Two Weeks Shutdown
Congratulations on welcoming a new bull terrier into your home!
While we understand this is a very exciting time and you are anxious to show everyone your new dog, we ask you to follow this protocol. This will help ensure a smooth transition to your home and family.
Why?
The two week shutdown is familiar to your dog. This mimics how all puppies come into the world. Their eyes are not open yet, so they rely on their mother. They smell, sense, and listen to gain a sense of their environment.
Adult dogs come into our homes the same way, and it is up to us to give them time to take in their new surroundings and get to know their new family.
Even petting and acceptance of a pet is stressful on a new dog,. "Who are you? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is expected of me? "-the dog thinks! Just like a newborn baby we wouldn't rush out and pass the baby from person to person, we set up a stable and safe environment, our new dogs are just like that, our newborn baby.
Step back for a minute and think how you might feel if you were never going to go back to your "home" and that you were expected to live with new people who didn't understand your language. What if these new people took you to all sorts of different places expecting you to greet everyone happily and feel comfortable with an overload of attention all at one time? How might you feel after all of that, to have to go to your new "home" and interact with a bunch of strangers? It's very likely that you'd feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to retreat but really have no place to go to. You might begin to act out and yell at people for coddling you and insisting that you do this and do that.
Well, many dogs are put in the very same position and the only way they know how to get their point across is to act out or "misbehave." The dog may act out by nipping at children for he didn't understand them and was corrected harshly before knowing how he was to be around them! Growling when being moved off furniture -" he didn't know he couldn't be here. What is expected ? Where am I allowed ?" Starting fights with the other animals in home -that dog here was giving me the evil eye my new humans are not leaders, I must defend myself!"
How to:
TWO WEEKS - "shut down" For the first two weeks, (sometimes even longer depending on the dog) a dog takes in the new environment, who is the top person, dogs, who ARE these people! By pushing a dog too fast and throwing too much at the dog we look like we are not the leaders and the dog can feel it MUST defend itself, as the leader is surely no one he has met so far. We coo, coddle, drag the dog to home to home to person to person, and the dog has NO idea who we are.
A great way of thinking of this time is a line I stole from a friend; "this is the dating period NOT the honeymoon" When you first met your "mate", you were on your best behavior, you were not relaxed enough to be all of yourself, were you? Just think of the things you do physically once you get to KNOW a person, you wouldn't run up to a stranger and hug them and squeeze them! Imagine, if on the first date, this new person, was all over you touching you and having their friends hug you and pat you on top of the head, and jostle your shoulders, then he whisked you off to another stranger's home and hey did the same thing. Would you think this person normal and SAFE?
Would you feel invaded and defensive and begin to get a bit snarky yourself?
Wouldn't you think to push these people away for obviously your date is out of their mind and they aren't going to save you from these weirdos!! Yet we do this to our dogs, and then get upset or worried that they aren't relaxed and accepting of EVERYTHING instantly!
*Why do we expect a dog to accept a situation when we ourselves could not?
By shutting down the dog, it gives the dog TIME to see you, meet YOU, hear and take in the new sounds and smells of your home.
TEACH the dog by doing the shutdown, that YOU are the one to look to, that you are now here for the dog! He can trust in you and look to you as its new leader.
So please for the sake of your new dog, slow down .. waaaay dowwwn ....
Give them a chance to show you who they can really be!
While we understand this is a very exciting time and you are anxious to show everyone your new dog, we ask you to follow this protocol. This will help ensure a smooth transition to your home and family.
Why?
The two week shutdown is familiar to your dog. This mimics how all puppies come into the world. Their eyes are not open yet, so they rely on their mother. They smell, sense, and listen to gain a sense of their environment.
Adult dogs come into our homes the same way, and it is up to us to give them time to take in their new surroundings and get to know their new family.
Even petting and acceptance of a pet is stressful on a new dog,. "Who are you? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is expected of me? "-the dog thinks! Just like a newborn baby we wouldn't rush out and pass the baby from person to person, we set up a stable and safe environment, our new dogs are just like that, our newborn baby.
Step back for a minute and think how you might feel if you were never going to go back to your "home" and that you were expected to live with new people who didn't understand your language. What if these new people took you to all sorts of different places expecting you to greet everyone happily and feel comfortable with an overload of attention all at one time? How might you feel after all of that, to have to go to your new "home" and interact with a bunch of strangers? It's very likely that you'd feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to retreat but really have no place to go to. You might begin to act out and yell at people for coddling you and insisting that you do this and do that.
Well, many dogs are put in the very same position and the only way they know how to get their point across is to act out or "misbehave." The dog may act out by nipping at children for he didn't understand them and was corrected harshly before knowing how he was to be around them! Growling when being moved off furniture -" he didn't know he couldn't be here. What is expected ? Where am I allowed ?" Starting fights with the other animals in home -that dog here was giving me the evil eye my new humans are not leaders, I must defend myself!"
How to:
TWO WEEKS - "shut down" For the first two weeks, (sometimes even longer depending on the dog) a dog takes in the new environment, who is the top person, dogs, who ARE these people! By pushing a dog too fast and throwing too much at the dog we look like we are not the leaders and the dog can feel it MUST defend itself, as the leader is surely no one he has met so far. We coo, coddle, drag the dog to home to home to person to person, and the dog has NO idea who we are.
A great way of thinking of this time is a line I stole from a friend; "this is the dating period NOT the honeymoon" When you first met your "mate", you were on your best behavior, you were not relaxed enough to be all of yourself, were you? Just think of the things you do physically once you get to KNOW a person, you wouldn't run up to a stranger and hug them and squeeze them! Imagine, if on the first date, this new person, was all over you touching you and having their friends hug you and pat you on top of the head, and jostle your shoulders, then he whisked you off to another stranger's home and hey did the same thing. Would you think this person normal and SAFE?
Would you feel invaded and defensive and begin to get a bit snarky yourself?
Wouldn't you think to push these people away for obviously your date is out of their mind and they aren't going to save you from these weirdos!! Yet we do this to our dogs, and then get upset or worried that they aren't relaxed and accepting of EVERYTHING instantly!
*Why do we expect a dog to accept a situation when we ourselves could not?
By shutting down the dog, it gives the dog TIME to see you, meet YOU, hear and take in the new sounds and smells of your home.
- Crate the dog in a room by itself if possible. (Believe me, dogs are sensory animals, they know more than you think without seeing it)
- Don't go crazy petting and handling the dog! Even petting and being "out" in the home puts pressure on a dog, as everything is so new. Allowing the dog time to absorb and the decision to come to YOU for pets and affection can do a lot in taking pressure off a new dog.
- No car rides, no other dogs, (unless crated beside them), no pet stores, nothing but your home, and you. Unless of course, there is a need for an emergency vet visit needed.
- Exercise. All dogs need to burn off energy, but make sure you are in control of this. If you know there is a snarky dog along a certain walking route, take a quieter route. Manage their environment as much as possible during this time.
- In the house I have the dog out only for about 20-40 minutes post exercise/yard times. And ALWAYS on a leash. Then PUT THE DOG AWAY. Let it absorb and think. Even if just for a little bit. If the dog goes to his crate on his own, he is telling you "I need a timeout" allow him this time. By having the dog out for long periods of time we are forcing the dog to keep accepting all new things, by putting the dog away we are asking him to accept a few things, then go think and absorb, when we get him out later we introduce a few more things, so the three new things are three new things, not 3 x 3 x 3 - possible shut down from the dog.
- No new buddies! Do not introduce the dogs for these two weeks, they can be side by side in the crates if you can not totally separate, (not nose to nose for they can feel defensive). Some dogs will bond instantly with the other dogs if we don't bond FIRST with the dog, and this can lead to some other issues, as the dog will look to the other dog(s) for guidance and not YOU!
- Ignore Bad behavior - Ignore crying and/or barking. If you run to the dog each time they bark, whine, or cry, you are teaching the dog that doing those things gets your attention. The dog must learn to be secure when you are not there. Use the leash to correct jumping, exploring counters, etc.
- Praise Gently Good behavior - ex. Dog is sitting nicely next to you, touch or softly pet the dog "good boy/girl" let them know you appreciate GOOD behavior. This makes naughty behavior not so fun if you ignore THAT but praise the good!
TEACH the dog by doing the shutdown, that YOU are the one to look to, that you are now here for the dog! He can trust in you and look to you as its new leader.
So please for the sake of your new dog, slow down .. waaaay dowwwn ....
Give them a chance to show you who they can really be!