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How to help our new rescue with his issues.

9 replies

JustlookingNotbuying · 26/09/2022 10:57

3 weeks ago we rescued a lovely 2 year old dog after losing our beloved little dog.
Bear is lovely and has so many great qualities but there are a few issues we are dealing with which I hope someone may be able to give us some tips/tricks to deal with?
He was born at the end of 2020 and purchased as a 7 week old pup by a lady who worked full time. She lived in a flat without a garden and crated him for 12+ hours per day. She never walked him so for the first year of his life he was totally unaware there was a world outside the flat’s door. She surrendered him at the age of approx 1 year.
The rescue has done wonderful work with him. He wouldn’t even allow them to put a harness on him without going crazy with anxiety but now he walks well (pulls a bit but we are working on that).
He was rehomed at the beginning of this year but as he eats and destroys everything they had an issue with him. They left him with a lickimat which he ate and then had to see the vet to induce vomiting. Apparently this caused him to revert back to his very anxious ways and the couple couldn’t handle it so returned him to the rescue where he stayed until we rescued him.
He obviously is anxious as he’s been to so many places in his short life. We won’t let him down, he has a forever home here (if he doesn’t completely destroy it lol).
So, he is doing ok. I only work 10 hours a week so am home a lot and we have a nice quiet day during the day. He gets a walk in the morning, at lunch then in the evening, he has endless toys and lots of cuddle but we are having a few issues, which are

  1. He destroys any fabric stuff he can get hold of. He has ripped up endless blankets and towels I’ve put down for him. He has ripped up 2 of my cushions and has ripped big holes in 3 lounge throws. He also rips up all the toys I get him even the so called non destructive ones! The worrying thing is that he actually swallows bits of these things. I am worried he will eventually get something stuck and need surgery. These bits and pieces do pass through him but cause him discomfort when he passes them and that seems to sets off his anxiety again, he goes crazy after pooping bits which aren’t his normal poop! How do I stop him destroying everything without having to live in a super minimalist home? It must be an anxiety thing?
  2. Barking! - now he is a bit more settled he barks about everything. He barks for attention, barks if I’m talking to someone, barks for food, barks when I’m preparing food, barks at the dinner table (but barks more if we put him in another room), barks in the evening at any little sound. I’ve tried all the tips from online like making whistle/hissing sounds, ignoring him, giving him treats when he is quiet etc but he won’t stop. I’m concerned about this as he’s getting more and more vocal and we live in a semi-detached house. He is usually quiet in the day as it’s just me here and it’s quiet with just the radio on but come 3.30 onwards when dd, ds and dh come home it’s mayhem.
  3. He has a mad ‘witching hour’ (hours) from 7-9pm where he just can not settle despite his 7pm walk he goes mad, barking, rushing about, tearing stuff up etc. He will the suddenly crash and burn at 9.15 every night and then snooze lovely next to us.

Like I say, it’s all early days and he’s obviously still full of anxiety as he doesn’t know if he’ll be shipped off somewhere else anytime soon but any tips for products to help, great non destructive toys, behavioural tips. Anything will be much appreciated.

OP posts:
JustlookingNotbuying · 26/09/2022 10:58

Oh forgot his photo shoot!

How to help our new rescue with his issues.
How to help our new rescue with his issues.
OP posts:
LadyLolaRuben · 26/09/2022 11:02

Have you considered approaching the rescue for advice from their dog behaviourist? They clearly did a good job at the start and they are normally willing to provide ongoing support to ensure they settle

LadyLolaRuben · 26/09/2022 11:02

He's a cutie btw!

NoSquirrels · 26/09/2022 11:07

Oh look at his face! He’s absolutely gorgeous.

So, on fabric stuff etc prevention is definitely better than cure. You’ll have to go full minimalist for a bit. Sorry. He sounds like he’s using it as stress-relief behaviour, so perhaps the very frequent walks (3x a day?) are actually too much at this stage, and what is needed is a bit less stimulation on that and maybe a bit more focused playtime like tuggy with a rope? sniffing games and so on?

Barking and mad hours also sounds like over stimulation. I imagine crating him is not an option due to history, but can he have enforced quiet time behind a gate in a utility room etc?

To be honest I would get a really good behaviourist experienced with rescue in at this early stage to give you a personalised plan that the whole family can work at.

YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp · 26/09/2022 11:27

I have a Romanian rescue who was a complete nervous wreck, she came from a kill shelter away nearly 6 months old when she arrived. Completely untrained, terrified of absolutely everything from a bicycle to the door bell, traffic, people and anything that moved or didn’t move like shadows.
She’s absolutely gorgeous now, obviously has her moments, so it’s really consistent training and actions, calm and quiet- you say he’s different when the house is quiet.
Walks- make them generally slow, sniffy and boring so he doesn’t get wound up.
Look at brain games for dogs, things that will tire him mentally.

My rescue was/is definitely a destroyer of so-called indestructible dog toys so she has only natural chews eg. split antler, yak milk bars, pigs eras etc. I also knotted up a couple of old tea towels that she enjoys throwing around and she has an extra large knotted dog rope that’s so far resisted her attempts.
Barking- the only thing that works with her is to quietly say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Enough’ . Shouting just winds her up because she thinks you’re joining her in making a racket.
Witching hour? We had ridiculous zoomies as well (my DD’s dog would go around the room at shoulder height if she could 😱). I just walked out the room and into the garden saying nothing and she would stop. Presumably because there wasn’t an audience trying to stop her. She rarely does it now, a year on.

He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Good luck, I’m sure things will work out.

JustlookingNotbuying · 26/09/2022 11:46

He is an absolute beaut!
LadyLolaRuben I have spoken to the trainer there, she was lovely but the things she suggested like ignoring him when he barks etc don’t seem to be having much of an impact.
Thanks NoSquirrels the rescue said he needs 60-90 mins of exercise a day but tbh I was thinking the same as you and wonder if it’s just too much atm, I’ll cut them back. I had planned on getting a local behavioural expert in and had contacted her but sadly my dh is due to lose his job this week so that out the tin hat on that one! I will get a couple of travel stair gates to pop around the house for some time out.
YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp thank you for the great tips, I will try them all. Consistency and regular quiet time is exactly what he needs, definitely.

OP posts:
skedaddler · 27/09/2022 22:11

I'm learning with a rescue myself, I've had him a year. Some things that I've learnt that may or may not help.

He destroyed toys but thankfully not furniture ! But it calmed down as he did. Can you get some good chews eg from jr pets to calm him? Kong ? There's a black strong one.

I'd try not walking at 7. Mine has one walk a day, at 2, as he's anxious in the morning. If I walked him at 7 he'd go really hypo. Now he sleeps most of the morning (greyhound!) and we do a bit of garden training and play, he has a chew. In the evening he has a lickimat then down by 730! He's much much calmer with one walk and some days I don't walk him at all.

Lots and lots of enrichment. There's a good book called "don't walk your dog" which also includes a web link to lots of games

Motorina · 28/09/2022 06:35

Have you spoken with your vet? Medication may help to settle him enough that he can process all the good things you’re doing with him.

dustofneptune · 28/09/2022 09:56

He's soooo cute!! 😁

I went through exactly the same thing when we adopted our dog. He was so destructive he chewed through a sofa, cat tree, every bed we bought him, and any cushion in sight. Barking ENDLESSLY, for everything and anything. And so much energy he was just bouncing off the walls. We had a behaviourist for a few sessions, but to be honest, none of his advice worked (maybe we just needed a better behaviourist!).

They say it takes around 3 months for a rescue dog to properly settle into their new home. I never knew this when we adopted our dog, but it really proved itself to be true. It wasn't that all problems were resolved in just a few months, but he definitely became settled and realised he was staying around this point.

Honestly, with the chewing - just go minimalist. And learn as you go along. Try out various natural chews, plus raw frozen bones if you like. We had no cushions for a whole year 😂We also blocked off bedrooms and made sure we could either always see him / have him in the same room. Then we worked on leave it, drop it, etc., and reintroduced cushions eventually. We started with cheap £1 IKEA cushions, and once we could trust him with those, we introduced more expensive ones, throws, etc. He still has a thing for cushions, but will leave or let go now. It's a work in progress and he just loves having something in his mouth.

With the barking, it just took time for us. We never thought it would be resolved, and he's a naturally vocal dog, but you get there over time. You really do have to just try things out. For instance, our dog would bark to let us know he needed to be let out, so instead, we trained him to lie down by the door. So now he does that. He'd also bark at noises, so we worked on desensitisation to noises with treats. He'd also bark for attention - and those are the barks you have to ignore. For that, we'd leave the room, wait for a millisecond of quiet, then return. Also, if you can, pop round to your neighbour, explain that to train him you need to ignore the barking, and assure them that you're working on it. We live in an apartment and basically told all of our neighbours and this stopped any complaints. We also worked on keeping ourselves calmer, not flapping around when he barked, etc.

Lastly, we stopped giving him so much stuff to do. We walk him once a day now and sometimes not at all. He just does loads better when things are calm. And when we do walk him, we pick quiet routes, quiet parks. We've noticed this really helps him overall. So now he's learnt to just chill around the house all morning, then he gets a walk some time in the afternoon, and he'll fall asleep by 7pm. We did use a pen to help get him into a sleeping routine, but of course if that doesn't work for your dog because of his history, you can just work around it. One way to do that is to have a night time routine for him. Whatever time you want him to be settling down, make time to cuddle with him, brush him, stroke him - whatever he likes. Something relaxing and soothing, and it will become a habit that signals sleep for him. :)

I hope this helps! You'll get there. Main things to remember are to keep things calm, give it time, and get inventive with solving problems. Often the solution is something totally simple, rather than going through a million steps outlined on a training video ;)

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