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Old June 29th, 2012, 05:02 PM
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kittygirl kittygirl is offline
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2nd Dog Adoption

Hi All, its been awhile since I've posted.
We adopted a little guy on 2 nights ago with the intention of having a companion for Otis. Our new addition is Sonny. He is 9-10 months old, he is fixed, appears to be house broken and crate trained. He eats well, his poops are great and he even likes a bath. He has never been on a leash and is still quite scared but is willing and curious. He is very sweet and has a very calm demeanor. He is a great personality match for Otis and I already see them starting to bond.
Their initial introduction at home went extremely well - they did meet before - and Sonny and the cats are doing fantastic. Otis is getting lots of positive reinforcement and he is responding to Sonny very well. The food routine is working out - in fact it is good for Otis to have a little competition so he has been a stellar eater the last few days - Bonus!
We are taking it very slow with the new guy. He is either in the yard on a 20 ft leash, (I just let it drag behind him so he can roam and explore but so I can catch him again - lesson learned on night #1), in his crate or loose in the house with supervision.
I have had the boys out for a walk. I had to carry Sonny and walk Otis until we got to the field where Otis runs off leash. Then I was able to put Sonny down and let him start to move around on his own. He follows his nose so I used that as momentum and eventually put Otis back on a leash and had Sonny following Otis nose to tail. This worked very well, although I looked like I was plowing a field with dogs.. but I was able to get Sonny all the way home walking on his leash. Our walk which should have been 20 minutes took over an hour, but was not too bad for a first attempt. I am really open to suggestions to get Sonny started on his leash.
Apart from that, we are letting him be. He gets pats and ear rubs and we are using his new name as much as possible. The family went to the cottage for the weekend while I stayed at home with the boys. I want to do everything possible to get him settled in, plus he is going for a once over to our vet on Saturday and to get his stitches removed. Is there anything else I should be doing right away? Anything I should absolutely not do?
I have let him lead me and so far it has been great. He does not seem to be in the fragile state Otis was when we adopted him 2 years ago, just a scared little puppy that has no idea where he is, who we are or what we want.
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Old June 29th, 2012, 05:18 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Originally Posted by kittygirl View Post
Hi All, its been awhile since I've posted.
We adopted a little guy on 2 nights ago with the intention of having a companion for Otis. Our new addition is Sonny. He is 9-10 months old, he is fixed, appears to be house broken and crate trained. He eats well, his poops are great and he even likes a bath. He has never been on a leash and is still quite scared but is willing and curious. He is very sweet and has a very calm demeanor. He is a great personality match for Otis and I already see them starting to bond.
Their initial introduction at home went extremely well - they did meet before - and Sonny and the cats are doing fantastic. Otis is getting lots of positive reinforcement and he is responding to Sonny very well. The food routine is working out - in fact it is good for Otis to have a little competition so he has been a stellar eater the last few days - Bonus!
We are taking it very slow with the new guy. He is either in the yard on a 20 ft leash, (I just let it drag behind him so he can roam and explore but so I can catch him again - lesson learned on night #1), in his crate or loose in the house with supervision.
I have had the boys out for a walk. I had to carry Sonny and walk Otis until we got to the field where Otis runs off leash. Then I was able to put Sonny down and let him start to move around on his own. He follows his nose so I used that as momentum and eventually put Otis back on a leash and had Sonny following Otis nose to tail. This worked very well, although I looked like I was plowing a field with dogs.. but I was able to get Sonny all the way home walking on his leash. Our walk which should have been 20 minutes took over an hour, but was not too bad for a first attempt. I am really open to suggestions to get Sonny started on his leash.
Apart from that, we are letting him be. He gets pats and ear rubs and we are using his new name as much as possible. The family went to the cottage for the weekend while I stayed at home with the boys. I want to do everything possible to get him settled in, plus he is going for a once over to our vet on Saturday and to get his stitches removed. Is there anything else I should be doing right away? Anything I should absolutely not do?
I have let him lead me and so far it has been great. He does not seem to be in the fragile state Otis was when we adopted him 2 years ago, just a scared little puppy that has no idea where he is, who we are or what we want.
What a cute dog! I would careful letting Sonny run on his own until he has a good recall . Is he part Beagle, if so you really should careful as Beagles will pick up a sense and follow it forever.
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Old June 29th, 2012, 08:16 PM
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Oh, Sonny (new dog) is not off a leash unless he is crated. He is leashed in the house at this point. I let it drag behind him so I can redirect him quickly or catch him if he is in the backyard..
He doesn't know his name or us yet...

Otis, our first dog is part beagle among other things, and he does run off leash and is excellent. He has excellent recall and he runs fast laps around us and burns energy. He walks with us on a trail. The other breeds Otis is mixed seem to keep him close because he is not a 'nose' dog...

I just had a sucessful walk with Sonny. This is his 2nd time on the leash and we made it around the block! I bought him a flat harness and used it for leverage to keep him up, and used Otis as momentum to keep him moving forward. It took us 35 minutes but he made it! I had to carry him to a starting point, so I guess the next step is getting him to start at the house. I have also noticed he does not do stairs, up or down.
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Old June 30th, 2012, 09:07 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Sounds like you're making progress with the walks. Does he like toys? We had a dog that had a similar aversion to starting out on walks but did fine once we were out and about. He loved balls, so I took his fave along and rolled it gently for him for the first few yards. He focussed on the ball and never even noticed we were leaving home. Once away from the house, I picked up the ball and we continued on our walk. Once we got home, I rewarded him with the same ball. After a while, I didn't need the ball anymore to get him started, but I still usually tossed it for him a few times when we got home.

Likely, Sonny has never seen stairs before, so make it a game with him. Probably you'll have to do this when Otis is not around cuz he'd get all the snacks.

Start at the bottom and place a little snack on 3 - 5 consecutive steps (depending on the size of the dog) starting at the bottom one. He'll find them and learn to climb--that part's easy--then, when he gets to the highest treat, drop a treat on the step below where he is. When he's managed to go down a level, drop one on the next lowest stair, etc. Always praise him quietly and proudly when he's "attained a new level". If he freezes the first time up and you have to lift him down, that's okay. Quit and try again later. Next time, just adjust the number of steps you use in your game to one less and give it a go. Once he has the bottom of the staircase mastered, work from the top in a similar way, placing treats on each step going down. He'll be up and down on his own in no time.

He sure is a doll, kittygirl!
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Old June 30th, 2012, 12:12 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
Sounds like you're making progress with the walks. Does he like toys? We had a dog that had a similar aversion to starting out on walks but did fine once we were out and about. He loved balls, so I took his fave along and rolled it gently for him for the first few yards. He focussed on the ball and never even noticed we were leaving home. Once away from the house, I picked up the ball and we continued on our walk. Once we got home, I rewarded him with the same ball. After a while, I didn't need the ball anymore to get him started, but I still usually tossed it for him a few times when we got home.

Likely, Sonny has never seen stairs before, so make it a game with him. Probably you'll have to do this when Otis is not around cuz he'd get all the snacks.

Start at the bottom and place a little snack on 3 - 5 consecutive steps (depending on the size of the dog) starting at the bottom one. He'll find them and learn to climb--that part's easy--then, when he gets to the highest treat, drop a treat on the step below where he is. When he's managed to go down a level, drop one on the next lowest stair, etc. Always praise him quietly and proudly when he's "attained a new level". If he freezes the first time up and you have to lift him down, that's okay. Quit and try again later. Next time, just adjust the number of steps you use in your game to one less and give it a go. Once he has the bottom of the staircase mastered, work from the top in a similar way, placing treats on each step going down. He'll be up and down on his own in no time.

He sure is a doll, kittygirl!
My Standard Poodle refused to used staircase that curve. He never really like to used stairs , and I wonder if something happen to him during his training as a hearing dog.

Last edited by Barkingdog; July 6th, 2012 at 10:41 AM.
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Old June 30th, 2012, 03:50 PM
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kittygirl kittygirl is offline
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That is great advice! Thank you so much.
So far, Otis has been a wonderful example and Sonny has picked up so much even in the last 24 hrs.
Our walk this morning was great once we got going. Sonny's first reaction to the leash and the 'work' of a walk is to lie down. As long as I can keep him up - Otis keeps him moving forward. Sonny has taken to Otis and follows his lead and is always just a few feet away. And Otis is loving all the attention he is getting for being a stellar big brother, so it is working out quite well.
Sonny has followed Otis up the stairs a few times since yesterday, so its just down the stairs we have got to work on. He has to go down at both the front and back entrances so I think I will start him one step down and coax him from there. His legs are quite short although he is not a small dog and maybe the drop down is freaking him out. He is not too interested in toys yet, and is still pretty suspicious of treats but I think it is just a matter of him doing it once or twice and getting the confidence.
His vet appt went really well this morning - his condition is perfect. He even had stitches removed without a flinch.
So far i am just taking his lead about what he is ready for. I'm glad its a long weekend and I have lots of time to work him through it.
Thanks again, if there is anything else I am missing in these first few days please let me know!
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