I'm thinking of taking a 5month old pup from a rescue centre where it has been from just after birth.
Am I likely to have problems in socialising and training a dog of this age that has pretty much been kept in a kennel? I don't imagine it has had any house training. Any tips?
Answers:
dog should have been socialized with other dogs (because of the kennel environment) housebreaking? if the kennel in which it was kept had a separate place for going potty, that should be easy also,, view the kennel, see if the pup goes in one spot or she goes poop everywhere,, that will be a clue about her natural instincts to keep clean. socializing with people should be easy also, she is still young. go for it.
She is still young enough to train...just be patient and make sure you have lots of time for training.
You can socialise and train a dog of any age!!
Good Luck!
If you had dogs before go for it. I have two problem dogs which turned out fine. It just cost a lot of time and patience. I think there are many things you have to work on with kennel dog. I guess it depends what the dog is used to. If it has people around all the time and so on. Just try to find out how the dogs daily life looks like then you know what you probably have to work on.
If this will be your first dog, I strongly suggest you keep looking. Unless you are interested in the challenges that an unsocialized dog brings.
Ask the rescue centre what kind of socialization this pup has had. Has it been handled? Has it been allowed to have contact with other dogs? Has it had contact with people or has just one or two people been responsible for it's care? If the answers to these questions are no, then you should probably keep looking. If the dog has lived in a kennel by itself with little contact with humans and other dogs for the first five months of its life you are looking at a LOT of hard work to socialize this dog. Even with all of the hard work it takes to make this dog fairly well adjusted, you are likely to have issues all of the dog's life. If the answers to the above questions are yes, then socialization will still be a bit of a challenge but not nearly so much.
Adopting, socializing, and training a dog with such a rough start in life can be very rewarding. But it takes a LOT of patience and a lot of time. And it can be full of heartbreaks and setbacks. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart.
my rescue dog was exactly 5mo old when we got her. This is the teen time for a doggie in their development and they can be very impulsive. We worked with her on her impluse control by never petting her unless she sat. Getting an older pup was great for us. She was already crate-trained and she easily house-trained. She knew the command for sit,a nd was mostly beyond that puppy high-maintenance age. She is our joy and one of the best dogs I have ever owned and known. We can't imagine life with out her!
I suggest you look into the training in your area (it is fun and rewarding for all dogs and owners no matter the age or experience level). So, go get yourself a crate, and a training halter and leash, and head to the rescue center to pick him/her up!
I listed some great resources for you below, hope you find them helpful! I really like the Marin Humane Society page, they ask that you sign up with an email, but they don't spam, so go for it!
Lots of luck!
Five months old is still young. Take your puppy on as many walks as you can and let hersay hello to other dogs. If there are any signs of aggression walk away straight away and don't give her time to think about it other solutions would be taking her to obedience classes there are always other dogs around for socialisation and if any thing happens your instructor will tell you what to do
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment