreat to for downtime. It can help to think of a crate as their bedroom, or their home base. When you close your dog into the crate for the first time, sit in the same room near the crate instead of leaving. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes. Avoid making eye contact or talking to your dog so they don’t think engagement is on the table for this period of time. How did they do? If they struggled, wait for a brief moment of calm before letting them out and work to build the skill more gradually. If they did well, repeat a few times during the first few days, adding in walking around the space, increasing the time gradually, before leaving them alone if possible.
Pen: A pen can also be an alternative for dogs with a known history of crate or confinement distress. Approach introducing this the same way as the crate, gradually increasing the criteria.
Tether: Tethering your new dog to a heavy piece of furniture is a great way to encourage settling near you without a crate or pen while also limiting a dog’s access to a space. I recommend you apply the same rules detailed above if you want to use this as a settling technique, so avoid making eye contact or interacting with the dog while they are tethered. Only use a tether when supervised or in the same room.
2. Create Predictable Patterns
The brains of all animals are wired to look for patterns, both in our environment and in our social interactions. Predictability also lowers anxiety.
You don’t need to do the exact same thing every day, but start to create predictable patterns attached to your dog’s mealtimes, walks, and other parts of your day to day routine so they can start to learn the rhythm of their new life.
You can even start putting names in front of activities that are repeated so your dog can start to understand what will come next. As an example, before putting your dog’s leash on you can say “walk” and you can even leash them up in the same location and in the same way every time.
3. Set Boundaries
Clear, kind household rules help dogs feel more secure. Decide early on what any hard boundaries for your household are and make a list so that all household members can be on the same page. Decide what boundaries you have for your interactions with the dog. It’s a lot easier to set these boundaries at the beginning of a relationship, versus setting them once a relationship has already been established. Decide what behaviors are a no go and also decide how you will handle the infractions. Time outs or brief periods of social isolation are typically successful in discouraging most behaviors, but it’s important to commit to being consistent.
Avoid allowing a new dog onto human surfaces like the couch or the bed the first few months as you are both still getting to know each other and forming your relationship.
You can absolutely lessen up sharing human spaces with your dog once you’ve developed a deeper relationship and gotten to know them, but setting this precedent from the start can help cultivate your authority as the parent, set certain areas up to be seen by the dog as “human spaces” and therefore can prevent potential ownership or possession behaviors from being tested out in their new environment.
4. Socialize Smartly to Avoid Overwhelm
A new environment, new places, new people, new routines — it’s a lot! Go slowly with outings and visitors. One new experience at a time is better than flooding them with too much too soon.
Skip the dog park or for now. Focus on gradual introduce in low-pressure environments. For example, allow your dog to observe other dogs from afar and look at their body language. Do they look tense or avoidant? Or are they overly aroused? Either could be flags for concern. If they are soft bodied and appear more on the neutral side, try for a gradual approach to a known dog.
Build on increasing their exposure slowly as you get to know their likes, dislikes and tendencies.
5. Observe, Don’t Assume
Take what information has been provided about your new dog with a grain of salt. Rescuers are doing their best with the information they have, as are our municipal shelters. Sometimes we only have behavioral assessments of the dog’s behavior in the shelter, which can be quite different from how the dog will behave in a home environment.
On top of that, once the dog is feeling established in a home environment, behavior can change further. I’ve seen dogs go from being a greeter dog in the shelter to displaying on-leash reactivity once settled into their new home and everything in between.
Take the information you have been provided with without the stories attached to it and use your own eyes to observe your new dog’s body language.
6. Educate Yourself on Dog Body language
Educate yourself on dog body language so you can observe and accurately understand what you are seeing. A lot of behavior problems stem from humans inadequately reading and responding to dog body language.
There are plenty of resources available out there, here are two:
Pet MD: How to Read Dog Body Language
ASPCA Canine Body Language
I still hear clients say “I didn’t see the bite coming, his tail was wagging!” which lets me know there’s still a lot of work to be done in terms of providing more education about body language to regular folks.
7. Understand Stress “Stacking” & Decompression
Stress and excitement are cumulative. Even good exciting events (like a long walk or meeting a new person) will require some decompression time afterwards.
How does your dog decompress or complete their stress cycle after a stressful or overwhelming event? You won’t know this yet, but you should observe how they behave afterwards in order to start to gather this information.
Remember that novelty itself is stressful, and you don’t know this dog’s previous life circumstances or exposure. As you build on their resilience gradually, ensure sure your dog has ample downtime to process and recover in between events. For some dogs, it can take 24 hours for stress hormones to dissipate and for the dog to get back to their “baseline.” Learning about your specific dog’s needs for downtime will help you expose them to new things with more success.
8. Start Training and/or Playing at Home
Simple skills like name recognition and leash walking can begin right away if your dog seems motivated — but keep sessions short and fun. Training strengthens communication and builds trust.
If your dog is motivated to play, even better, start there! Every dog will find different activities reinforcing, so experiment with different types of toys to see what gets your dog interested.
Prey like toys like these are usually a big hit with most dogs:
Sheepskin Bungee Tug
Tug-E-Nuff Chaser Toys
9. Let Your Dog Initiate Contact/Pet Pet Stop Rule
Some dogs want to connect and make contact right away, others need space. Allow them to approach you when they’re ready rather than overwhelming them with attention.
If the dog is more avoidant, and is spending a lot of time in their crate or on their bed, avoid sticking your hand into their crate or approaching them when resting. If you need them, crouch down and encourage them to come over to you. Establish the crate and bed as “safe spaces” where they can be alone in order to lessen anxiety if they appear to be sensitive about touch or physical contact.
While getting to know your new dog, always do the pet pet stop rule when petting. This is a pattern where you pet for 2 seconds and then stop and hold your hands up. Observe how the dog behaves. Do they walk away and shake it off? Perhaps they didn’t really want physical petting when they came over to you. Do they nudge you and lean in for more? Maybe they do.
Remember that dogs can approach humans for different reasons. Sometimes it can be for physical contact, but not always.
