Adopting a new dog is exciting. You want everything to be perfect with your new best friend right away, but they may be very nervous and unsure of the situation.
Put yourself in their paws.
They may have just spent weeks, months, or even years at a kennel. They may have been a stray. They may have been abused. They may have been shuffled between many homes in their life.
So coming home may be thrilling for you but terrifying for your dog. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to help make your dog’s transition as smooth as possible so that you can slide into the good times with your new buddy as quickly as possible.
Here are 4 tips for helping your newly-adopted dog adjust to your home.
#1 – Start slow
Just coming to your home is a huge change for your dog. Let him adjust to your home, or even just certain areas of your home at first, before introducing new places or people.
Let your dog learn the members of your household before introducing other people, and let him get used to your house and yard before taking him to the dog park.
You should find out what your dog has been eating. Changing his food cold turkey can cause digestive problems, so switch to your preferred food slowly by mixing one third of the new food in with two thirds of the old food for a few days, then do half and half for a few days, then two thirds new food and one third old.
Your dog may still have diarrhea the first few days due to stress; you don’t want to cause further intestinal upset by switching his diet all at once.
#2 – Start a routine
Dogs thrive on routine. Even though it’s tempting to rearrange your entire life around your dog for a few days, he will actually benefit more from learning your normal routine. What time can he expect dinner, and breakfast, and walks?
If you’ve taken some time off of work, do your normal work day routine and leave your home for a few minutes every morning so that your dog knows what to expect.
This is a great opportunity to introduce crate training in short bursts of time – the first time your dog experiences a crate shouldn’t be the first time you leave him alone for 8+ hours to go to work.
#3 – Beware of escape attempts
Before you bring a dog home, you should go around your house and look for any ways your dog might plan an escape.
Look for loose screens, holes under your fence, or a patio table too close to your fence. Your dog may try to escape every chance he gets at first, so you’ll want to reduce that likelihood as much as possible – and make sure his ID tags and microchip are up to date just in case!
#4 – Be patient
It may take as long as six to eight weeks for your dog to really settle into your new home. During that time, your dog may need to learn – or relearn – potty training, how to get used to a crate, what you expect from him, how to follow your commands…the list goes on and on.
Dogs want to please us, but it’s up to you to teach them what you do and don’t want them to do using positive reinforcement.
Punishment only leads to fear and confusion, so you should focus on rewarding behaviors that you like and showing your dog new behaviors to replace the ones you don’t like.
