Welcome Home: a guide to your new rescue dog

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Congratulations You are now awaiting or may have already adopted your new Oak Tree rescue family member. Here you will find some information you will find useful for helping you and your new rescue dog settle into your life together.

The more prepared you are the easier the transition will be for you and your dog, to help you all develop a strong relationship in the initial few weeks.

The team at Oak Tree

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will have considered many factors to ensure your dog is as suitable as possible and that you are happy moving forward, always ask any questions you want.

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Settling in your dog arrives there are When many things to get used to: new home new family new routine new car new/unfamiliar smells unsure if/when their needs will be met new relationships with people in the family they may not have spent much time with and more

A A new dog may love having a lot of attention, however some may be more cautious. Try to let them make the choice to come to you and lightly encourage their engagement. ake t n At At any point your dog a c y ent it v e l o full t u f turns away or chooses s g s o r a stre our d y it, so e r y o t f b not to interact, let them s f d r A resse 2 hou t 7 s s o l has t s a e l v make that decision and i l up r e r ew a nd fe n a r x u a l welcome their affection re elax. e yo r r o u t s f time make o when they are ready. y t plen

New family member

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t LeLet your dog assess their new family and friends, approaching them when they want to. You can make the choice to tell people “that’s enough” or “in a minute” if your dog looks stressed. If your dog chooses not to interact with people that’s also fine, they may just need some more time. Always keep a safe space open for them to retreat to if they feel overwhelmed eir face or h t t a g in ands com h d in ut being f b n a g c in s t g n o u a Some d m quite d e h start a t o r t e v y a o w g y in s n a is a nice e people lea l e v le ir e h ently at t greeted g friendship

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Oh the places you'll go Your Your new dog will still be building up trust with you.

Think of it like a bank account. Good new experiences deposit into your relationship of trust and familiarity, but bad experiences withdraw from it. By going nice and slowly you can ensure you are adding to your relationship. Bad, scary events will happen as your dog will be scared by certain situations you put them in; but providing lots of good experiences will put reward and trust deposits back into that relationship bank account for a great future.

No doubt you'll want to take your new No dog out showing them everywhere. We want to try and avoid confusing signs of stress as signs of excitement and give time to relax after going anywhere new.

It'Its never too soon to have fun training! Your new dog will start looking to you for security. Reward them for being close to you or looking to check in. Training inside and outside will help build up a connection in lots of different places, reassuring them and reinforcing good choices to be near you.

Build Build up a variety of areas for walking as you learn what your dog does and does not like. You can then pick places both you and your dog will enjoy.Â

Meet and greet Your other dogs: your dog can say hello when you and the other Meeting owner are both happy. Just as you don't hit it off with everyone neither will your dog.

Judge interactions based on your knowledge of when your dog is, or is not, happy. Everyone needs to feel comfortable about a meeting, you know your dog best!

Face to face on the lead can be very intense, easily Face over-arousing, intimidating and rude depending on the play behaviour of the dog.

Try starting with a walk side by side for a while giving the dogs space on a loose leash.

33second rule: give give3 3seconds seconds introduce second ruleto to introduce Walk away after a 3 second greeting and allow both dogs to calm down and forget before going back (you can always leave earlier).

Move away if you see: stiff tails, heads on top of one another, tight jaw or holding breath, break apart if they are unhappy.

Signs dogs do want to interact: relaxed body, loose wagging tail, loose body movements.

Watch your dog and decide how it’s going. Every dog can have an off day so base it on what you see. Not every dog likes being sniffed for too long so short intervals, repeated several times can give a good indicator of how compatible the dogs are.

Training fun It is never too early to start having Think back to that bank Think fun with training! Oak Tree will have provided you with some fun games to account: you deposit good training with fun experiences start you off in the right direction to help create a bond and an having fun, playing games whilst unbeatable relationship. training and learning.

Consistently providing good training experiences means even when scary things take away from the relationship account there's plenty of good still in there that you’ll keep adding to.

If your new dog does something you like, reward them! The more positive behaviours you teach, the more choices they have so when they make good decisions you can reward them for it. e: m a The name game rewards your dog for responding to their name, so G e m Na whether it’s a new name or an old one: The

1) Start by throwing a piece of food away from you.

2) The moment your dog finishes eating the food say their name.

3) As your dog comes back throw another piece out and again, when they finish, say their name allowing them to start coming back to you.

4) Repeat in different places a few times to reinforce the dog’s name with good things and the desire to be around you.

Toileting Dogs Dogs in rescues may come with some, little or no house training at all. No matter what start point they have, by giving your dog plenty of opportunities to toilet in an appropriate place, you can reward them for going there and get successful training results.

Taking them out every hour or so would be ideal. Wait calmly for your dog to toilet, rewarding them the moment they finish. Always take your dog out after crucial times such as sleeping, eating, drinking or playing.

If an accident occurs do not punish your dog. This will only make them anxious and they may start to hide to go to the toilet. Simply clean it up with a mixture of warm water and biological washing powder, to remove any enzymes that would encourage further accidents.

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Sleep In a new place your dog may struggle to adjust to their new sleeping In arrangements. Some may be fine left alone, others may struggle.

Sleeping alone may be entirely new for them.

Where you choose for your dog to sleep is up to you. Some people enjoy having them on their bed, others on the landing, some in the kitchen, this is completely your choice.

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Veterinary/diet When you have a new rescue dog the best thing to do is register with a vet within 24 hours.

Flea & worm Flea and Worm Your dog will need regular flea and worm treatments.

The most effective treatments come from veterinarians and they can advise you on the best product for you depending on your dog's lifestyle.

Vaccinations Vaccinations Annual vaccinations are part of maintaining your dog’s health. You will also need to make sure these are up to date. A vaccination card will have been given to you by Oak Tree at the time of adoption, which can be taken for annual updates.

Microchips Microchip The team at Oak Tree will make the initial changeover for your details to be registered on the microchip.

After that the chip is legally your responsibility to be kept up to date with any changes.

Changes to their environment can Changing sometimes cause a stomach upset.

Oak Tree recommends you keep your dog on their usual diet for a couple of days and then slowly transition them over 7 days onto your food of choice.

Please don't forget those left behind, visit: www.oaktreeanimals.org.uk or email: fundraising@oaktreeanimals.org.uk

t s u j s n o i t e s v e u o l q e y w An s . p ! ! s k e s t a a d up Registered charity 1169511/SCO48389 Oak Tree Farm, Wetheral Shields, Carlisle CA4 8JA 01228 560082