The Pod-cast

[HangingOver]

Hello PodSquad,

Thank you for being on this crazy ride with us.

Here's the OG thread if anyone wants to go back and laugh at how staggeringly naive I was adopting my first rescue pup: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5177112-oh-my-giddy-god?page=1

Could someone please explain who this dog is in my house and what they've done with Pod? Because he's been absolutely angelic today. Truly a wonderful, wonderful dog and even coped with my DF and DPs pal coming over for Sunday dinner and sitting up getting merry on red wine.

Or perhaps the collective will on MN have given me a SERIOUSLY needed good day. What a star. 🥹

Yes that's what I was trying to remember! Thank you! Flirt pole. I've kind of made one with the rope, the pheasant and a stick. He adores it but I'm being careful he doesn't jump too much.

Honestly today has been hard. He's been on crack all day basically. How in god's name do people with real jobs and/or children manage this?? He needs feeding, distracting, playing with or supervising every bloody second he's awake.

I reckon he's twenty more garden laps and a big shit away from passing out. This tooooooo shall passsssssss.

Also their pate is good, but not cheap. It’s quite stiff pate, so you cut it up into smaller cubes

Yeah this stuff is amazing. I got twenty tubes cheap from my trainer as he's a rep or something.

Makes him poop like a racehorse though (Pod, not trainer).

Meant to say earlier, from pets at Home (and other places) you can get a Tonka toy (figure of eight shape) which is good for tug games, and is quite tough.

Sorry I'm updating like a madwoman tonight but I'm Very Lonely in my Cabin of Fever.

I think tomorrow I'm going to have to start making crate time mandatory. I thought I was doing him a favour by letting him choose his nap times due to the excessive crating in his last place but I'm not.

This evening because he's barely slept today he's just fraught. Manically scratching and biting at the walls, pacing and barking. Poor ol' Pod. Can't wait for Overlooked Houseguest to leave Tuesday so calm routine can resume.

I'm no expert but a set routine sounds like it might help him?

You're being so patient with him!

I wonder whether there is an element of he's forgotten some situations from his old placement because he's more secure with you.. I'd be doing what I felt he needed as this is for the long haul rather than too much looking back.

I have always had very set routines for my dogs, especially when they were young and couldn't settle themselves. It might be a good idea to get Pod into a routine too.

Teaching him to settle with enforced nap times does make a world of difference. I had to do it with my collie. It did involve me pretending to nap to start with but eventually he got the hang of the routine of here is a chew, here is your place now you sleep you little shit you're driving me fucking mad 🤣

When they're high energy and/or they've never learnt how to settle they do have to be taught, same as sit, loose lead walking etc and creating a little routine around it helps, we do x,y,z and then have a snooze. Bit like bath, story, bath for a child.

I can't improve on the suggestions that have already been made, but just want to say that you are amazing. Lucky Pod.

Thanks everyone. The poor kid has crashed out completely in his crate. He even looks exhausted in his sleep... He hasn't curled up in a ball like normal he's just flopped on his side like he's fallen over. We did him a huge disservice by forgetting/not realising someone was coming to stay til it was too late. My poor boy 😔

It is really hard to work out, and test out, without causing distress, whether an enforced nap in a crate will help or hinder, when you have a dog like this who has had some potentially negative experiences with the crate and, if you get that balance wrong he is an explosive ball of twattery!

I think he should now have the understanding of how your home works and the security with you that crate time with you close by, in sight, doing very little, should not cause untoward distress... Not sure I'd attempt to leave the room or do something super active yet, that might be too much (because OMG FOMO!)... baby steps!

I also do think if you had tried enforced nappage early on it would have made matters worse... there will be a LOT of 'this is the right thing to do... but not yet'.. and 'this wouldn't have worked then, but will now' with this sort of beastie! And this of course is what makes living with it and advising people how to handle it so bloody hard, its really where science/learning theory meet art-form I think!

Youve hit the nail on the head as usual @WiddlinDiddlin I AM reluctant to crate him because I'm so worried about traumatising him. However last week I timed an extra good Kong with the time he'd usually nap for in the morning and he slept peacefully for over an hour so I think I'll try that again.

I do occasionally do it if I really have to go upstairs either to shower or do laundry and he usually does five or so "mum I've finished my Kong" barks and then settles, even if he's awake.

But if he's too bouncy and I try to put him in there he'll just shout, so it's delicate.

He's definitely not scared of it but easily bored and very attached to me.

I also am not convinced it does dogs good long term to be crated. After all they have to eventually learn just to settle in a house or in a pub garden etc.

But totally understand your reasons for using it as a type of security blanket right now @HangingOver so you know he is safe while you go upstairs. I would just hesitantly suggest after a walk or with a good Kong most dogs will settle quietly in the house with no crate necessary.

Pod is a unique creature though - not “most dogs” so definitely think you know best with him.

As someone who has had some tricky dogs in my time, and whose friends almost rescued a Podenco and then realised that they simply couldn't cope with the breed (very experienced, sensible, long-term dog owners!) I want to tell you how wonderful you are!

I'm now on dog number 6 (all but 2 were rescues), and some of my dogs came to me as puppies. I still remember how utterly exhausting and challenging the puppy/young dog stage is - there were times when I could only sit on the floor and cry (and I'm renowned for my stoicism!).

You are doing an amazing job (not least in educating the rest of the populace on just how much of a nightmare :-) a Pod-dog is!) - this will be worth it in the end.

I might have missed as I can’t recall - how old is he?

That sound sensible of them tbh. When I read up on the breed I I don't think I fully understood what the 'cons' section actually translated to IRL. I didn't realise that seeing a cat once for 30 seconds could result in 48 hours of mania, that 'sensitive' can manifest as 'extremely destructive' etc. although it obviously hard to tell how much of that is adolescence, how much is breed and how much is rescue. Also, the reports from the rescue were that he's not vocal at all. When I collected him, he barked and the owner of the rescue said "That's the first time I've heard him bark!". Either she didn't spend any time with him or he hates/loves it here because he barks A LOT.

I adore Pod and feel very protective and forgiving towards him but, given that I have the tendency to underestimate my own ability to cope with things, if I'd know this is what it would be like I wouldn't have adopted him. His latest thing is scratching at and trying to bite holes on the plaster walls. I keep redirecting so he hasn't managed it yet but if he gets a tooth in I imagine he'll be able to do a lot of damage.

Feel a bit tearful this morning actually.

Thanks again for everyone who takes the time to read and post, I really really do appreciate it.

Yes a lot of breeds get falsely advertised in that way as articles are often written by lovers of the breed or rescues desperate for adoptions etc.

Like you say "Quiet Breed" = "Won't bark unless there's a cat, bird, another dig, postman, car, loud noise, rain, wind........."

I'm sorry you're tearful this morning. Your updates are so funny sometimes it's easy for us to forget it's hard and that you also have a lot of things going on too. Sending love!

Also I read the bit about feeling you've done Pod a disservice. Your going to feel this a lot, you're going to make mistakes but Pod will never feel you've let him down, it won't ever cross his mind.

Thank you, that's really kind of you.

That was at least 80% our fault though. A while back, way before Pod, a friend from travelling basically invited himself to stay for two weeks (!), although thankfully he's going home early (tomorrow), and due to some things being lost in translation/cultural difference in communication we didn't really realise that a) he was definitely coming, and b) how long he was coming for, until he was already on his way here. We've all survived but it's been a real strain on everyone and especially DP and poor Pod's routine.

I keep reminding myself that it's still very early days and to keep my expectations in check.

A win for the coming week would be:

• no holes in the walls
• no (less?) shark attacks on walks
• no noise complaints from neighbours

It's been extra hard for you with your own routine being out because of a visitor. I've always found my rescue dogs have responded well (eventually) to a routine.

However, none has been as young as Pod. And as others have said, it takes time to find a way of operating that suits you and the dog.

Trial and error is a slow business. I was definitely over-ambitious in the first couple of months, and she was four years old, not an adolescent!

You're amazing @HangingOver and I know Pod thinks so too.

Your feelings are valid. They weren't completely honest with you at the Shelter and Pod's behaviour has been extremely challenging.
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You're doing your best under very difficult circumstances and your affection for Pod shines through your posts. That makes you the best human he could have asked for.

Okay so straw poll on this... I'm sure we won't reach an absolute consensus but I'd be interest to see a variety of views...

So Pod has been manic all morning. We got back from a sniff walk at 8 and I've gradually wound him down with sniffing games and licking...

Put him in his crate with a snack at 10am, dimmed the lights and had the radio on softly.... he went to sleep for about 30 mins til he heard a magpie and barked his head off...

So I chose to wait to see if the barking would stop, which is did after about 6 minutes. He's laid back down for a bit chewing on something but not asleep. Then he heard DP moving around and barked again so I let him out during a pause in the barking.

Would you have just let him out the first time (during a pause obviously), or waited to see if he'd re-settle like I did? It has worked in the past and he's slept for a further 30 minutes, but it didn't today.

Obviously the gold standard is to not let them out till they're calm, but in the real world you can get into a situation where instead of calming down they're just working themselves into a frenzy. I think it's a judgement call so I can't really vote either way. I think you did well to wait for a gap the second time.

Did you try the Vince the Vet remedies that I suggested earlier? I use the combined pack of Fears and Anxieties, and Thunder and Fireworks, during fireworks season and it really seems to make a difference. Either that or doggo has lost her hearing as she's got older, but she can still hear things going in the dishwasher when she's buried deep under the bedclothes....

Reading your comments about the shelter concern me greatly. Either the staff are friendly but inexperienced and ignorant of the complexity of rescue dogs, or just want each dog off their hands asap regardless of whether the animal and human are suited. A enthusiastic childless couple, one home all day, with enclosed garden, and a reasonable income, will be seen as a real catch for a difficult dog. Poor pairings so often ends in disaster with the animal being rejected again.
I volunteer at a cat rescue centre and we take care to ensure to home the right cat in the right home. There is absolute no point in homing a couple of delightful but hyper kittens with, say, an elderly lady who is a bit unsteady, and has a pristine house with silk cushions and curtains.! Not is it a good idea to re-home a nervous animal which has been cruelly treated, with a family with toddlers, no matter how well-behaved the children are.
Am sure the rescue centre knew just how difficult Pod (due to breed characteristics and previous history) was and realised that he would be extremely difficult to home, possibly for months. Basically, they saw you coming! Luckily for Pod, you have the strength, intelligence, and depth of kindness to persevere with him and he obviously does love you.
I think I would be inclined to ask a couple of friends to approach the rescue centre with a view to possibly adopting a dog, and see what happens.

I think you were completely right to ignore the barking. He needs to learn to settle down and if you respond to the barking, then he learns instead. Maybe put something to chew in there so he can do that for a bit when he wakes up. You decide how long the nap is, not him, and you let him out when you want to. Sometimes it won't work, but he will gradually learn.

I would be careful about overstimulating him. Absolutely everything is new for him, and the more new things he gets, the more there is for him to try to deal with. This might be making him more manic. So for now I would stick to same routine, same walks, same activities, same toys. Let him settle into those things (with small adjustments for what you find works best, of course) before introducing anything new.

I was watching a video from Valencia last night and there was a Podenco in one of the shots. Made me think of Pod! If I hadn't been following this thread, I would never have recognised the breed!

About the walls, cover the spot he is interested in so he can't get at it. In a while he will have forgotten all about it and you can remove what is covering it.