10 month rescue - tips please

[Imayhaveerred]

May have been unwise…I have taken on a beautiful young rescue pup, she’s been in kennels half her life poor baby. So she is still in puppy mode, which (stupidly) I hadn’t expected.

I’m reading all the puppy threads like mad, I have had a rescue before but he came as a grown dog and had been a pet.

I don’t want to crate train her, but I do want her to be safe. So I’m rapidly puppy-proofing a room! We’re brushing up on housetraining and wees being an outdoor activity.

What are the absolute basics? I’m thinking routine, small walks, leaving alone little and often, reward the good behaviour…

No need to point out that I’m underprepared, I do realise.

Ideas of games to play would be really appreciated, my boy didn’t play. He was a serious sort.

I would start by taking it right back to the beginning and pretend I have a puppy as essentially training wise that is what you have.
I know you mention not crate training but I would focus on making a little corner of the room with lots of bedding blankets etc. A small safe area within the safe room if that makes sense.
In terms of games I’d be looking at lick mats, play feeder, kongs etc. Maybe try training a tennis ball fetch- this can take a while but works great for tiring them out letter in life

I really liked the easy peasy puppy squeeze book. Found it really helpful and packed full of tips and I liked how it’s setting them up to succeed so it’s all about rewarding and praise

Of course totally understand but if she’s used to a kennel a crate could help her have a safe place. Also handy if you visit other peoples houses as again if they aren’t puppy proof then having somewhere they’ll go at least while you eat etc is so handy

Mine was 12mths when I got him, he’d been in rescue for 6mths. He was very reserved in the shelter, complete flipping loon as soon as he got into the house! I’ve never used a crate so I can’t help with that, but I would leave walkies for a few days to a week until pup is used to you. We already had another dog so there were already toys laying around and he just got stuck in.

Let her just get used to the change at first, keep mealtimes regular and remember she doesn’t know she’s ‘home’ to her it’s just the next place she’s gone to.

Thank you - top advice. I’ll get that book.

We got ours as an older puppy rescue. He was probably 6-8 months vet could not say exactly. We also had intended to get an older dog really but they don't seem easy to find so we were a bit unprepared for a puppy too and didn't realise that chewing etc comes with the territory. Fortunately he was ready toilet trained and has hardly ever weed in the house.

We got a crate which we haven't ever shut him in but he does go there voluntarily
We puppy proofed the kitchen and he is free to be unsupervised in there but has to be watched everywhere else as he will chew stuff up. We got stair gates to keep him out of other rooms
He is allowed to sleep on the floor of our bedroom and he always came up to bed with us to start with but lately he often prefers his crate or the kitchen floor.

The things we found we needed were a tonne of chews and chewy toys as he is still very mouthy. A Kong is invaluable and we have a few of those plus various natural chew things. Camel skin was a hit recently and beef tendon. He also likes tuggy rope toys and soft toys to rip up. He is equally happy often with cardboard boxes to shred and plastic bottles to chew up from the recycling.

Also a lot of training treats that he has in tiny pieces. He really enjoys learning tricks if he gets treats. He could only sit when we got him but now he can lie down, stay, watch me, leave it (mostly), come when called (mostly), high five, spin and touch his nose on your hand.

We invested in some 1:1 training sessions which were really helpful to get us all on the same page about training and commands and because he had missed out on puppy classes and we are taking him to an 'adult beginners' class in the New Year.

Reward the behaviour you want to see was a key thing for us to realise. The trainer advised us to keep some of his dinner back and give it out whenever he is doing something good like going to lie in his bed, walking nicely on the lead etc. Also not unintentionally rewarding bad stuff like begging for food, chewing furnishings, jumping up or mouthing by shouting or telling him off but to steadfastly ignore the bad stuff (quite hard when you are irritated with it) This is slowly working and we get less bad and more good behaviour every week.

He has two walks a day morning and evening and a play in the garden at lunchtime and will usually settle for a nap in between although that took him a while to not follow us about all the time. We have so far never left him completely alone. I think he would probably be fine for 30 mins to an hour in the kitchen if he'd been walked. He goes in there on his own when DH is wfh in his office anyway.

Thanks Covoid - I’m glad others have been in the same situation.

Can I ask about “He also likes tuggy rope toys and soft toys to rip up. He is equally happy often with cardboard boxes to shred and plastic bottles to chew up from the recycling.” - I’m paranoid about cardboard or stuffing gumming up her insides, is it safe to let them do this?

Italic fail, sorry

The cardboard boxes were a suggestion from the trainer so I think it's OK. We hide treats inside with newspaper and he entertains himself for quite a while looking for them.
I dont think cardboard can do a lot of harm as it's pretty organic but I do take any synthetic stuffing away if he manages to completely shred a toy as I think that might be worse
I also take the caps off any bottles I let him have and keep an eye out that they don't splinter.
The kids had quite a lot of discarded soft toys that they were happy to give up and they are usually as good as specific dog ones and saves money. We don't let him have anything with eyes or buttons but most don't have those because of being toddler safe.

Thanks! I’m sorry if that came across as me suggesting you were doing something unsafe.

Not at all. I was more worried to start with about it myself but having seen that there have been no ill effects I am less bothered.

The Easy Peasy puppy book is amazing. Our pup likes Find it games ( hide treat in increasingly harder places for him to find ) Tug of war is always fun with a Tug-E-Nuff.