New dogs need time to adjust. The rule of thumb is four to twelve months. It does not matter if the dog’s background was bad or pretty good, nor does it matter that your home is wonderful. Change is stressful for most dogs. It will take four months for them to begin to think they might not be going anywhere and during those four months, they will experience some level of stress hormones chronically circulating. Be patient, but not permissive. Set boundaries, but allow for mistakes. Don’t expect perfect results with your training … stress impedes the ability to learn.
Dogs will reveal more of their true nature as those first four months unfold. After that, it can take up to a year for them to be fully settled in. (It takes longer for dogs with abusive backgrounds or for those that have had multiple homes).
Many times I have given this advice to new clients and many times they call me at the four month mark and said, “Wow, I am so glad I had that realistic time frame to work with, because it really did take four months.”
Hello from Chewelah. This is Diane Thompson. I brought Fletcher to you for an initial evaluation just about 4 months ago. You may remember he had been shifted to 3 homes before we got him at 2 1/2 years old. He turns 3 in February. He has been adjusting well however, we have had 2 incidences where he has snapped at my husband most recently today. My husband was doing something that he didn’t like and he bit him then looked immediately remorseful. I plan on bringing him to your class in March. We have a lot of company and have young children that visit and he hasn’t given any aggressive indication. He has some jumping up issues and barking when people come to the door which I am trying to address not very successfully unfortunately. He minds well in other aspects. I’m just concerned he could snap at someone else. Any suggestions prior to the class?
I am really enjoying reading your articles and look forward to the class on March 4th.
Hi,
Would your Group Puppy Class be good for our dog?
Our Black Lab- Kimber just turned three. We adopted her at Priest River Animal Rescue two months ago. She had been there twice. She has warmed up to my wife and I, and our 13 year old Chihuahua, and is a very gentle, sweet dog. We love her.
The Animal Rescue told us she had Separation Anxiety, and that she was shy around new people and dogs at first. We did meet another dog at the park and she warmed up to that person and their dog after a five minutes, tail wagging. We would like to ultimately have her attend Day Care, and stay at doggy land for a few days. Is your Group Puppy Class a good place fr her to start meeting other people and dogs?
Thanks,
Randy Pritchard (509) 589-0823