Welcome aboard~ We need pics!
Thank you for rescuing~
Here are tips/suggestions to help you with your new pup/family member. The following tips/suggestions are based on my experience (I rescued my pup in Feb. 2012 and volunteered at an animal shelter for a year) and forum posts from other members. Basically, I’m lazy and didn’t want to continue retyping the following tips/suggestions.
*First, I’d like to say it generally takes a re-homed pup 8-12 months to fully accept and trust their new family.
*The new pup will be stressed due to the environmental change and they may not eat or socialize much. Most will sit in their crate in the corner because they are stressed. Do not force the pup to eat or come out of the crate. The pup will let you know when they are ready. It helps the new pup to sit by the crate and talk to them and give them high value treats. They may or may not eat the treats.
A rescue requires TONS of patience, consistency in training and LOTS of love.
*BONDING WITH NEW PUP
The family will need to bond with the new pup. Bonding can be established by walking the pup, brushing the pup, feeding the pup, training the pup and good old cuddling with the pup.
If you have a puppy, younger than 3-4 months, I have a word document with tips and suggestions for a mastiff puppy. Reply to your post asking for the document and I will post it for you.
*HISTORY OF THE NEW PUP
Many times when you rescue a pup, you do not know their history. Generally, the pup is at the rescue or shelter because of owner surrender. Many times, mastiffs are surrendered because the previous owner didn’t know they would get as big as they do, they are messy because of their drool, or they no longer have time for the pup. Regardless of the reason, you generally do not know the pup’s history.
*INTRODUCING NEW PUP TO OTHER FAMILY PUPS
Generally, if you plan to rescue a pup, let the current pup(s) meet the new pup before signing on the dotted line to rescue the pup. I have seen many pups returned to the shelter/rescue because the current pup did not accept them.L
If you have other pups, then you need to introduce the pups on neutral ground. I have a word document explaining how to do this. If you are interested, please post a reply here and I will post the word doc.
*CRATE FOR THE NEW PUP
It is highly recommended to crate the new pup. Look at it as if it is their own little room where they can go to decompress when stressed. Do not use the crate as a punishment tool. Place a blanket, towel, pillow, and/or stuffed animal in the crate. Be aware that some pups do not like items in the crate with them but if they do, it will help the pup to relax.
*POTTY TRAINING
The pup may have to be re-trained to potty outside especially if they have lived in a cage at the shelter/rescue. If the pup has been in the shelter for more than a couple of days, they have learned to potty on the concrete in a cage.
*FOOD
Find out what kind of food the shelter/rescue was feeding the pup and continue to feed it to the pup until you transition to a newer food, if you want. Most shelters and rescues use the cheapest food, meaning it is not very good for the pup.
Slow transition to the new food is as follows to prevent diarrhea. If at any time during the transition, the pup has diarrhea return to previous amounts of food per feeding.
Amount per feeding:
Day 1-4 ¾ cup of old food and ¼ cup of new food.
Day 5-9 ½ cup of old food and ½ cup of new food.
Day 10-14 ¾ cup of new food and ¼ cup of old food
Day 15 Start 100% of new food
Generally, mastiffs are allergic to grain and chicken found in kibble. There are a number of posts on the forum regarding kibble for your new pup. Do a search for food to check them out.
You can check
www.dogfoodadvisor.com and
www.dogfoodanalysis.com On this forum, Smart_Family is our resident food guru.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/05/31/large-dog-feeding-mistakes.aspx
You may want to check out the raw diet for your pup. Do a forum search for raw or raw diet.
Check out Dr. Becker’s videos on youtube.com for a lot of great information regarding the raw diet.
*PUP NOT EATING WHEN YOU FIRST BRING THEM HOME
They not used to their new environment and this is a natural behavior. Take the pup to a quiet place at meal times and sit and hand feed the pup. This will help the pup to eat when they are placed in a calm atmosphere and it helps you to bond with the pup and helps the pup to establish trust with you. As they become settled, they will naturally follow your routine.
*VACCINATIONS
New Vaccination Protocol - CarePaw.com
*TRAINING
Train the pup as if he has not had any training. Start with basic commands.
Teach the pup to “sit”, “look/focus”, “stay”, “come”, “leave it” and “drop it” in that order. Use high value treats for training.
For an older pup, train for about 10 minutes a day to start and increase training time as the pup starts to trust you more. For a younger pup, train for about 5 minutes a day to start.
*CHILDREN IN THE HOME
Until you know how the new pup will react to the children, leave them on leash while in the house.
DO NOT allow the children to get on the floor to play with the pup.
DO NOT allow the children to play around the pup while the pup is eating their food or high value treat or their favorite toy.
The new pup may have resource guarding due to their life in a shelter or rescue.
If the pup has resource guarding, here’s a great article:
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/food-guarding
This type of behavior can take up to 4-6 months to correct and requires a lot of patience and consistency. During this time, DO NOT ALLOW children or other pups around the new pup while they are eating or enjoying a treat/toy.
Enjoy your new family member~
