So you want to adopt a shelte dog. Building trust.
1. When you bring your new dog home show them aound your whole house. Even the bathrooms, garage and outdoor areas. Introduce them to the other pets in the home not all at once but a little at a time.
2. Dogs are pack animals and they will accept you as their alpha if you are smarter than they are and if you have good boundaries. Like most people, children especially they tend to trust people who trust themselves. Dogs like routine. They like to know what to expect of you and what you expect of them. They basically usually want to please you. There are those times when dog and owner are just never going to click. Why do we just not get along with some people well the same goes for some dogs. Why do we not get along with some dogs?
3. Spending time with your new dog is essential. You can't have a human relationship or a animal bond with you if you do not spend the time. One of the things you are learning while spending time with this dog is how she/he speaks to you. For example I adopted two really wild young huskies. They were about three and four years old. They had been picked up by the pound together. They had on matching collors and parts of a run they had been tethered on. The first thing these dogs did was I took them to the park to walk them because I was going to have to go back to work and they would have to be in their crates. So they dragged me through the park I lost them in someone back yard and I thought probably forever but no I went to leave after searching for them for an hour and they came running and jumped in their crates.
4. I had a feeling these dogs had been shown as they were really beautiful specimans of Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Husky. Malmutes are still in use as sled dogs for personal travel, hauling freight, or helping move light objects; some however are used for the recreational pursuit of sledding, also known as mushing, as well as for skijoring, bikejoring, carting, and canicross. However, most Malamutes today are kept as family pets or as show or performance dogs in weight pulling, dog agility, or packing. Malamutes are generally slower in long-distance dogsled racing against smaller and faster breeds and their working usefulness is limited to freighting or traveling over long distances at a far slower rate than that required for racing. They can also help move heavy objects over shorter distances. An adult male Alaskan Malamute can pull around 0.5-1.5 tons of weight (1,000-3,000 pounds), depending on build and training.
Siberian Huskies
ORIGIN AND HISTORY The nomadic Chukchi tribe of extreme Northeast Asia bred dogs of this type since ancient times to pull sledges and hunt reindeer. For centuries, continuing through the 19th century, the Chukchi people were famous for their excellent long-distance sled dogs. The tribe lived in permanent inland settlements and had to travel long distances to hunt the sea mammals that fed both people and dogs. A small sled dog was ideal—one who could exist on little food. Neither sprinters nor freighters, these dogs were endurance animals who could pull light loads of killed game at moderate speeds over long distances. Then known as the Siberian Chukchi, the breed first arrived in the United States in 1909, brought across the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska. The dogs took to life and work there as readily as they did in their homeland. PERSONALITY PROFILE The Siberian is fun loving, friendly, gentle, alert, and outgoing. As a puppy, he is playful and mischievous; as he matures, he becomes more dignified and reserved. Still, he is not possessive, territorial, or suspicious of strangers. He was bred to live and work as part of a team, so he does not like to be alone. The Siberian gets along well with children and other dogs, but he is predatory toward smaller animals. He has a tendency to howl rather than bark.
5. Well anyway these two did not mind well but soon settled into my home. They ran off every chance they got even though they came back always. So I bought a long 25ft. horse lead and they were not allowed off it. Wherever I went I took them with me and I worked on them coming when I called with the leads and not pulling me over as they were big dogs and unruly so I had to worry about that. But by being together so much we began to get used to each other and know what the other one wanted. They trained me to their bark if they were hungry or thirsty. They had a different tone for a greeting and they would gently paw at me to show me something they wanted me to see. But they showed no sign of training. I worked with them with house training. They had a couple of accidents but mostly went to the door when they need to go potty. They just could not go out alone. So we were inseparable. Since I worked at home this was an alright arrangement for me.
Realistic expectations my part for my new four legged friends part was knowing I might have to house break or rehouse break them.
They chewed so I found things they could chew on bones, old hard plastic toys at the used store, raw hide chews. When they chewed what I did not want them to chew I simply quietly gave them one of the acceptable chews. Now they did chew up my gear shift in the truck and they ate a diet book I had check out from the library much to my amusment and even the libraries. We had to learn no sleeping on the furniture though I ended up getting a chair for each of them. They were allowed in those chairs only. They slept at the bottom of the bed on the floor, in a crate next to my bed, they each had their own crate. I got each of them a dog bed of their own for inside the crate. They knew how to sit, lay and no jumping but only responded to these commands as they pleased this went on for several months. Then they began to show some real friendship.
The two of them and I were out filling holes in the road. We lived on 90 acres of old growth forest. I was using them to haul rock in back packs from the river and dumping the rock in the holes. They began to pick up the rocks in their mouth and place them in the holes. They seemed to enjoy this activity and I praised them for their help and they smiled big and wagged their tails.
They killed rabbits whenever they were loose or squirrels. They seemed to know that it was not alright to kill the cats or my tame rabbits. They left them strickly alone. The more time we spent together I began to experiment with letting them loose which turned into disaster in several ways the first few times they ate the expensive fish food my neighbor fed his trout for the trout farm. They went down and friehtened all the picnicers at the local park next door begging for food. But as I trust them more they began to come when I called. The neighbor accussed them of chicken killing but they were in their kennel tied with a chair with hot wire all around when it happened and once he saw how responsible I was with their containment he apologized. It turned out to be a stray killing his chickens.
Suddenly after about six months the dogs both started showing me their manners they sat when ask to, lied down, came to me when called, heeled, and I began to train them to haul a cart. I hooked them to old tires and they would drag them around. This was good exercise for them as well.
I ran them on wheels on a sled with other trained dogs and they loved to run so that was a good thing by putting them on the inside of the team with a lead dog they ran just for the pure pleasure of running.
Then one day I came home from town. I had not taken the dogs with me which was very unusual and their kennels stood open and the hot wire was down. Their locks on the kennels were gone. Someone had let them out. I looked and looked and called and I thought I could hear them but I could not see them. This went on for three or four days. Then finally I was just at the right angle in the yard I saw them 20 or 30 feet down on the river. They could not get up the bank. So I crawled down and heisted them up and they ran off. They were good and hungry after two or three days without food. Only one problem. I could not get up the bank. I had not told anyone where I was going and I was stuck just as they had been stuck on the river with no way up the bank. Well I tried everything. The river was way to fast to cross their and way to deep. Suddenly after about a half an hour I heard this barking and looked up and here were my four legged friends they bent down far enough for me to catch hold of their harness and pulled me up. They had just gone to eat and then came back for me. They had saved me.
Now I could tell you so many other stories about these two one about a guy who came up to see if my landlord would consider logging. I told him that he would not and the guy came at me very threatenly. He did not touch me but raised his hand. The biggest dog Shonnie got between us and pushed the guy off the porch. He did not growl or bear his teeth he just used his size which was 120 pounds to push him off the porch, while Cheyenne went behind the guy and he stood in his way the guy fell over the dog. The guy started screaming call off your dogs. They were not hurting him but they were not letting him near me either.
So after a year this was the dogs and I built this great relationship. They later ran on a sled on Mt. Hood, and on wheeels on the sand dunes at Florence, Oregon they lived with me for another five years. Then Cheyenne got out and ran in front of a truck and was killed. Shonnie died after about three years of losing Cheyenne. So if I were to give you some advise about shelter dogs I would tell you to be patient, have good boundaries and agreed upon rules. Love them and spend lots of time with them. Talk to them and listen they speak a different kind of language, sign language. Watch for what they are telling you. Trust is earned it can't be bought. Take time and you will get the most marvelous payoff their ever was, the love and trust of your four legged furry friends.
Judi Singleton owns and operates bejewelu.com where you can dress the whole family for less.
1. When you bring your new dog home show them aound your whole house. Even the bathrooms, garage and outdoor areas. Introduce them to the other pets in the home not all at once but a little at a time.
2. Dogs are pack animals and they will accept you as their alpha if you are smarter than they are and if you have good boundaries. Like most people, children especially they tend to trust people who trust themselves. Dogs like routine. They like to know what to expect of you and what you expect of them. They basically usually want to please you. There are those times when dog and owner are just never going to click. Why do we just not get along with some people well the same goes for some dogs. Why do we not get along with some dogs?
3. Spending time with your new dog is essential. You can't have a human relationship or a animal bond with you if you do not spend the time. One of the things you are learning while spending time with this dog is how she/he speaks to you. For example I adopted two really wild young huskies. They were about three and four years old. They had been picked up by the pound together. They had on matching collors and parts of a run they had been tethered on. The first thing these dogs did was I took them to the park to walk them because I was going to have to go back to work and they would have to be in their crates. So they dragged me through the park I lost them in someone back yard and I thought probably forever but no I went to leave after searching for them for an hour and they came running and jumped in their crates.
4. I had a feeling these dogs had been shown as they were really beautiful specimans of Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Husky. Malmutes are still in use as sled dogs for personal travel, hauling freight, or helping move light objects; some however are used for the recreational pursuit of sledding, also known as mushing, as well as for skijoring, bikejoring, carting, and canicross. However, most Malamutes today are kept as family pets or as show or performance dogs in weight pulling, dog agility, or packing. Malamutes are generally slower in long-distance dogsled racing against smaller and faster breeds and their working usefulness is limited to freighting or traveling over long distances at a far slower rate than that required for racing. They can also help move heavy objects over shorter distances. An adult male Alaskan Malamute can pull around 0.5-1.5 tons of weight (1,000-3,000 pounds), depending on build and training.
Siberian Huskies
ORIGIN AND HISTORY The nomadic Chukchi tribe of extreme Northeast Asia bred dogs of this type since ancient times to pull sledges and hunt reindeer. For centuries, continuing through the 19th century, the Chukchi people were famous for their excellent long-distance sled dogs. The tribe lived in permanent inland settlements and had to travel long distances to hunt the sea mammals that fed both people and dogs. A small sled dog was ideal—one who could exist on little food. Neither sprinters nor freighters, these dogs were endurance animals who could pull light loads of killed game at moderate speeds over long distances. Then known as the Siberian Chukchi, the breed first arrived in the United States in 1909, brought across the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska. The dogs took to life and work there as readily as they did in their homeland. PERSONALITY PROFILE The Siberian is fun loving, friendly, gentle, alert, and outgoing. As a puppy, he is playful and mischievous; as he matures, he becomes more dignified and reserved. Still, he is not possessive, territorial, or suspicious of strangers. He was bred to live and work as part of a team, so he does not like to be alone. The Siberian gets along well with children and other dogs, but he is predatory toward smaller animals. He has a tendency to howl rather than bark.
5. Well anyway these two did not mind well but soon settled into my home. They ran off every chance they got even though they came back always. So I bought a long 25ft. horse lead and they were not allowed off it. Wherever I went I took them with me and I worked on them coming when I called with the leads and not pulling me over as they were big dogs and unruly so I had to worry about that. But by being together so much we began to get used to each other and know what the other one wanted. They trained me to their bark if they were hungry or thirsty. They had a different tone for a greeting and they would gently paw at me to show me something they wanted me to see. But they showed no sign of training. I worked with them with house training. They had a couple of accidents but mostly went to the door when they need to go potty. They just could not go out alone. So we were inseparable. Since I worked at home this was an alright arrangement for me.
Realistic expectations my part for my new four legged friends part was knowing I might have to house break or rehouse break them.
They chewed so I found things they could chew on bones, old hard plastic toys at the used store, raw hide chews. When they chewed what I did not want them to chew I simply quietly gave them one of the acceptable chews. Now they did chew up my gear shift in the truck and they ate a diet book I had check out from the library much to my amusment and even the libraries. We had to learn no sleeping on the furniture though I ended up getting a chair for each of them. They were allowed in those chairs only. They slept at the bottom of the bed on the floor, in a crate next to my bed, they each had their own crate. I got each of them a dog bed of their own for inside the crate. They knew how to sit, lay and no jumping but only responded to these commands as they pleased this went on for several months. Then they began to show some real friendship.
The two of them and I were out filling holes in the road. We lived on 90 acres of old growth forest. I was using them to haul rock in back packs from the river and dumping the rock in the holes. They began to pick up the rocks in their mouth and place them in the holes. They seemed to enjoy this activity and I praised them for their help and they smiled big and wagged their tails.
They killed rabbits whenever they were loose or squirrels. They seemed to know that it was not alright to kill the cats or my tame rabbits. They left them strickly alone. The more time we spent together I began to experiment with letting them loose which turned into disaster in several ways the first few times they ate the expensive fish food my neighbor fed his trout for the trout farm. They went down and friehtened all the picnicers at the local park next door begging for food. But as I trust them more they began to come when I called. The neighbor accussed them of chicken killing but they were in their kennel tied with a chair with hot wire all around when it happened and once he saw how responsible I was with their containment he apologized. It turned out to be a stray killing his chickens.
Suddenly after about six months the dogs both started showing me their manners they sat when ask to, lied down, came to me when called, heeled, and I began to train them to haul a cart. I hooked them to old tires and they would drag them around. This was good exercise for them as well.
I ran them on wheels on a sled with other trained dogs and they loved to run so that was a good thing by putting them on the inside of the team with a lead dog they ran just for the pure pleasure of running.
Then one day I came home from town. I had not taken the dogs with me which was very unusual and their kennels stood open and the hot wire was down. Their locks on the kennels were gone. Someone had let them out. I looked and looked and called and I thought I could hear them but I could not see them. This went on for three or four days. Then finally I was just at the right angle in the yard I saw them 20 or 30 feet down on the river. They could not get up the bank. So I crawled down and heisted them up and they ran off. They were good and hungry after two or three days without food. Only one problem. I could not get up the bank. I had not told anyone where I was going and I was stuck just as they had been stuck on the river with no way up the bank. Well I tried everything. The river was way to fast to cross their and way to deep. Suddenly after about a half an hour I heard this barking and looked up and here were my four legged friends they bent down far enough for me to catch hold of their harness and pulled me up. They had just gone to eat and then came back for me. They had saved me.
Now I could tell you so many other stories about these two one about a guy who came up to see if my landlord would consider logging. I told him that he would not and the guy came at me very threatenly. He did not touch me but raised his hand. The biggest dog Shonnie got between us and pushed the guy off the porch. He did not growl or bear his teeth he just used his size which was 120 pounds to push him off the porch, while Cheyenne went behind the guy and he stood in his way the guy fell over the dog. The guy started screaming call off your dogs. They were not hurting him but they were not letting him near me either.
So after a year this was the dogs and I built this great relationship. They later ran on a sled on Mt. Hood, and on wheeels on the sand dunes at Florence, Oregon they lived with me for another five years. Then Cheyenne got out and ran in front of a truck and was killed. Shonnie died after about three years of losing Cheyenne. So if I were to give you some advise about shelter dogs I would tell you to be patient, have good boundaries and agreed upon rules. Love them and spend lots of time with them. Talk to them and listen they speak a different kind of language, sign language. Watch for what they are telling you. Trust is earned it can't be bought. Take time and you will get the most marvelous payoff their ever was, the love and trust of your four legged furry friends.
Judi Singleton owns and operates bejewelu.com where you can dress the whole family for less.
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