Hello all! I'm looking for some help and guidance on how we can help our new pup. We just adopted her Monday evening so this will be our 4th full day with her and I've started to notice a few things of concern. A bit about our family: I am a stay at home parent with 2 kids (2 yrs and 5 mo.). My husband works a 40 hr week job. We own our own home and have a fenced in back yard. We've owned a Boxer in the past but never a Lab. History of our pup: Her name is Molly and she just turned 1 yr old. She is not spayed yet and we will be doing that soon. We adopted her from the guy who purchased her as a pup. He worked 2 full time jobs so unfortunately Molly spent pretty much all day and night alone free roaming his house. Otherwise he did do some pretty good training with her. What we've noticed: She seems to be very attached to me. She won't go more than 10 feet from my side. If I leave the room and she is unable to follow she sits and whines and cries and barks. I went to the grocery store while my husband and kids were home and was gone 15-20 minutes. He said she ran into the metal gate at the top of the steps trying to follow me and didn't stop whining until I got back. He tried to distract her or interact with her to no avail. We have a fenced in yard and she won't go potty out there. She won't even leave the deck and go down to our yard unless I go with her. My husband has tried and she sits by the sliding door. He's tried to walk her in the front yard and she won't go. The only time she'll go is if I walk her in the front yard or walk her on the walking path we live next to. She has plenty of cool fresh water that she drinks but only pees once or twice a day and same with pooping. I know it's only been a few days and she's still trying to adjust to everything, but how can I help her?
People spend years every day training and praying to achieve what you have in her now. Lol. You bragging ? Just kidding
It's early days and she's not yet feeling secure in her new home. But you want to start out right and avoid any anxiety issues down the line so I'd get the help of a behaviourist with this. I'd be focused on ways to increase the role that your husband is playing. Have your husband do the nice things like feeding her and doing short, fun training sessions using her favourite treats. Start these in the room you're in and over successive sessions gradually move away to other rooms and then out into the yards and then further from there. Keep the sessions short (few minutes) especially when they start to move away from you.
Hi there and welcome! It sounds like Molly will be a great dog for you - give her time to find her feet and to learn that she can trust you and above all your husband.
Hello and welcome . I have a rehomed dog , and have rescued before , my advice would be patience , lots of it too . The ones I have rehomed have always naturally gravitated to me , and have had to build up trust around my husband, but it does happen , especially if the husband feeds them ! Everything is new to these rescue dogs , give them time , care and patience , trust will build as will confidence that they are safe and loved . Good luck , Molly sounds lovely x
Welcome to the forum from Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. I totally agree with all the advice already given. Don't rush things, take it slowly and at Molly's pace. I handfed Charlie all his meals for months and months which strengthened our bond. You will get there just be consistent with lots of praise and I am sure Molly will get there. Good luck. Helen xx
Our rescue seemed to be very worried about another abandonment and was clingy too. Agree with above but one suggestion from me is the kind of training we did for obedience in preparation for an out of the room Stay. We approached it very slowly, only backing up but remaining visible at first. Lots of that before we left the room, trainer still in the room, for mere seconds at a time. All to reassure and show the dog we were going to come back. And, I favour training classes, novice pet or competitive (I prefer competitive whether you intend to compete or not, I think the training is better) as a way of you learning how to teach your dog. A bonus is they tend to help form a bond so your husband could do them. After a few weeks settling in with you. Wow, you are a brave person. Three kids no older than two years. You know dogs' mental age is often compared to a two year old child? Yup, you've just adopted another two year old.
Thank you all for the advice. Involving my husband more has really helped. She trusts him enough now to at least go to the bathroom when he takes her out. He takes her for her morning walk and feeds her. I've been doing more "quick trips" outside to try and help her realize that I am coming back and we're not going to abandon her. Even just a walk out to the mailbox and back and she's been staying a lot calmer and even goes and lays down by my husband. We went to the grocery store today and the house was empty and she got a busy treat when she went in the kennel before we left. We watched her on the camera we had set up and she paced and whined for about 10 minutes then laid down and ate her treat. She's really been feeling a lot more comfortable. I think as everyone suggested, just time and more involvement from my husband to help build trust and she'll be just fine.
