Day 2

When introducing new dogs, we would always suggest introducing them away from the home and on neutral territory, parallel walking while they get used to each other.  This avoids over the top greetings which can quickly turn into scuffles, allowing them time to get used to each other and also learn they do not have to engage. This has not been possible with Freya as she was so worried about being on lead.

Throughout her first day, during multiple trips to the garden we watched for toileting. Each time she eliminated it was followed by praise and the word “toilet”.

It is so important to keep their world small to avoid flooding them with too many new things. Now is not the time for visitors to come and meet the new dog or lots of long walks to new places. Freya needs to time adjust to being in a home rather than kennels or a garden. For a dog that has lived her life in a garden, she is adjusting really well.

Walks were kept short and positive, gradually expanding her world – she was not keen on harness and lead as had never been walked so it was important to ensure all experiences were positive.

The two stair gates between dogs remain so that all dogs can feel safe, choose whether to come forward or move away. For brief moments, individual dogs were allowed to come forward to the gate to sniff with her and then return behind a second gate.

As she found walks quite stressful, it was important to provide plenty of mental stimulation to tire that mind out and reduce her stress levels. Freya is not particularly motivated by food and has no interest or understanding of toys, making it quite difficult to offer things that she will engage with. We start off with really simple treat searches

We found grated cheese and chicken worked well! This girl has expensive taste!

We decided to leave a light on for the second night, all doors open with stair gates in place and a radio quietly playing in the background.

On the second morning, the conservatory was clean, and she quickly eliminated when let out into the garden - lots of praise for her. Minor chewing of the window boards was evident but nothing like the devastation from the night before!

Look out for Day 3 tomorrow……