Gaining The Trust of An Adopted Dog

One way to gain the trust of an adopted dog is to speak very gently to it and to feed it treats. This might be a good idea if you need to lure him out of a hiding place. At first, try to speak softly to the dog while extending treats to him. Be sure to feed him a treat each time he lets you touch him. Eventually you can start trying to get him to focus on you by hand feeding him.

It is very important to not leave your new adopted dog alone at first. Try to be with the dog 24/7 for at least the first three weeks after you bring him home. If you are unable to do this, the dog could develop panic and anxiety. Many adopted dogs will display panic if you leave them alone. You need to teach the adopted dog that if you do leave you will always come back.

To get your dog used to being by himself, try leaving the house for two minutes and then re-entering and then extending the period of time until the dog stops freaking out when you leave. This helps create a trust bond between the two of you. Another way to gain the trust of your adopted dog is to try and play with it. Few dogs can resist a good game of tug of war. Try to holding out a cloth, stick or sock while you hold the other. Many dogs like a dirty old tea towel.

Make sure that if you do choose a stick that you do not hold it in a threatening manner especially if you do not know the dog’s history. The worst thing you could do is trigger a bad reaction in a dog that has been hit before. He could hide and you wouldn’t see him much.

Your dog thrives on approval so the only thing you have to remember is to not give him affection after he misbehaves. However if you give a dog a good reason to behave, he will probably exceed your wildest expectations when it comes to obedience. An adopted dog can be especially rewarding emotionally this way. T

he best way to create a snarling, snappy disobedient dog is to continually humiliate or criticize it. This is what will sabotage his trainer faster then affection ever could. This is especially true if the dog has been traumatized in the past. Nothing makes a dog happier than making eye contact with you and then hearing and feeling praise and affection.

A dog may start obeying commands simply because it means he gets to spend more time with you so it is a good idea to be as affectionate with the dog as possible when it is appropriate. Make the dog feel owned. After your dog seems more confident and trusting of you, you can take him outside and reward him with plenty of fresh air and exercise. Just one more thing to remember when it comes to training your adopted dog –never harshly disciplines a dog from a pound or shelter. You could get bitten.

What To Expect From an Adopted Dog

Sometimes when you adopt a dog the dog starts acting out. Many adopted dogs act depressed when you think they would be happy to have a new home. This is not something you should take personally. An adopted dog may be depressed for many reasons , its owner could have died or it may have been abandoned or hurt.

Most dogs from a shelter are very mistrustful at first and may even be grieving the loss of a pet companion or human owner. That’s why adopted dogs can seem very withdrawn. Your first task as the owner of an adopted dog is to get him to trust you. Make friends!

This is easier said then done as most dogs are very nervous and upset to leave a shelter as it reminds them of other times in their lives when they have been through a big change. Speak in quiet tones and try to show the dog affection.

Most dogs are understandably fearful for the first few days after adoption so give the new pet as much privacy as possible. Also avoid startling the pet in any way, as you are not sure how it will react. As tempting as it is to introduce him to all your friends and show him off let him explore his new surroundings on his own terms.

An adopted dog may have been trained badly or not at all in the first place so you can expect an adopted dog to have any number of behavioral problems , For instance a dog that was starved by a previous owner or that was running wild might develop behaviors such as growling over a food bowl when a child passes by, gulping food, begging for food, hiding food, digging holes in which to hoard food and stealing food. Malnourished dogs may also become over protective of their territories. They can also become over protective of their chew toys and owners.

Dogs that were deprived of food are often developmentally challenged as well and don’t have well-developed eyesight, hearing, coordination or brains. Dogs that have been wild and have never been socialized can also be very difficult to train. This is especially true if the dog had no contact with human between the age of three and 14 weeks. They can react fearfully or aggressively to new people or experienced.

Lack of housetraining is very common among adopted dogs. Often the previous owners may have turned the dog in simply because they couldn’t train him not to piddle indoors. Dogs who urinate inside or soil the home may have never been housetrained in which case it now becomes your job to correct the situation.

Dogs from a pound or shelter can also display destructive behavior. These dogs usually have a history of being left alone all day and find eating the couch or tearing apart the garbage pail to be intellectually stimulating and fun. This is your cue to distract him with training exercises, which will also help bond you to your dog.

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