Archive for the ‘general info’ Category
Tips for taking home your new puppy
Remember these tips to make your transition go well:
* Limit the space in the house where the puppy gets to go. Expand it over the next few weeks.
* Walk the dog (not carry) to the door and show where they should potty.
* Potty the pup after every transition – after eating, drinking, playing, sleeping – potty them!
* Withhold food and water after 8 pm, do the final potty around 11pm, and wake yourself (and the puppy) up around 2am to potty again, and then again at 6am. That should do it! You will need to keep this up until the pup isn’t pottying at the 2am time.
* If there is a potty accident in the house DO NOT correct the puppy unless you see it happening! Pups only relate a consequence to the behavior that happened 3 seconds prior. So if you see a puddle, call the pup to you and scold it, you are in essence, scolding the puppy for coming to you.
* Remember this rule – any talking, comforting, and removing from the crate will reinforce the behavior that happened right before (usually crying, whining or scratching at the crate). If you don’t what those behaviors, don’t reinforce them!
* Keep the energy low for the first two weeks. It will feel like you are ignoring the puppy but it is the nicest thing you can do to give them the time they need to acclimate. If you have kids, limit the amount of time they get to interact with the pup.
* Keep the crate open and accessible during the periods of the day where the pup isn’t confined – that way when she/he needs comfort or respite, she/he can retreat there.
* Try to match the energy of the puppy – when they’re quiet do quiet activities (cuddling) and when they’re active do more active things (playing and not cuddling).
* Remember to give them access to food four times a day for the first two months home. Then move to three until 5 or 6 months old and then to twice a day. Feed amount suggested on bag.
* DO NOT keep a collar on a young pup who is confined to a crate – it is a strangulation hazard.
* DO teach leash manners, inside, after the first few days home – just let the leash drag for a day, then pick it up and encourage the pup to follow you, do not tug or reel them in.
* Do consider signing up for a puppy class anytime after the pup is 2 months old.
AND MOST importantly …
Good luck!! Trust your instincts and you’ll do fine.
A different sort of post
Many of you may have noticed a distinct lack of content here on CanineFostering.com of late. Thank goodness for the updates that some of the foster families have sent in!! We are still open for another mama dog and Michelle from H.E.L.P. assures me that a dog will turn up. In the meantime, I’ve been busy launching another site. Some of the readers of Canine Fostering may know that Mike and I have been kicking around the idea of adoption for awhile now. Well, we’ve finally decided to start the process and we’re recording the “journey” on a blog. I’d love for you to visit http://buildingourfamily.com if you’re so inclined. I will be trying hard to post daily so it will be more fun to check in on than Canine Fostering has been. (It is difficult to find things to write about dogs when there aren’t any fosters around…).
We have been busy though, babysitting some of our puppies while their families are on vacations. We’re loving offering this service to our fosters and it does give us the fun of having a “new” dog in the house. I’ll be sure to let you all know when we get a new family lined up.
Iams promotion placed over 1 million pets
For the past ten years, the Iams Home 4 The Holidays campaign has run an annual promotion to place adoptable pets with new families. We recevied word today that they have surpassed the one million adoption mark for this season! The graphic below illustrates an updated count of adoptions via IH4TH. Their goal is to place 1.5 million pets in homes this season so they still need help. If you cannot adopt, you can support through volunteering or donating – info found at the Iams Home 4 The Holidays website.
ADOPTION FACTS
- As many as 8 million animals are homeless in the U.S.
- Nearly 4 million orphaned dogs and cats will be euthanized this year due to shelter over-crowding and lack of awareness about the importance of pet adoption.
- More than 25 percent of all dogs in shelters are purebreds.
- IH4TH helped 1,202,751 pets find homes last year alone.
- In Oct. 2008 Hilary Swank adopted Rumi through IH4TH at a Los Angeles shelter.
Over the past decade more than 3 million pets –1,638,515 dogs, 1,505,690 cats and 134,062 “other” animals – have been adopted through IH4TH.
900 Greyhounds need homes
Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisconsin will be closing on December 31, 2009.
Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisconsin will be closing on December 31, 2009.
900 Greyhounds will need to be adopted otherwise they will be euthanized, now is a great time to consider adopting a Greyhound. They are very loving and laid back. They don’t need the space people think they need. They are great for an active family because they have been crated almost all their lives and they sleep about 18 out of the 24 hours a day. They are just looking for someone to love them and supply them with a warm bed!!!!They test the dogs to see if they are cat friendly and or small dog friendly. They also know if a dog should be a single dog or if they would be great in a 2, 3, or 4 dog house!!!
Please help me get the word out; we only have 6 weeks to get this task done!!
Margie Polk,
Production Coordinator
Medline Industries, Inc.
(847)775-6057
(847)775-6061 fax
Dog Summit – Chloe’s Family Reunion
Chloe & pups, May 2009
On Sunday, Nov. 8 we have a first for CanineFostering planned: A family reunion of all of Chloe’s puppies with Chloe in attendance as well. We are all so excited! It is amazing that this group has come together and stayed in contact. It makes so much sense though – new familes of puppies need support and benefit from a place to exchange training ideas. All it took was one of the group to extend the offer of setting up an email list and everyone jumped on board. Now we’ll be able to see how much everyone has grown and see if Chloe even remembers any of them! I am so happy to be anticipating this. Pictures and movies will follow.
Take Your Dog With You
If you want to teach your dogs to work with you and to trust you, bring them out into the world with you whenever you can. Avoid the mind set that makes you do all your errands alone while your dog sits at home. Bring her along and always maintain the leadership position in those outings. Do not let your dog haul you around by the leash, do what it takes to keep you both working as a team. At first this will usually require one of two things: 1) immense strength and patience or 2) a good training collar or harness. I’ve talked about harnesses I love in a previous post as well as the prong collar, both useful tools. But the ‘where of walking’ is what I want to cover here.
Take your dogs wherever you can think of taking them. Ask before entering a store you aren’t sure they allow dogs, and most people will say “ok” and let you in if you seem confident. If you aren’t that sort of person, call ahead first. Here in the Fox Valley, IL area we have a great opportunity for many on leash experiences in the Geneva Commons.
Their website indicates which stores allow leashed dogs. If dogs are welcome you can bring yours! Then you have to make sure you take charge of the situation. Walk your dog outside a bit to burn off some energy and get them emptied out (how embarrassing to potty in Victoria’s Secret!!) Make sure you enter the establishment first, your dog following you. Have your dog “sit” and “wait” if they are trying to rush you into the store. If you enter in a controlled fashion you are communicating to your dog that you are in charge. Once inside, you decide what you look at and where you go. If someone wants to pet your dog, ask them to wait until your dog is under control and take as much time as you need to get your dog seated and calm. Then let them approach. Done correctly, these sorts of outings are a great way to put the basics of obedience training into a package of usable manners. And it’s a great way to get some holiday shopping done too!
