Hi Dog People!

Last week we brought home a staffy x rescue dog. He had been in the kennel for 44 days and was a stray/neglect case. He has a lovely nature, wants cuddles all the time and is very friendly.

He does suffer separation anxiety though and we want to know how to work through this. We cant be with him all day, my partner is working and im looking for work, but dont want him to get used to me being home all day. We dont let him follow us everywhere, and try to leave him alone whilst were upstairs each time we go up for something.

When we put him to bed, he is in the conservatory. He whines for a while then quietens which is good. But he will start to bark between 4 and 6 am! Were not sure if its the local chicken that wakes him or if he is just lonely. We dont want to give into him, but we also dont want the neighbours to complain and get annoyed with him and us.

He gets hyper when he knows its walk time, but the rest of the time in the day he loves to sleep - not just a nap, but a full deep sleep with twitch and dreams! Is this normal? As im not sure how much a dog sleeps!

We are both shattered at the moment from him being awake so early, and its put a dampner on our enjoyment of him!

We want to socialise him with other dogs, but are a bit nervous in case he turns aggressive - its all new to us as this is our first dog. Any tips or hints? And any tips for helping a rescue dog to settle? He is very relaxed in the house and knows sit, stay, gives paw for treats and sits for his tea. He is also house trained.

Sorry to go on but any help would be great!

Thanks!

Hi and congratulations on getting a rescue dog!

Cola was also a rescue and it took her around 3 weeks to settle in properly and find her feet.

If you dont mind him sleeping in your bedroom then I would invest in a crate. That way he can be close to you and still have his own space which is comforting for him in these early days where he is bound to feel a little unsettled.

Over time gradually move his crate closer to the bedroom door and eventually outside the bedroom completely, if done very gradually he should be ok sleeping on his own.

As for the sleeping, its perfectly normal! Cola is only 7 months now and unless we are out she spends nearly all day sleeping on the couch! Shes so funny to watch, always twitching and making some wierd noises! LOL She often growls and yelps in her sleep too!

The socialising is very important and shouldnt be a problem as long as he is kept on a lead at first until you are sure he is ok with other dogs, people etc... The more he is introduced to different surroundings, people, pets etc the better. How is he when he meets other dogs?

I hope thats helped a bit and Im sure there will be plenty more people giving advice a bit later on!

Hi and congratulations for giving a loving home to you dog

The first thing I would honestly do is go completely back to basics. I'd enrol onto a local dog training class which will help with socialisation as well as forging a great bond between you and the dog as you are both learning things. Dogs generally enjoy training and pleasing their owners, and if you have a good class you have won half the battle in my opinion.

As for the seperation anxiety, I would leave him on his own in a room behind a closed door for say 5 minutes, go back in and if all is OK, ie no destruction or toliet acidents praise him and give hima little treat. If any accidents just clean up with no fuss, do not tell him off. Gradually build on the time and hopefully before long he will be fine. Also if you do start training you can ask the advice of your trainer.

As for sleeping...... Dogs could sleep for 18 hours a day to be honest so I really wouldn't worry about this. Do you know how old he is roughly? As they get older they generally sleep more. My sister has a staffy X who sleeps for england and as she's also a rescue they think she is about 3 years old.

Good luck with everything. And remember it is still early days. This dog has had a lot of unheaveal to cope with so it is to be expected to have a few bumps in the road along the way.

__________________

Wow, thank you! Iv been feeling quite down these last couple of days as the lack of sleep and not knowing if he is happy/sleeping normally has been getting to me. As he has been barking though, even going to sleep we have been feeling anxious as to when we would be woken!

We would be happy for him to be in a crate in our room, and move it gradually. He has only had one wee accident overnight since we got him last wednesday - which we think is great! Even that was done by the back door and he obviously had held onto it for as long as possible!

When he is left alone, he doesnt destruct - although we do remove anything we can! And he rarely toilets. He just whines and gets very distressed, and we dont want to do damage his spirit further as he has such a lovely nature despite his neglectful past.

He is between 18 months and 2 years of age - rescue place didnt have a specific age. When he meets other dogs, he is alert, waggy tailed and keen to have a look! He has only ever barked at another dog and that was last night in the vets, but that may have been as he was extra anxious in a new place and with lots of smells/animals around him. He has been past a cat, sheep and cows, and just wants to go and look - he doesnt become aggressive or worried.

We are on a waiting list for socialisation classes and training, but even just now in the garden I was calling him to me, and when he came I showed him my palm and he sat. This is did several times. He is very intelligent and I think willing to please.

He is our first dog, so were just wanting to do the right things and make sure he is happy....I wish I could read his mind!

Im so glad I found this forum!

Aww he sounds like a sweetie!

He also sounds a friendly chap! Cola's recall was great from day one so I didnt hesitate with letting her off lead and I also knew some of her history so was confident she would be ok.

Do you take her to the parks when other dogs are around? To be honest I think this is the best thing you can do in regard to socialising him. I also used to walk Cola along the streets as she was scared stiff of traffic, motorbikes ... lawnmowers! LOL But now doesnt even bat an eyelid. I think if you are confident around these things the dogs pick up on this.

Dogs that whine and get upset when their owner leaves usually quietens down after 10 minutes or so but we all imagine they are going berserk the whole time we are out, very good at making us feel guilty!! lol

I think you are doing great btw Try not to worry so much.

Sounds like you have a wonderful boy there despite his past

I know everyone worries when they first get a dog, it's only to be expected, but in a few weeks when everything has settled down and he realises he is there to stay you'll look back on this time and wonder why you were so worried.

Its great that you have signed up to training classes. You will both throughly enjoy it.

Pat yourself on the back for doing a great deed in rehoming this boy and enjoy getting to know each other. You'll soon wonder how you ever managed without a dog in your life before LOL

What have you called him? And please post some pictures of him so we can all meet him on here

__________________

Iv been feeling so much more relieved after posting on here this morning its amazing. Yesterday was a bad day, iv had an awful cold too which hasnt been helping!

He is called Stitch, and is a lovely chap. He seems ok with traffic etc but we will still walk him in busier areas. We live in a fairly quiet village, well, the whole Island is fairly quiet!

Do you have any suggestions as to good websites to buy crates from? We have some pet shops here, but some of them are pretty expensive. I want him to be able to relax in it and to have his water, but not too big or there will be no room for us in the bedroom! Would you recommend starting him off in it in the living room so he gets used to the idea of it? As he doesnt really go upstairs much in the daytime..

Hes snoring at the moment and think he is as keen as me to go out in the horrendous rain!

Once again, thank you to all who have got in touch.

You can pick up brand new crates of Ebay for reasonable prices. Thats where we got ours from and it was perfect.

I would start off with it downstairs. Put his bed and some toys in there, even feed him in there and leave the door open to start with. He will soon learn that it is a nice place to be. When he is lying in there quietly close the door for a couple of minutes and gradually increase the time the door is shut. Never use it for punishment. If you cover it with a throw or blanket he will love his little den.

__________________

Hi Mr.Stiches - I'm Chance and I was also rescued from a home, although I was VERY young when I was abandoned.

My owners were telling me that a previous dog suffered real bad with seperation anxiety and to combat this they put an old t-shirt he'd been wearing (to sleep in) in the crate but only at night.

Apparently when they came to check on him he was curled up and wrapped up in the t-shirt fast asleep! Almost immediately the howling stopped and harmony was returned!

Good luck and enjoy your new housemate.

Thats a great idea! I shall have to wear a dog blanket for the next few days!

How is Chance getting on now?