Time off for rescue dog, or straight into routine?

[ThymeLord]

Potentially bringing home our new rescue pooch a week today and not sure whether to take time off work, or whether to just dive straight in with our daily routine. The rescue know our working hours and felt that this particular dog would be fine with the routine and dog walker we have but I don't know if it is cruel to take time off and be there all the time, or whether to start as we mean to go on? Any advice?

I would take time off to settle the rescue in. Part of the settling in process would be leaving thr dog for short periods to check how he copes with it initially.

I’d definitely take time off to settle him in. It’ll be a very strange place to start with, and he needs to become familiar with it and confident. I can’t see how that isn’t the kind thing to do.

Definitely take time off if you can.
It will help you bond with the dog and have time to pick up on any potential problems that the rescue might not have known about.
I launched my rescue straight into my routine as I'm self-employed and it's difficult to take time off, but I was really lucky in that she is a low-energy dog and fitted in with me, rather than the other way round (but in an ideal world I definitely would have time off to have settled her in.)

I'd take the time off and then practice leaving the house for 5/15/30/60mins/2/3/4 hours, building up and creating a routine that your dog can recognise - for us, it's good coat on, shoes on, nip around block, shut relevant doors, provide Kong or chew, "see you later". PestDog trots off quite happily when the Kong / chew is provided as he knows what's going to happen.

I thought so, thanks for the advice

It was very different last time round as one of us worked from home every day. I will book a few days off.

We didn't take time off. She settled in just fine. When we leave home she gets a kong wobbler or something else to keep her occupied. Good luck