First Night and Day

A rescue dog’s many transitions leading up to landing in their permanent forever home can be stressful, confusing, and mentally and physically challenging.  After being picked up as a stray and transferred from a Louisiana rescue into a Texas rescue foster home, Jackie proceeded from her initial temporary foster into her foster mom and dad’s home near Fort Worth.  She had recently undergone spay surgery and heartworm treatment, and had to be on strict activity restriction for three months. Now she was ready to meet us, her new family, and make yet another huge transition.

With all of that in mind, we wanted to make the passage for Jackie into her new home as smooth as possible. The plan I’m following is to stay as relatively quiet and close to home as possible the first several days, establishing a consistent routine of mealtimes, walk, and play with just Jackie’s new immediate family.  We’ve purposely gone for a few small strolls during the day, avoiding interacting with any neighborhood dogs or people outside of Jackie’s new immediate family.  

Jackie’s foster mom provided me with her current food and I will follow that diet for a week before slowly beginning transitioning her to the new diet.  I’ve kept Jackie on her previous diet in order to avoid any tummy upset or other issues. Since her foster family fed Jackie in her crate, we have continued that routine for her.

I was careful from the moment Jackie arrived onward to take her to the appropriate “bathroom” in the backyard and reinforced her with lavish praise and high value treats each time she went potty.  This means taking her out every hour or so especially at first, and limiting her access in the house until she knows exactly where the “bathroom” is (and by default is NOT in an unused room, closet, or upstairs where we hang out much less often). A dog that is in a new environment has to be educated properly where the facilities are and what the house rules will be. For a new rescue, even one that has been previously very well house trained like Jackie, it’s best to follow the potty training protocol much the same as you would for a new puppy for at least the first several days until the new dog understands the new routines.

Jackie’s first night we established her in her own crate equipped with an individual water dish that clamps to the bars of her crate and a comfortable bed in our bedroom, and were deliberate in keeping our existing dogs out of her space.  After another stroll and a running play romp, we were ready to wind down for the evening.  I provided a couple long lasting chew toys as well as a kong stuffed with some yummy freeze dried lamb treats and peanut butter.  Licking is a soothing act for a dog, and giving her something interesting like a stuffed kong in her crate helps to build value for being in the crate as well as helps her to settle in comfortably.

We like these Omlet Fido Studio crates with Brindle orthopedic memory foam beds with waterproof and washable removable covers. The dogs are comfortable inside and they make a low credenza when placed side by side, or can be used as a nightstand or sofa end table:

We made sure to have multiple comfortable beds around the house; the dogs love these plush donut beds and the Orvis tempurpedic bed in the living room.

Gunner is sweet to share his bed with new sister.

Pearls for early success with a new dog:

• Keep schedules simple and low-key the first few days a new dog is adopted
• Make potty training and establishing the basic house rules a priority, preventing access to remote, less-used areas of the home
• Crates, ex pen panels, and baby gates come in handy to control the amount of living space the new dog can access
• Stuffed kongs or other hollow toys are excellent to reinforce good behavior in a crate, and licking peanut butter or other soft treat has a relaxing effect for dogs

Meet and Greet

The day arrived for us to meet Jackie for the first time!  In introducing a new adoptee to the existing family members, I wanted to be careful and methodical in how we did the introductions to insure the best possible outcome.  Jackie’s foster mom was an excellent resource in relaying what Jackie’s temperament is like, and what to expect with humans and other animals.  

In order to meet on neutral territory, we arranged for Jackie’s foster mom and dad to connect with us at a securely fenced, quiet park next door to our home.  We gave Jackie’s foster family a few moments to let Jackie stretch her legs, relieve herself, and have a drink after her car trip.  Meeting at the park without our current pups allowed my spouse Chris and me to say our initial greetings to both Jackie and her family, and to meet Jackie without the added element of other dogs present. 

After the humans and Jackie all had some initial time to greet everyone at the secluded park, Chris and I went to get our current two dogs at home.  This way Rosco and Gunner thought we were just going for another every day stroll to the neighborhood park, where there is occasionally a new neighbor and their dog at the park so it is not unusual for our dogs to meet a new dog there.  All three dogs had plenty of room to maneuver, pee, sniff, and sniff each other’s pee (how dogs interpret lots of information about each other), all with keeping a dropped or loose leash since we were in a large securely fenced area.  

Reader it went better than I had even hoped. Jackie was extremely sweet and friendly with Rosco and Gunner, and they seemed very interested in getting to know her. Meanwhile, following the pre-arranged plan, Jackie’s foster mom and dad slipped away nonchalantly to go have dinner together at a nearby restaurant, and give us time to start the bonding process with Jackie.  

From the park we went on a stroll with all three dogs on leash and ended up back at our home. Jackie and I went into our securely fenced backyard first, while Chris stayed up in the front yard with our two resident dogs.  I allowed Jackie to sniff and explore her new backyard, and then Chris came in later with Rosco and Gunner while Jackie was already inside the yard. We were able to drop the leashes and hang out for a long while in our yard to see how everyone would react in a slightly more confined space.  Chris and I have a covered patio so once we established the meeting was continuing well we sat down together to have a cold drink (it IS summer in Texas y’all— it’s HOT!) and continued to closely monitor the dogs as they got to know each other.  

Since everything was progressing well outside, I brought Jackie inside to discover her new surroundings on her own with me, and Chris stayed outside with Rosco and Gunner.  Previously I had strategically placed ex pen gates and closed doors so that Jackie would only have a limited portion of our home to explore, until such time as I’m comfortable she has learned some basic guidelines, and especially a good recall to me which of course will take some time to establish.  

After Jackie had some time to discover her new indoor surroundings, Chris brought in Rosco and Gunner. Bringing the resident dogs in after the new dog was already inside decreased the stress of the situation and made it more likely to diminish territorial ideas.  It worked well and so far everyone has been getting along brilliantly. 

The outlined plan for mixing the current resident dogs with the new adoptee worked smoothly, and it is a method I have used with success in the past as well.  

Jackie’s foster mom and dad re-joined us at our home to review Jackie’s feeding schedule and her ongoing heartworm, intestinal parasite, flea and tick preventative. We celebrated together in our kitchen over tres leches cake and a champagne toast in honor of Jackie’s new transition. Now that the introductions have been made, we are looking forward to making Jackie’s first night and next several days as comfortable as possible.

Jackie and Gunner on Gotcha Day: Gunner thinks she’s pretty cool-

Rosco and Jackie on Gotcha Day: Rosco loves her, but has never been particularly fond of sharing resources!

Pearls when introducing a new dog into an established single or multi-dog home:

• Follow a previously confirmed plan
• Have the dogs meet on neutral territory first, preferably in a securely fenced area where leashes can be dropped or at a minimum all leashes kept slack (straining against a tight leash can cause reactivity, lunging, or other unhelpful behaviors)
• For multi-dog households, it can be helpful to meet one at a time instead of all in a large group at once
• Allow dogs to organically approach one another; calm sideways sniff greetings, moving loosely (not stiffly), sniffing each other’s pee, all help to keep the process tranquil
• Proceed gradually from more open spaces to smaller spaces, and avoid congregating at trigger areas like gates or doors
• Be ready to separate dogs if a skirmish breaks out (a large but lightweight board such as a kitchen cutting board or a large solid placemat can be on hand to place between two dogs in the event you need to quickly separate them, but always stay calm and methodical— no shouting)
• Keep the leashes attached to each individual dog for emergency control but either drop the leash or keep slack in the leash
• When introducing the new dog on home territory, allow the new dog to be in the environment first, and then bring in the resident dogs, one at a time if necessary

Edited to add: with the surge in demand for dog supplies (and supplies in general), the third Omlet Fido Studio crate for Jackie is on back order.  We’ve rummaged out of the garage Prissy’s original crate from years ago.  I love the wire crates for their ease of use; they collapse down to the size of the bottom tray for travel or storage. Wire crates are the best for ventilation since they have no solid sides or top. With a blanket folded on top and a Brindle brand orthopedic bed with a removable water proof sheepskin cover, this Top Paw crate is being used with success:

Rosco is modeling Jackie’s crate

This exercise pen comes in handy to control access from the hallway and stairs.  The ex pen is a stand-alone and has a built in gate should we need it, but we just easily move the panel to walk through: