Adopted dog arriving next mth, help me prepare pls!

[mintyfreshh]

Our adopted dog is coming to us from foster care (he's been thoroughly vetted with children and other animals) and we are trying to prepare as much as possible for his arrival.

I plan to get him a crate and bed/blankets. Bowls, food. Harness and lead. I'll go to Halfords and get a car boot protector and mesh dog guard.

But there must be more stuff I'm missing. What sorts of toys would you choose? And should I be getting any healthcare stuff in? (He will be taken to vet in first week of arrival for chipping and flea/worm treatments, he has been neutered and tested for disease already.)

I'm going around the back garden plugging any possible holes he might try to squeeze through.

We know he will take time to settle so we want to try and get as much right for him as we can, he is a MUCH wanted pet.

Would appreciate and tips or advice, or even warning, I am here to listen and learn.

I've already arranged to meet a behaviourist over Zoom, more for my own confidence that anything else.

Romanian Street dogs can be great but many have underlying health conditions and a lot are very nervous/reactive.
Resource guarding can also be a problem.

I'd suggest doing a lot of reading on canine body language, trigger stacking and recognising stress signals.
Also ion appropriate child-dog interactions and active supervision

If you are getting a Romanian dog, the website "The Dog's POV" has a new adopter's seminar to watch and some other resources that we found really helpful. We are expecting ours next week .

Thanks @MumtherofCats
Will check it out

I'm shamelessly piggybacking on this thread @mintyfreshh - our 6 month-old Bulgarian rescue arrives on the 31st! I've got my "must buy" list but it's great to see detailed advice here.

Are you collecting your pup? I'm trying to decide the best way to transport ours home. We have a battered family estate car - just DH and I will be collecting her so I might take out the kids' car seats and sit with her in a harness in the back. I'm talking to the rescue org tomorrow and will seek advice but am interested in advice from here too.

Dog peanut butter and a Kong with a few treats in it are what we use when we need our (rescue) dog to lie down and have a quiet few mins.

Or a carrot! They’re his favourite

We have our dog seven weeks now...she’s a German Shepherd who was used for breeding until a warden managed to take her.

Don’t do too much for the first few days. Wait to introduce new people. We thought she was doing great, and let a couple of people meet her. She was all unsettled and we realised that she didn’t know if they were going to take her away.

We gave her a teddy, and she still loves it and carries it around sometimes. We have a couple of beds around the house so she can be with us.

Decide whether you want him on the sofa etc. It’s unfair to let him up then change your mind after a few days. Mine hopped up on the sofa immediately but I showed her her beds and she knows they’re hers. We put in a stair gate to keep her from upstairs too.

Are you changing his name? It’ll take a while for him to get used to, but could be a fresh start for him.

Good luck...it’ll be great.