Adopting an older dog - any tips?

foreign_correspondent

wow, what a wonderful start, it sounds as though he is happy to be with you and has really fallen on her feet! (paws?!) - and I think you are doing all the right things re: getting her used to not having your attention all the time and being left alone for short periods.

Our rescue dog cried for the first few nights (four or five I think) but we didnt go to her (as this would only have taught her to carry it on) and it soon stopped.

Apparently she did it the first night I left her at my dads whilst I was away too, then didnt do it again, so its probably to do with being in a strange place too.

Best wishes, she sounds lovely, we would love to see pics! My latest rescue dog came to us in october, and she is really fabulous. Just start as you mean to go on, and be consisitent with her and she will soon be 100% at home with you.

greyhoundcrazy

Sounds like you are doing really well :beer:

thriftmonster

Well done - sounds like you're doing well.

About the name, I wouldn't worry too much - our dog was named by the USPCA in a hope to get him rehomed - we brought him home and found he responded to our other dog's name - tough - he's had to get used to his own rechristened one - which he learnt remarkably quickly

Just a point - when we rehomed our first dog, we were told:

A family generally allow a dog 1 month to adjust to new circumstances. It actually takes the dog 48 hours and the rest of the time he/she is taking advantage of the slack.

Debt_Free_Chick

dora37 wrote: »

We bought a bag of James Wellbeloved, however she wouldn't eat at first, which we put down to being out of sorts, however when we gave her a piece of roast chicken she loved it, so we put it down to her being fussy!! We now put a little gravy on the dry food and she is fine with that.

Be careful with gravy - dilute it. Put about 5 or 6 parts water to one part gravy.

Another "trick" is to use a weak chicken stock. Again, dilute it with 5 or 6 parts water.

No need to be accurate ... just slop plenty of water in

JennyW_2

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Be careful with gravy - dilute it. Put about 5 or 6 parts water to one part gravy.

Another "trick" is to use a weak chicken stock. Again, dilute it with 5 or 6 parts water.

No need to be accurate ... just slop plenty of water in

our vet has always advised us not to feed "human" gravy to dogs as it's high in salt but I guess watering it down as much as DFC has suggested maybe OK

Alternatively you can buy dog gravy - IAMs do one. Tesco also do dog gravy in sachets, however only in some of the big stores.

dora37

We have had to stop adding anything extra to her food due to possible allergies. We took Ruby to the vets for a once over and explained that she is constantly licking,grooming and biting herself.

The Vet has told us to just give her dry food for 8 weeks and nothing else (not even her Friday treat of sardines!) along with a tablet of Piriton twice a day to see if it makes any difference to her condition and to use Frontline every 4 weeks.

We changed the flavour from Turkey to Lamb (but still use James Wellbeloved) and she seems to eak it ok now.

Ruby also had a cyst that on the back of her head that was drained fortunately it was just liquid. The Vet has said Ruby may have potential problems as there seems to be hard lumps under her mammaries.

The Vet did not seem very impressed that the RSPCA had let her be adopted without notifiying us of any of these quite obvious issues.

dora37

thriftmonster wrote: »

Well done - sounds like you're doing well.

About the name, I wouldn't worry too much - our dog was named by the USPCA in a hope to get him rehomed - we brought him home and found he responded to our other dog's name - tough - he's had to get used to his own rechristened one - which he learnt remarkably quickly
.

We have had Ruby 3 weeks now and she comes when called, so you were correct - it didn't turn out to be an issue at all!

roxalana

Sorry to highjack this thread, but from reading it I thought you might be able to help me.

Myself and my partner want to get a dog (probably from dogs trust).
I haven't had a pet before although my partner has had dogs in the past. Thing is normally I am the one that sorts everything out and is sensible about things, but I can't do that in this case because I have no experience.

My partner will be the dogs main carer, but I am worried we will take on more than we can handle as he tends to fall in love with every dog he sees!

I want to get a small dog (terrier-esque) as we don't have a great deal of space, but I don't know what else to look for. As it is my first dog, I don't feel confident enough to take on a dog with lots of behavioural/medical problems. I know it won't be the last dog we ever adopt, and in the future we might consider dogs that need more care, but I don't want to not be able to handle it and end up having to take the dog back.

Any tips?

Also the cages people have talked about - does anyone have a picture so I know what you are talking about? I'm new to the doggy lingo! ;o)

dora37

roxalana wrote: »

Also the cages people have talked about - does anyone have a picture so I know what you are talking about? I'm new to the doggy lingo! ;o)

http://www.ukdogcrate.co.uk/info.htm

HTH

Kimberley

roxalana wrote: »

Sorry to highjack this thread, but from reading it I thought you might be able to help me.

Myself and my partner want to get a dog (probably from dogs trust).
I haven't had a pet before although my partner has had dogs in the past. Thing is normally I am the one that sorts everything out and is sensible about things, but I can't do that in this case because I have no experience.

My partner will be the dogs main carer, but I am worried we will take on more than we can handle as he tends to fall in love with every dog he sees!

I want to get a small dog (terrier-esque) as we don't have a great deal of space, but I don't know what else to look for. As it is my first dog, I don't feel confident enough to take on a dog with lots of behavioural/medical problems. I know it won't be the last dog we ever adopt, and in the future we might consider dogs that need more care, but I don't want to not be able to handle it and end up having to take the dog back.

Any tips?

Also the cages people have talked about - does anyone have a picture so I know what you are talking about? I'm new to the doggy lingo! ;o)

How about fostering a dog for a rescue like i do? You then foster dogs and this will tell you and give you the experience you need to adopting one yourself, also you may find the dog your looking for when you do foster and want to keep one.