Sometimes when you bring home an adult dog from a pet rescue organization or shelter it needs to be housetrained. Here are some tips to teaching old dog new tricks.  

Make him feel safe and give him a den to retreat to. Making your rescued dog feel emotionally secure by providing him with a den builds your trust bond with him and makes him less anxious. A dog that is calm and feels secure is easier to train than a dog that does not know his place in your home. Providing him with a safe haven may also prevent him from urinating out of fear if he encounters other members of your pet or human family.  

Learn to read his body language. When it comes reading the dog’s body language, circling, sniffing, rising to a standing position and then sitting down again repeatedly and whining are all messages that he needs to go outside.   Don’t ignore these messages. Validate the dog immediately by taking him out to urinate or defecate.  Don’t punish an adult dog by pushing his face in urine or feces. These substances are not offensive to a Stafford so he will have no idea that he is being punished if you do this. He will enjoy the sensation of the smell and associate it with pleasure. He may also associate this with positive attention from you.  

Also note that adopted that have suffered from malnutrition may have small, underdeveloped bladders. These poor dogs may simply not be able to hold their urine.   The only solution to this is to take him out more often.   It is absolutely crucial that you never blame this type of dog for accidents, as he just can’t help it.  If you do intimidate this type of dog the first thing it is going to do is urinate. This is how it shows that it is submissive to you and recognizes your anger. The dog may even begin to urinate unprovoked when it sees you to show you that it recognizes that you are dominant. In this case, the dog has a hard-wired instinct to please you by automatically piddling when it sees you.  Once again, your best course of action is to be patient. Try not to resent the dog for having accidents.

A dog is not a vengeful creature. He simply doesn’t understand where he is supposed to go or why he should hold it.   He has either been badly trained or not at all.   All you can do about this one is keep a lot of paper towels handy in all areas of your home in case it happens again.  The thing to realize is that nearly all shelter dogs have problems like this. If you have nice carpets or don’t like the smell of urine then don’t get a dog from a shelter or a rescue organization. Chances are very likely that the dog will have problems with its training and have to be retrained.   Simply accept that accidents are going to be inevitable with a rescued dog especially if it has had a traumatic time.

Most dogs tend to fear fire enough to avoid it but sometimes they touch something hot inadvertently or singe themselves by brushing too close to a fire.   They can also scald themselves by knocking over a hot beverage or suffer burns as a result of electric shock.   They can also suffer from chemical burns or burns from toxic cleaners or chemicals.   They also get sunburned when they loll around in the sun for too long.   Even a dog’s nose can be sunburned on a day when the UV rays from the sun are too high in intensity.  Here are the emergency treatments for various types of burns.  

Heat burns  

This can be the result of exposure to the sun, fire or scalding.  \

1.                 Do not apply butter, grease or any ointment to the burned area.  

2.                 Soak a cloth in cold water and hold it gently in place over the burned area  

3.                 Send for the vet if the burn seems serious. A superficial burn is painful, reddens the skin and singes the hair, but the latter will not pull out easily. A serious burn is actually less painful because the nerves have been destroyed. The skin may be white, black or brown, and the hair will either be gone completely or will pull out easily.   Do not allow the pet to lick the burn.  

4.                 Keep the burn covered with a wet dressing covered with thick dry towels. Make the dog lie down, restrained in warm blankets.   The vet may have your dog wear a plastic collar to help prevent it from licking the wound later

5.                 Give fluid as for dehydration, unless the dog is vomiting.   If the dog is dizzy then it needs to go immediately to the vet.  

6.                 Keep your pet warm and get him to a veterinarian as soon as possible.    

 Chemical burns  

1.                 Wash burned area with lots of plain water, especially if the chemical burns is around the face.   Avoid spreading the chemical to the eyes or mouth.  

2.                 If the burn is the result of acid, rinse with solution of 1-teaspoon bicarbonate of soda to one liter of water. If alkali, use plain water only.  

3.                 Apply soothing ointment.  

4.                 You should, of course get the dog to a veterinarian as soon as possible who will know how to exactly treat the specific type of chemical burn that your dog has. Be sure to bring the bottle with you so the vet knows exactly how to respond to the injury.  

This should go without saying but never leave a pet that has been burned to ,heal.,   Mother Nature will not just take care of it.   Get your animal the help it needs and take it to the vet immediately.   Most of all use common sense. For instance, do not try to give fluids to an animal that is unconscious.