Hi! Our family brought home a 5-6 mos old black lab pup last night. He is a rescue and has come from a foster home with lots of other dogs. He is also separated from his two siblings for the first time. Would love any advice for helping him to settle in and gain confidence. He is currently pretty timid, mostly hanging in his crate (with door open). He gives a little wags when we come over. Anyone work with rescues? Would love some advice for building him up to be a confident friendly fellow. I know we've missed the prime puppy socialization time between 8-16 weeks.
Hey Kathryn and welcome! I've been volunteering at my local shelter here in Spain for a few weeks now, working on behaviour modification programmes for some of the dogs there - ok, it's a great excuse to get loads of doggy cuddles, who am I kidding? We have several very timid dogs, and the most important thing is to try to build their trust without coercion. That means, don't try to entice him to come to you, let him do it in his own time. Don't make giving treats conditional on him interacting with you; let him learn that he gets them from you whether he comes to you or not. Putting the choice in his court at every step will teach him something he may have never had up until this point; that it's OK to say "I'd quite like my own space right now". This is hugely empowering for a dog. I know you desperately want to show him he's loved and safe, but the best thing right now is to give him space. Try not to stare at him or talk to him all the time. Go about your normal routine, dropping treats by him in passing without a fuss. If he does choose to come to you, give him plenty of quiet praise and food. If he's comfortable with it, gently stroke him. You'll soon learn what he likes and he'll learn that you're non-threatening and nice to be around. Once you've made that first connection, ditch the food bowl and feed him all of his daily allowance by hand for a week or more. This will really help develop your bond. Moving forwards, doing some positive reinforcement training is brilliant for building a dog's confidence in himself, and in your bond together, but I wouldn't rush into that for now. If you want to go down the route of clicker training, though, you can start conditioning him to the noise of the clicker, by pressing the click then feeding him a piece of his food. He'll soon start associating the click with food, so you can eventually use it in training. You can read more about clicker training here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/ten-great-reasons-to-start-clicker-training/
Hi and welcome to you ! I have rescued several times , the main advice I would offer is to give him time . Keep a relaxed manner around him , and as said , let him come to you , when he feels ready .Don't worry about missing the window of opportunity , its not the be all and end all , dogs can be taught to be sociable at any age . Rescues can be so very rewarding indeed and so I wish you much luck with your new addition to the family x
I have socialled up a couple of wild, stray and feral cats and kittens and I do much as suggested above. Cats and dogs are a lot alike. If you have the time can you simply sit on the floor, not too close to him, and read a book? Being in his presence without trying to interact, without looking at him and without moving your arms around much is what I do with the cats. Some hid for a week but your puppy has been in a house with people before, I assume, at his foster home and will likely come to you much sooner than a week. Good for you for taking him on. What's his name? Normally I ask to see pictures but a camera pointing at a timid animal is sort of like a big, scary eye staring at them so I advise no photos just yet. Soon though, I hope.
Bless you for taking this pup and giving him a loving home. You've had good advice already, I just want to wish you all the best with your new family member.
Welcome @Kathryn F from Hattie 10 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. Fiona and Kate have given you great advice, I just wanted to say good luck, well done for giving this puppy a loving home and keep us posted xx
Thank you everyone for the help! Just took Shadow to the vet, they think he may be closer to 6.5-7 mos old because he has all of his adult teeth. He is 39.3 lbs. We are trying to take it very slow with him. He is gentle and sweet, soft mouth (not grabby). He is not super-food motivated (yet), as in he won't let himself be lured if he really doesn't want to do something. Maybe I haven't found the right treats yet He lets us pat him and wags his tail when he sees us, but does not automatically come over to greet. I'm thinking that once he's comfortable we may hire a trainer to help us with him one on one and then move on to an obedience class with other dogs. I am trying to just go about my routine and not bother him too much.
