He will want to check out all the new smells and investigate his new digs. Your new dog may sleep a lot in those first few days (he probably didn’t get a lot of sleep with that dog next to him barking all day and night). It can be overwhelming for many dogs, especially those who have been in the loud, bustling shelter for months. Your home is a lot quieter than the shelter, with many more fun things around than a cement kennel, with more stimulating activity and space and freedom than a shelter can ever provide. We think of that first 3 days (at a minimum) as the initial “detox period” as the dog transitions from the shelter to your home. You can gauge the time it might take for your dog to fully acclimate to his home in threes: three days, three weeks, three months ( Drs. It’s also going to be more than worth any initial bumps in the road that will later become stories you tell with a smile. It can be overwhelming trust us, we totally understand ( ahem, ahem, um, erg, cough). Maybe he’s doing a few things you wish he wouldn’t, or he’s a little more energetic than you were prepared for, or maybe there’s some medical problems, or maybe even something came up in your life you weren’t expecting. Your dog needs time to learn your habits, what’s allowed and not allowed, and develop the comfort and safety of knowing he’s in his forever home. It doesn’t matter if a dog has been at the shelter a week or a year, there’s going to be an adjustment period as you find a routine and structure that works for both of you. This post is supposed to be about bringing home a long-stay shelter dog ( read Part 1 in the series), but truly, our advice to someone adopting any dog would be the same. Your new dog comes with thoughts, opinions, feelings, habits and quirks that you didn’t necessarily think about amid the joyous ruckus at the shelter as you adopted the staff and volunteers’ favorite dog.Īnd now it hits you: “What have I gotten myself into?” And maybe also “How do I get my wife’s panties back in one piece without her knowing about this?” This is an animal who in the days to come will likely make you laugh, sigh, want to shout at the top of your lungs (though we don’t recommend that), get out of bed early on Saturday morning, talk to your vet (who was a complete stranger before you walked into her office) about the color and consistency of poop, use that goofy baby voice so you can watch his head tilt from side to side, and make your foot do that little tappy thing your mom used to do to you. You realize pretty quickly this ain’t no Teddy Ruxpin. You’ve been home for less than 15 minutes and he’s already peed on the carpet, played roughly with every toy you bought, and now he’s running zoomies around the backyard with your wife’s favorite pair of underwear. You’ve just walked in the door with your new best friend and your tummy does that flip-flop thingy.
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