For us, usually a new dog will start out in a crate in a separate room with a closed door for a few days, so everyone can smell each other and become accustomed to each other's sounds and scent. After several days we will open the door and put up a baby gate for a couple more days, so everyone can still have some privacy, but the other residents can walk by and see, just not be in contact. A few days later we might move to the room being open, but with a playpen around the crate still, depending on how all the animals are doing. By now we have started walking them together, but on opposite sides of the street, or as far apart as far as necessary. With our last introduction we walked Raymond (our reactive pit bull) 50' away from new puppy Ariela for three to four weeks, since he can get easily overwhelmed, and now after five weeks they are walking well together.
Why do we do such a gradual intro this? Because a rescue or shelter dog could be any or all of the following:
- A) fearful
- B) too eager and thus may be viewed as aggressive
- C) not house trained
- D) terrified of certain things such as loud noises, brooms, vacuum cleaner, etc
- E) unfamiliar with other animals, perhaps has never seen cats for example
- F) not used to a home environment
- G) untrained and not under voice command control
- H) nervous or hyper
ANY animal that comes into your home could exhibit some of these behaviors....not every dog will, but for the sake of the new pet, and out of respect to the current pets, we find the slow intro to be a golden opportunity to set things up in a positive manner. So for Jayla, we are going to walk her tonight with our other dogs, but keeping space and just allowing them to see each other.
Check out the album on Facebook for Jayla's journey as our current foster pup!
Interested in fostering? Please see a great post on Facebook by Amanda H, who just wrote up an entire Q & A about the foster process and what it entails through the Humane Society of Wicomico County. Each rescue or shelter can be a little different in procedure, but this is a wonderful overview for anyone interested in doing this! Fostering is the perfect opportunity to give a shelter animal a nice break away from the noise and hubbub of a busy facility, a chance to enjoy regular life in a home environment, and it also helps you to learn about that pet's particular personality. We're using our time with Jayla to tell our friends all about her and hoping that someone will apply to take her home forever soon.
See some of my other albums on Facebook about rescue, volunteering and shelter animals:
Thanks for stopping by my blog! 😀
community first • marketing consultant • advocate for small business • lover
of classic cars • beach girl • believer that "together we accomplish more"
