I've got a number of rescue dogs and worked with many students that have had
rescue dogs.
And there's one thing that so many rescue dog owners get wronged and
rescue dogs. Even more than puppies really need you to get this right.
I'm instructor Carol. This is the Berk. Welcome back to McCann Dogs
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Here's a very common mistake that new rescue dog owners
make you wanna stop thinking about whether or not your dog has
friends.
And you wanna start to develop a relationship with your new rescue
dog. What do I mean by relationship? That may sound really fuzzy,
but I want my dog to think I'm valuable to care about me,
to look to me for information, to look to me for confidence.
And it goes two ways.
I also need to understand my new rescue dog and what they need from me
in order to set them up for success for the rest of their lives.
The Berk is a rescue dog. I got him when he was over four years old. Now,
when I got him, I didn't rush to introduce him to my other dogs, to family,
to friends. I don't want so many people when they get their new dog,
we wanna make their lives wonderful. They maybe come from lousy situations. So,
you know,
we wanna suddenly give them all this affection introduce them to people and
dogs, but so many rescue dogs. They're not used to that.
They need a little bit more quiet. We might overwhelm them. So instead,
you know, Berk and I spent some time together, you know, one,
I maybe hand-fed his meals.
So he gets to see me as the provider of good things. What a good boy.
Yes. So he can see I am providing him,
he's learning some skills like taking the food gently cuz so many rescue dogs
are ravenous. They'll take your hand off.
So he is learning some manners and we're getting to know one another.
We might go for a nice, quiet walk,
not the middle of a dog park where he could be overwhelmed, but someplace quiet.
And I can see, you know, is he nervous of noises?
As people are in closer proximity, is he still comfortable?
So I get to know him, he gets to know me.
Another really part of relationship is that the Berk
sees me or any of our rescue dogs. See us as leaders.
That's gonna set the pace for the rest of our time together.
So you can see he's looking at me. What are we gonna do? He sees me as valuable.
So it's not that leader. You will listen to me or else.
I'm inspirational he sees me as important to him.
So that's the leadership I want to establish with my dog. Now,
how do you do that? One of the best ways is some training. So one,
I want my rescue dog to have life skills, things like response, to name,
being able to walk with me and you may say,
oh my rescue dog knows his name. Well,
there's a difference with the dog knowing their name and responding in a room
full of squirrels. I want my dog to respond despite the distraction.
So I may go back and put lots of value to my
dog, truly knowing their name and billing, being willing to respond.
So we're walking along. I'm just gonna Berk show 'em some food. Yes. Good boy.
I wanna build tons of value. I'm rewarding. Close to me.
So he's rehearsing perfect response to name Berk. Yes.
Good boy. So yes, I'm helping him with food, but you know what?
For the first few weeks with me, Berk is gonna respond to his name first time.
Every time we're regardless of what's going on around us,
did you get that last piece? I'm rehearsing. Perfect responses.
So if you're not getting perfect responses,
you need to stop treating your rescued dog like a dog or a trained dog
and think of them more as a puppy.
So I might need to be working this response to name in a hallway at home
where I can be sure my dog is perfect.
Same if I want to teach my dog to walk on leash.
So many people get rescue dogs that don't walk well.
And then what happens is the dog's not getting out for exercise,
but it's a great way for me to spend time with my dog, my dog, to get exercise,
fresh air exposure to things. So again, I wanna set my dog up to be perfect.
If I need to, I can treat him like a puppy, I'm right in the house.
I could have treats right on his nose, just walking along and rewarding.
Now,
if your rescue dog's a little more comfortable and we can do that outside bonus,
I can start out here. I'm still gonna be using my voice. What a good boy,
my treats, or a toy to help my dog practice perfect walking.
I don't have to do this forever, but I need to set them off to a good start.
Now I told you to stop thinking about your dog,
having friends and I absolutely urge you.
Don't take your rescue dog to a leash free park and let them interact with
dogs. Especially dogs. You don't know. Number one,
if my dog is new to me and something bad happens or they get overwhelmed,
where's their trust in me gonna be. I wanna establish that bond and that trust.
Number two is so many rescue dogs have not had enough exposure.
So they're gonna be terrified by this situation.
Blue's a new rescue dog and lacks confidence.
There's no way he would be able to handle what Berk is right now.
So Rob works well away from distracting,
creating lots of positive association,
building confidence and strengthening their relationship rather than throwing it
away. Socialization. Isn't letting my dog loose to play with other dogs.
Not necessarily even visiting with other dogs.
Socialization is letting my dog experience the world and gain confidence.
So new locations are so important.
Taking them out to new places where they can be safe.
They get their trust in me. I can let them explore. I can let them sniff,
check out new things. New sounds, new environments.
In a number of instances I've said to stop treating your rescue dog like a dog
and treat 'em like a puppy.
Here's one where you wanna stop treating your rescue dog like a puppy and treat
them like a dog with puppies, like little kids.
They're always happy to see us, right?
Your three year old runs and meet you every time you come home teenagers.
Not so much. We'll see with these dogs that are a little bit older,
a puppy's gonna take treats and not even care what's around them.
But with our older dogs,
they're gonna be more interested in other things going on.
So I'm going to mix up my rewards a little bit more.
I'm not just going to use the same old treat over and over again.
So I'm gonna use toys far more often.
And that also allows me to interact with my dog and build that relationship
further. Ready? Berk. Get it. Yeah. Get that thing. Ho good boy.
Yes. Out. Good boy.
You wanna stop gambling with what you think your dog already knows?
Just because they're older.
Another huge thing that many people get a rescue dog on.
Assuming they're gonna understand is housebreaking or house training.
Now Mac grew up in a barn. So for his first nine years, he never had to hold.
He could just eliminate wherever he was. I had a rescue dog like that too,
who for four years had that experience and it takes time for them to
understand one how to physically hold and two,
to understand that that's what they're supposed to do.
So I'm gonna need to go back and treat those rescue dogs,
just like a brand new puppy.
Even if your dog has been house trained in another location,
they don't know your house. And if they've got a lot of freedom and don't know,
they may eliminate when you're not paying attention. Now that's self rewarding.
So we may develop a problem that I could have avoided by treating my dog a
little bit, like more like a puppy and helping them be right.
Now that takes me into management. And what do I mean?
I need to make sure my puppy's safe when we get, and we think about that, right?
Because puppies will eat everything,
but some of our rescue dogs have had that experience or they may have had
situations where they weren't getting proper nutrition.
So maybe our rescue dogs are gonna put things into their mouth.
That could be unsafe. Maybe they're gonna chew. Maybe they're gonna dig.
Maybe they're gonna eliminate.
So that gets into how do I keep my new dog safe? If I've got other dogs,
how do I keep them apart? So I'm going to use baby gates for me.
I'm going to use a crate. I know a lot of people, oh, I don't like the crate,
but those first few months with my new dog, one, I want them safe. And two,
I wanna develop that a relationship. So for a few months,
that's gonna set me up for life.
I also want my dog to be comfortable in a crate. Again,
they haven't had that puppy experience perhaps.
What happens if they have to go to the vet now they may not be feeling well and
the stress of the crate,
or if I travel or in my vehicle to make sure they're safe.
I need to know they're comfortable either with that harness being restrained or
in that crate so they can ride safely.
So management is just as key with our rescue dogs, even for a dog like Mac,
that was nine as it is for our brand new puppy.
I've talked about using treats a few times in this video. There's one mistake.
So many people make. We wanna make sure you don't make that mistake.
So check out this video here.
If you'd like personalized training for your rescue dog,
from myself or our other McCann instructors,
check out our Life Skills online program. To hear more about that.
Click the link in the description below on that note. I'm instructor Carol.
This is Mac happy training.