This information is for guidance purposes only and should not be regarded as a substitute for taking professional advice. Stray2Me Rescue shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages arising in contract, tort or otherwise from the use or inability to use this document or the material contained in it, or from any action or decision taken as a result of using it.
- A child is alone with your dog. The child is pulling the dog’s fur, poking the dog, and hugging the dog. You notice this as you walk passed. What action do you take? Remove the child from the presence of the dog. Give the dog some time to themselves to help them decompress and if it is possible, explain to the child how they should pet the dog without putting it under stress. You should not leave a dog unsupervised with a young child.
- Your dog is hiding in the corner and won’t come out. How will you encourage your dog to come out? Don’t get in his space. Sit a good distance away so that the dog comes to you. Gently throw some tasty treats near him, and drop some just out of reach for him, to try and encourage him out. Play some relaxing dog music. Be calm, quiet and patient.
- You find that your new dog loves to dig. He/she loves to dig so much that they’ve nearly dug a hole under your fence. What do you do to prevent your dog from escaping? And how would you stop them from digging near the fence? Cover the hole and place some slabs along the fence. Put up a second fence or barrier. Dig down and place the fence 1- 2ft under the ground. Provide a safe area for the dog to dig such as a sand pit, -using child friendly sand or safe soil (no stones in the soil). Show the dog that this is the place that he can dig. Make it attractive by partially burying his toys, or chew treats. Distract and then reward the good behaviour.
- You have left your dog alone for an hour and upon your return you find your dog has destroyed your kitchen. What would you do to prevent this from happening in the future? Seek a professional force free trainer to help you. In most cases it’s teaching your dog how to manage being on their own in a new environment, in other cases dogs may have developed Separation Anxiety and stress. But there are different kinds of separation anxiety, so you would need a professional to help you pinpoint what the reason is for this behaviour.
- Your dog is barking at every sound. Your neigbour’s are complaining about the noise. What action will you take to reduce this? Have your dog checked by a vet, he could be noise sensitive. Seek a professional force free trainer to help you.
- How would you greet a scared dog? Sit sideways on and crouch down, keep your hands in, don’t stick your hand out for them to sniff, dogs have an acute sense of smell and have already smelt you a mile away. Have an open and flued stance, and wait for them to approach you. When they do, don’t be so quick to pet them, wait for them to give you the ok – body relaxes, looks at you and hangs around. If they move away, let them. Hovering over them can appear threatening to them.
- Your new rescue dog isn’t toilet trained. How would you manage this? Take the dog out in the garden after every meal, play session, training session, after he’s had a sleep and has had a drink, plus every half hour. Praise for going out in the garden. Try not to react when your dog has an accident inside.
- Your dog likes to collect items such as stones. How will you take the item away and prevent this from happening again? If possible block off the stone area. Don’t chase your dog around the garden, shout at your dog or try to take the item away – this teaches that stealing is ok, that what they have is important, so next time they may consume it or guard it more – it becomes valuable to them. Instead, reach for a toy and make the toy the most exciting thing ever so that they drop the item and come and play with you. Play a game of swap and drop. Use 2 of the same toys – playing a game of tug with one toy while hiding the other toy behind your back, when the dog has a good hold of the toy try and keep the toy as still as possible, and as soon as the dog releases the toy say ‘drop’. Remove that toy and swap it with the toy that you have hiding behind your back. Begin the game again. Teach leave. Try and use food as your last emergency resort – scatter food around so that your dog is busy eating the food while you take the item away.
- Your newly adopted rescue isn’t used to wearing items such as a collar, harness or lead. What approach would you take to introduce these new items to your dog? Slow approach, introduce the item one at a time. If the items have clips, clip the item together and reward the dog every time the clip make the click sound, so that the dog gets used to the sound. Place the collar loosely over the dog’s neck and reward. Remove the collar and reward. Place the collar loosely over the dog’s neck and clip it together, reward the dog. Then remove the collar. Place the collar on your dog’s neck, clip it together, reward the dog, and let him wear it for 5 minutes. Then remove the collar. Gradually build up the time that the dog is in the collar. And do the same for the harness and lead. If you are struggling with this, seek professional help from a trainer.
- Owning a new dog is really exciting, but it can be really scary for the animal. How will you approach the dog on your first introduction and what measures will you have in place to allow the dog to feel welcome in the new home? Meet the dog sideways on, in a crouched position, don’t stick your hand out to them, wait for them to come to you, explore you, get to know you. If they move away, let them. Ensure that you and the dog are in a safe and enclosed area to prevent the dog from escaping down the road. Have a nice calm, quiet and relaxed approach. Let them roam their new area at their own pace. Try not to rush to introduce your dog to everything. Avoid a walk until the dog is completely comfortable with you and his environment. They need the time to de-stress. Have the dog’s bed/resting spot in a quiet area. Have a variety of toys and chews.
- A dog has peed on your bed. What do you do? Block off the area to your bedroom using things like a baby gate or closing the door so that your dog doesn’t have access to your bed. Have the vet check him for UTI and other health conditions. Go back to toilet training basics as if training a puppy. If the toileting in the house is still persistent, speak to a local force free trainer and your vet as there could be some underlying emotions such as stress or anxiety.
- How will you introduce your current pets to your new dog? Slow introductions. Wide open space. Swap items such as towels/bedding so that the animals can get used to each other’s smells and know that by just smelling their scent, it isn’t a threat. Keep both dogs on leads when entering a secured area. Let one go in first and be at the other side of the enclosure. Then bring in the second dog. Once all the area is secured, take both off the leads. And monitor closely. Dogs don’t generally meet face to face, dogs find this rude and a threat. They prefer a greeting that instead of meeting head on they curve round meeting at nose to butt. Keeping them on lead forces them to meet head on, which is setting them up to fail for their first introduction. Having said that, keep in mind that not all dogs like their bottoms to be sniffed.
- It’s feeding time and your new dog is snarling/growling/baring teeth. Why do you think that is and what would you do? Resource guarding in this case, food bowl. Don’t put your hand in the dogs bowl. Don’t take the bowl away to show who is boss. You’ll get your hand bitten. Instead, get a handful of tasty treats, Give your dog plenty of space, and gently throw a treat one at a time near your dogs bowl as he is eating his meal. As he starts to relax more, keep throwing a treat near his bowl as you start to move around him. Always work with a trainer to help guide you through the appropriate steps.