Tag Archives: Pet adoption

House training your new dog.  Part one:  Adult dogs

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When you bring your new dog home, you can be certain of one thing:  There will be messes in your home.   Your home is a new environment for him and he doesn’t know the rules.  So, he will probably mark places that have interesting odors and he may relieve himself in places that look appropriate to him.  He will also be stressed and somewhat anxious, which may cause him to pee.   This is very common and is a normal part of dog adoption.

If you are lucky, you a bringing home a dog that has had house training to some extent.  If so, all that is necessary for you to do will be to show him the approved outdoor areas for him to relieve himself.  But, in all cases, the best thing for you to do is to assume that he is completely untrained and implement training from scratch.  Don’t assume that your new pet will understand your home and routine from day one.  If he’s from a shelter he is coming from a place where it was perfectly okay to relieve himself in his run.  And in any case, helping him with this one skill will help him to quickly adjust to living with you and will begin to establish your relationship with him.

Here’s how to get your new dog off to a good start.  We’re going to begin by assuming that you do not have any other dogs in the house.  We’re also going to assume that your new dog is an adult and not a puppy.

First, start him off right.  When you take him home for the first time, do not bring him indoors immediately.  Take him for a walk around your property and around your neighborhood and give him a lot of positive reinforcement when he relieves himself.  Praise and pets all around.

Second, you can use a crate to help with feeding.  Feed him in the crate with the door closed and keep him inside for a few minutes after he eats.  Once he’s done, take him outside to an area that you want him to use and stay with him until he relieves himself.  Again, give him a lot of praise when he does it.   FYI:  I strongly recommend feeding your dog twice daily on a set schedule, and that you pick up the bowl with any uneaten food after 20 minutes.  Free feeding your dog will make it difficult for you to establish a schedule with him.

Third, a dog does not want to pee or poop in the places that he eats or sleeps.  You can take advantage of this by limiting the area that he is allowed to have access to in the house.  Start with a crate, and gradually expand his living space with pens or baby gates, giving him more room and access as his training firms up.  It might be helpful to keep him on leash indoors at first.

Fourth, take him on walks and establish a routine for doing so.  Extended exercise and walking has the natural effect of encouraging bowel movements, and exposing him to outdoor spaces will encourage him to pee in interesting places.  As always, praise him and give him positive reinforcement whenever he relieves himself outdoors.

Fifth, when he has accidents in the house, do not – repeat not – punish him.  Don’t react to them at all if you can avoid it.  Simply clean the up pee or poop immediately and take steps to remove any residual scent.  There are two products on the market that are very good scent removers:  Resolve™ and Nature’s Miracle™ (I don’t endorse commercial products, but these both work).  Removing the scent is critical, as he will tend to reuse areas.

Lastly, as he learns that he needs to go outside, he will develop behaviors that will let you know when he needs to go.  Learn his body language so you can tell when he’s feeling the need to go, and to understand when he’s telling you that you need to take him outside.

The key thing to remember is that you are teaching him to relieve himself in places that you want him to use.  He wants to have go-to places and he wants to have a routine; its up to you to tell him what they are going to be.

If you are adding your dog to a family that has an existing, house-trained, dog then your job gets a little easier.  And a little more complicated.  I strongly recommend that you put the existing dog through a refresher course while you’re training the new dog.  There is a good possibility that the presence of the new dog might cause your current one to regress in this area.

For one thing, the new dog will be leaving new scents throughout your house.  Your current dog may feel a need to mark areas where he detects them.   This is normal dog behavior and shouldn’t come as a surprise.  You can also take advantage of this by having them go in your yard or on walks together, because the new dog will tend to use areas where your existing pup as left his own scent markers.  By praising the new dog when he does this, you are reinforcing a completely natural behavior.  By training them together, you are not only establishing a routine for your new dog, but you are also socializing them with each other.  Start this at step one (above), by having both dogs go on the initial walk around your neighborhood and property when you first bring the new one home.  This gives the new guy a good start and provides a way to introduce the dogs on neutral territory.

Also, if there is an existing dog in the house, this increases the need to establish a feeding schedule and walking/potty schedule.   If you leave full dog bowls around the place so that they can just eat when they’re hungry, you are making it difficult to determine which dog is eating most of the food.  And you are also increasing the likelihood of conflict between them as they guard their food bowls.  Feed the new dog in his crate at first, and take them both outside for after meal walks.  After all, you’re going to be picking up twice the poop now, you’ll appreciate having it on a schedule.

For some tips on how you should dispose of that dog waste, please visit Disposing of dog poo in a safe and eco-friendly manner | The Animal Nerd.

Additional reading:

Carson, L. L.  (2015).  Housetraining 101.  In Horwitz, D., Ciribassi, J. and Dale S. Decoding Your Dog. (pp 76 – 82).  Boston, MA.  Mariner

Hoffman, H. (June 30, 2020).  How to Potty Train a Puppy or Adult Dog.  PetMed.  Retrieved from How to Potty Train a Dog: Potty Training Tips for Puppies and Adult Dogs | PetMD

Miller, P.  (2008).  The Power of Positive Dog Training, 2nd Ed.  Hoboken, NJ.  Wiley.

Naito, K.  (2018), BKLN Manners.  Mount Joy, PA.  Fox Chapel

The Pandemic’s Impact on Pet Adoption

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The pandemic has been affecting our lives for over a year.  With vaccines starting to become available, albeit slowly, there is hope that we may be able to get back to normal – or stabilize at a new normal – some time this summer.  Most US states and major cities implemented restrictions on public gatherings, social occasions, recreation and dining establishments, and other forms of reducing peoples’ exposure to the unique coronavirus, with the effect that we all felt isolated and closed off from our friends and loved ones.

This isolation, with all of us spending unaccustomed amounts of time at home, resulted in a rapid increase in the numbers of people seeking pets for companionship.  Shelters reported a boom in the adoption of all dogs, cats and smaller pets.  The shelters were quite literally emptied of adoptable animals as homebound people adopted pets and rescues were unable to have dogs transported from states with high-kill shelters1.  Shelters also reported that they had to establish waiting lists for potential adopters as their supply was, for once, outpaced by demand2.

In many localities, the increase in animal adoptions was somewhat off-site by an increase in pet surrenders, and families faced the impact that the pandemic had on their finances.   Unfortunately, this often occurred in areas where municipal shelters were under particular strain by the COVID-related loss of revenue in their cities and towns, along with the safety restrictions they were required to put in place.  Shelters helped to mitigate this by increasing the number of dogs and cats that were fostered out to homes that could care for them during the pandemic.3   With more people working from home, there are more opportunities for fostering dogs than more normal times.  However, the rate of pet surrenders is likely to increase as people face eviction or foreclosure as the pandemic continues into 2021.4

So, our shelters are heading into 2021 with a lot of uncertainty regarding their ability to serve their communities.

  • Without a relief bill passed by congress, we may be seeing an increase in evictions and loss of housing among pet owners.4
  • As the pandemic eventually eases, there’s a possibility that the fairly good probability that pets being fostered will be returned to shelters as our society opens up.5
  • As we return to work and our social lives become more normal, we might see an increase in pet surrenders and returns to shelters, as people realize that they do not have time for the dogs they adopted or bought during lockdowns. They may find that they simply no longer have the time required to care for and socialize a dog, or that behaviors such as separation anxiety come to the fore when their pandemic pets are left alone while the owners are working away from home.6

The big take-away from all this is that our animal shelters and rescues are heading into a very risky situation.  There are numerous factors in play that could result in a glut of animals being turned in to shelters, either a result of increased financial and housing hardships or as a result of people returning to normal work environments and having less time for adopted and fostered pets.

 

  1. Pet Adoptions are Outpacing Available Animals During Pandemic, CBS Boston. Retrieved from Pet Adoptions Are Outpacing Available Animals During Pandemic – CBS Boston (cbslocal.com)
  2. Looking to adopt a pet? The wait lists are growing as more people look for quarantine companions, The Denver Post, retrieved from Pet adoptions surge during pandemic with waiting lists surpassing supply (denverpost.com)
  3. A. animal shelters brace for influx of pets as people face financial hardships from coronavirus. Los Angeles Times, retrieved from Coronavirus economic woes could overwhelm animal shelters – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
  4. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (2020, December 9) ASPCA Estimates 19.2 Million Pets Living in Households at Risk of Eviction or Foreclosure Due to COVID-19 Crisis. Retrieved from ASPCA Estimates 19.2 Million Pets Living in Households at Risk of Eviction or Foreclosure Due to COVID-19 Crisis | ASPCA
  5. Pandemic Leads to Surge in Animal Adoptions, Fostering. Associated Press.  Retrieved from Pandemic leads to surge in animal adoptions, fostering (apnews.com)
  6. As People Return to Work, Those Who Adopted a Dog During the Pandemic Could be in for a Rude Surprise.   Retrieved from As people return to work, those who adopted a dog during the pandemic could be in for a rude surprise (aaha.org)