How To Help Your Rescue Dog Settle In

When you adopt a rescue dog, they can be anxious and afraid as soon as they arrive at their new home.

It can be tough to gauge how best to respond to their feelings of unease. After all, rescue dogs can be traumatised from the harsh circumstances of their old life, so it’s important to be sensitive to the changes. It’s a big deal for them! Therefore, all you can do is help them to settle, and take good care of them. Eventually, things will turn around.

Read on to find out how you can sensitively help your rescue dog to settle in…

Lead by Example

Dogs are keen readers of human emotion, and they know when you’re upset, angry, and happy.
Therefore, to help them settle in more efficiently, it’s a good idea to set a precedent for things with your own behavior. Speak in soothing tones, and generally adopt a gentle demeanor in how you conduct yourself. Patience is the primary virtue here, so keep yourself in check and tolerate any poor behavior from your rescue pup for at least a little while.

Eventually your rescue dog will know your home to be a place of sanctuary and calm. Any loud noises or disturbances risk reigniting old traumas and opening past wounds, so it’s best to just turn your home into a place of zen for the first few weeks or months. Close doors quietly and keep the volumes on radios and TVs to a minimum.

Organize Food Delivery

You should try to minimize the amount of time you spend away from your rescue.

Your rescue pup needs to be comfortable with you any others who share ownership of him or her. The more time you spend near them, the more likely it is that they will acclimatize to your presence and grow to trust and love you. Simply put, you need to put the time in.

In today’s circumstances, it’s a good idea to have a dog food subscription. Bella and Duke offer a great service here, in that they provide free delivery on their goods. This company can routinely supply your home with raw, nutritious meals for good boys and girls of all ages and sizes. This will help your rescue become fit and healthy, and of course, happy! This is just one way where you can adapt your own lifestyle to the demands of a rescue, and ensure that you’re firing on multiple cylinders at once.

Establish a Routine

Dog’s love routine, as it orders their minds and helps bring a sense of structure to their day.

Your rescue dog may be resistant at first, but in time, they will try to fit into your way of doing things. Following on from scheduled food deliveries, even things like getting up, making breakfast, or settling down in the living room will all start to make sense to them. They can even become accustomed to the rustling of a packet of biscuits, knowing exactly when to come begging.

It’s the little things that form the bond between the dog and the owner. They really try to pick up on all your quirks and mannerisms so that they can communicate with you better. Clicking a lead or putting on your coat, for example, can eventually signal that it’s time for a walk. Your rescue might not be on this level with you for the first few weeks and months, but try to establish some routines and shorthand signals for things, and eventually they’ll read you like a book!