It's a hard knock life for Bear

August 23, 2010 10:29 PM

A friend is planning to rescue a dog from a native reserve and I will be looking after her for at least the next couple of months starting this weekend. What are the things I need to think about doing?

I don't know the history of this dog (her name is Bear) but according to my friend she is very sweet though a bit timid. I currently have one dog at home but she gets along very well with every other dog she's ever met so I'm not too worried about that. As well, Bear will be coming from a very rural area to a small city.

I'll be calling the vet tomorrow to make an appointment for an evaluation and to get some basic vaccinations etc. What are some of the other things I should think about doing?

posted by talkingmuffin to pets & animals (12 answers total)

You don't have to always agree with Ed Frawley to learn from him. Plenty of people think they know more than he does and that's OK. Maybe they do.

He does have a ton of free information on his site. Here's a starting point.
posted by trinity8-director at 10:46 PM on August 23, 2010

Why are you going to have the dog your friend is rescuing? Shouldn't your friend be bonding with the newly-rescued animal? I ask because if the dog has an omega temperament and/or has been abused and she bonds with you and your dog, she ain't gonna want to go with your friend when s/he shows up after "a couple of months."

Find out what the dog's (primary) breed is and go join an active rescue forum for that breed. They'll know all about how that particular dog reacts to and deals with rescue stress; it will be an invaluable resource. (I have a rescued blue heeler; the heeler rescue forums taught me so much I needed to know about how to be a rescued-heeler owner.)

I know you didn't solicit opinions per se, but I think your friend shouldn't be adopting animals if s/he isn't prepared to actually adopt the animal. That's how we end up with rescues in the first place: people =like the idea of having a pet more than the reality of having a pet get pets and then realize or decide that they can't be bothered.
posted by goblinbox at 12:19 AM on August 24, 2010

Argh. Typo should be:

"...rescues in the first place: people who like the idea of having a pet more than the reality of having a pet, get pets and then realize..."
posted by goblinbox at 12:20 AM on August 24, 2010

Is this dog you're rescuing normally an outside dog? And you're going to bring it inside? This dog could be a real handful, so brace yourself.

Assuming the dog's an outdoor-only dog, I'd prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Dog-proof your home like you're bringing home a puppy. I don't know if you're the kind of person who has their own dog bathed, but this one is likely going to need it if you plan to have it inside. It probably won't be housetrained, you'll have to check on it during the day. It will probably need a lot of walks to give it the exercise it's used to having, else you'll have a destructive dog on your hands.

We lived on an acreage with an outdoor-only german shepherd for a long time and tried to bring it inside when we moved to the city, it really didn't go very well. The dog was lonely and restless and destroyed parts of our house inside and out. In the end we gave it to our old neighbours back on the farm, she was much happier. Then again my parents had three small kids and there were no other pets to keep it company in our place, it wasn't easy to focus on the dog's needs so ymmv.
posted by lizbunny at 5:48 AM on August 24, 2010

If your friend is rescuing a dog she should be caring for it and making arrangements for it to see the vet, get vaccinated and settle into his new home. I don't really understand what's happening here and why you say that your friend is rescuing the dog when you're actually the one who will be caring for it. It just sounds like an extra layer of change and adjustment for the dog to move into a new home (with another dog!) and then another new home a few months later.
posted by kate blank at 8:16 AM on August 24, 2010

What's going on here is that I'm trying to save an animal from abuse and neglect; I don't see what's hard to understand about that. Things are such that my friend won't be able to care for Bear for the next couple of months and so I am going to help. Depending on how things go I may keep her permanently but the first step is getting her out of her current situation.

I really was looking for advice from people who had accepted rescued animals into their home, not judgment on my decision to help care for an animal in need.
posted by talkingmuffin at 9:02 AM on August 24, 2010

When you say, "rescuing a dog from a native reserve" do you actually mean "stealing it from a native reserve?" You have permission to come and scoop this dog up, right?
posted by klanawa at 9:23 AM on August 24, 2010

I don't see what's hard to understand about that.

Adult rescue dogs are unpredictable. My rescue dog is sweet and friendly, gets along with other dogs, and is generally awesome, but a very similar dog (same breed, roughly same age and circumstances) in the rescue is having an extremely hard time adjusting to his new home (fear, biting, barking). If you'd lined the two of them up at the rescue when I picked up my dog, I don't know that I could have pointed to my dog as the easy one and the other as the hard one. You don't know if Bear is going to be really protective of her food, aggressive toward your dog, aggressive toward you, aggressive toward strangers etc. You don't know if Bear destroys furniture or walls when she gets stressed, or if she just needs to hide when she's feeling stressed or scared. You don't know how hard it will be for her to adjust to living indoors if she was an outdoor dog, or how hard it will be for her to go outside if she's used to living in a rural area and you live in the city.

And dealing with those things when you aren't the ultimate decision-maker for Bear is going to be hard.

I dog-sat for friends who were fostering a dog that had lived outdoors and been neglected. He was terrified of me, refused to go outside, and just generally hid in a corner. By the end of the weekend, I had a pretty clear idea of what I thought would be good for him, but it wasn't up to me, and the organization my friends were fostering him for believed something different would be best for him. I really thought (and still think) that they were making the wrong call and the dog was going to suffer as a result. That was hard.

I think you need to work out with your friend some type of agreement as to your role: if you think that, based on your life with Bear, some course of action is best for her, do you get to take those steps? What if your friend disagrees with your assessment? For instance, if you conclude that Bear experiences too much stress in an urban environment and should be placed with a family in a more rural area, rather than your friend's eventual home in the city, what then?
posted by Meg_Murry at 9:32 AM on August 24, 2010

My rescue really, really tried not to poop or pee, at first — like at all. And when she did, she'd always try to do it when I wasn't watching, so we are pretty sure she had been punished in the past for that. The good news is she learned really fast with positive reinforcement for doing her business while on walks, and was potty trained in less than a week. But if Bear is used to going on grass/dirt and you are walking her on concrete, there may be some confusion. If you have difficulty, you might try finding a grassy/sandy/dirt area to walk her in the beginning, 'til she understands how to handle things.

She may not be used to car/motorbike/bus/garbage truck noises, or even things like dumpsters. We had some problems with all this, but made quick progress (again, with positive reinforcement). So, you may find a few challenges like that with the new environment, but the good thing is that she will probably take cues from your dog, and, if so, that will make the transition a lot easier.

Our girl was very mopey at first, and extremely (overly) submissive; she got over all that, but the reason I bring it up is that as she gained confidence, she became much more assertive (this was over a period of months)... and when aggression problems pop up (not to often, thank goodness), it's almost always with another female, so hopefully your dog's sweet disposition and Bear's shyness will all work out, but there's a possibility that as she becomes more confident there might be problems between the two girls, so you'll just want to keep an eye on their progressing relationship.

Good luck! You and your friend are doing a good thing!
posted by taz at 10:00 AM on August 24, 2010

Rescue dogs go to foster homes first all the time so I'm not sure why any one would be questioning this. I have 3 rescue pugs and the main thing is, they are all really weird. Rescues often are just weird, not bad just odd. I happen to really like my dog's weirdness but it's good to be prepared for unusual behaviors. I also like to give them their own hiding space, especially when they first come into our home. Lots of toys and appropriate chewy things on hand for both dogs is good. If he's not house trained, try puppy pads though never once have any of my dogs actually used them, choosing instead to pee everywhere but the pad. I think what you are doing is great! If there are any rescue organizations in your area they are good resources for advise. Again, rescue dogs go through foster homes ALL THE TIME this is not unusual or bad , so sheesh!
posted by yodelingisfun at 1:05 PM on August 24, 2010

Bear is not being stolen or dognapped so rest easy klanawa. She is no longer wanted by her owners and my friend and I would both like to see her go to a good home (hopefully mine).

Thanks folks for your stories thus far and words of support. I don't know what challenges Bear will bring but with any luck she'll be happy and healthy in no time. I'll try to update when I've had her for a few days.
posted by talkingmuffin at 1:27 PM on August 24, 2010

The biggest lesson I learned from fearful/timid dogs was patience. Nothing can be forced with them. I think they need to feel like they're in control of their lives and choose when they want you to interact with them. I think an out of balance mind with fearful tendencies has the experience that the world does things to it and it is forced to respond, and what it craves is to go through the world creating its situation, deciding what happens and what doesn't. I think that can be achieved within the boundaries that need to exist for human/dog interaction and your role as caretaker, even in a city.

Good for you for doing this. I'm glad Bear is with you.
posted by grayber at 12:10 AM on September 3, 2010