Bringing a New Dog Home!

A very brief overview of the Two Week Shutdown is this:

Your new dog needs time to adjust and there are many scenarios that people put their new dog through that only encourage negative behaviors to surface. Dogs may be resilient creatures, but they do also need to know that we are in control of situations, that we will protect and provide for them, and give them clear expectations and routines to follow.

Two weeks is just a guideline. Most dogs advance faster but depending on the individual dog and how closely you follow the guidelines, it may take longer.

When you bring home a new dog, young or old, we KNOW you are so excited and you want to share your new addition with everyone you can!

Did you know that by taking your dog to pet stores, friends and families homes, dog parks, pet events, or other really busy, social settings, you may inadvertently be telling your dog to act out?

Think about this: the majority of us when put into new situations do not put all of ourselves out there. We put forth what we want people to see or think they want to see. Also, we are much more likely to withdraw from situations that make us uncomfortable. What would you do if you were on a date with someone new and they took you to meet their family who constantly hugged you, kissed you, or otherwise invaded your space? What would you do if they then took you to meet all their friends and they did the same? Would you consider your date sane? Would you consider your date someone you could trust? Sure, you liked them initially to go out with them on a first date, but wouldn't their actions throughout that first date dictate whether you would see them again? Would you see them again if they put you in so many situations that made you uncomfortable? Consider this as well; say you had to go live with a new family who spoke a language you didn't understand. You'll be reserved, perhaps a bit detached. What if they doted on you, as a new family member, speaking to you in a language you don't understand, expecting you to interact with all their family members and friends? Would you feel comfortable? Would you want to retreat to a safe place? Would you know where a safe place was? Would they give you one?

Things many people forget is that we expect our new dogs to be so accepting of everything and we put them in these very similar situations and then become alarmed when they "act out." Your new dog is acting out or misbehaving because they don't view you as the decision maker. Remember, to them, you are putting them in situations that make them feel uncomfortable.

Keep reading to find out how to help your dog adjust and begin to view you as the decision maker of the home and to help them put their trust in YOU, where it belongs!

When bringing your new dog home, give them a brief tour of their primary living area or the places they will be most often. Now, it's crate time! It's time to give the dog some time to itself to take in everything that's happened thus far.

The crate will be used as a tool in the shutdown, not as a prison. Think of it more like their safe place. Sure, some may cry initially but with positive reinforcement (yummy crate-only treats, no coddling, etc.) they'll learn to accept their time alone and realize, it's not so bad! Something to remember is to NOT let the dog out of the crate while they are crying. Do NOT give in as this will only serve to reinforce their crying and barking to be let out of the crate. Being inconsistent will likely train your dog to be a screamer in the crate and that's not what you want at all!

Initially, keep out of crate interactions short, just like time in the crate should be short. 20-30 minutes at a time initially will help keep interactions with you positive and help reinforce positive crate training. You will increase the time as needed as the days move forward. Little by little. You are using the crate as a way to give them a time out to collect their thoughts and to process the new information they received in their interactions with you. If this is a new and only dog, you'll likely find that progress will move swiftly! No worries! Patience is a virtue and you will be handsomely rewarded!

For more information on integrating your new dog with existing pets, keep reading!

When bringing home a new dog to a home with existing pets, its important to realize that everyone in the household will need time to adjust to the new living arrangements and routine. It's important to take things very slow initially and keep things positive and upbeat.

First, let me go ahead and say that the initial meeting of the new dog with resident dog(s) needs to happen OFF your property in a quiet, neutral setting. We don't need your resident dogs to feel the need to "protect what is theirs" without having the opportunity to get to know one another first.

Now, after the initial meeting if things go well and you choose to bring the new dog home (or this can be tweaked if you've already introduced some other way that wasn't recommended here), it's time to crate and rotate initially. I'd say for at least the first 48 hours, keep the new dog and your existing pets separated. Sure, let them sniff around. Shoot, crate them side by side (never nose to nose!) to help them get used to the other being around. But, keep at least the first 2 days for yourselves and don't expect the new dog and existing dogs to interact and everything be hunky dory.

After the initial time has passed, do another outdoors meeting on leash first, then bring them indoors and let them further interact. KEEP LEASHES ON. This is just in case something unexpected DOES happen. You've got leashes on to help keep things under control. It can also help when you interject a too hyper play session to encourage the dogs to settle and relax. Keep new interactions VERY short initially. I'm talking 10-15 minutes. End things on a positive note and give the dogs time to process everything that happened. Doing things this way does a couple of things. It gives the dogs the opportunity to enjoy one another's company without becoming overstimulated and it also gives them the desire to want MORE interaction. Sure, you might have to deal with a bit more whining from them because they want to play, but remember, YOU call the shots. Not them. Being very deliberate in the amount of time they have to play together and WHEN they get to play together sets that precedence of YOU being the person they look to for direction. And with multiple dogs, that's what you WANT!

Over the course of a few days, slowly increase the time they are out together. Remember to end things on a positive note and be on top of their play 100% of the time. Do not allow over excited play because it can quickly amplify. If one of the dogs is walking away from play, step in and separate. Pay attention and supervise and you can help keep a peaceful multi-dog home :)

Make sure to monitor toys. Actually, at the very beginning of interactions, I recommend not having any toys at all for them to play with. Let the dogs learn one another first before introducing things which may be of high value to one or all. Give them the chance to realize one another's signals for play and for agitation. It is also YOUR responsibility to learn these things as well. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Kinda confused about it all still? Read the next section about my personal experience with the Two Week Shutdown and how it helped me :)

Deja was my first dog. I adopted her in October of 2005. We stayed a single dog home until March of 2007 when I decided I was ready for another one.

We drove out 3 hours to the rescue who had the dog we wanted and brought Deja along for the ride. She was so smitten with him at the meeting and he was just a little in his own world as he'd gotten into a tiff the day before with another dog. Because of the tiff, I left him at the rescue so as not to stress him out. A few days later, they brought him down to me and that was that :)

I initially let Cyrus and Deja pretty much have a free for all. I initially let Cyrus have the run of the house too and lost some blinds to the experiment. I began crating him after that. :)

Anywho, I'd say within about 3 days, our first issue arose. Cyrus snapped at Deja over a toy. Poor Deja was SO offended and concerned that for the rest of the night she came and sat down by me. I'd picked up all the toys and began searching the internet for some immediate ideas I could put into play with the situation that was going on.

Something I feel I should let you guys know, I'm a savvy 'net searcher and a frequent forum user. I'd joined a pit bull specific internet forum a few months prior and went there to explain my issues. This is where Stacie came into play and laid it down for me HARD. She point blank told me that I was moving entirely too fast and that I needed to separate the dogs and move VERY slowly.

Honestly, at the time, none of that made sense to me. Cyrus was such a laid back and chilled out kinda guy that I didn't see why I needed to make those changes. I asked a few more questions and explained the dogs a little more and again was told that none of that mattered, I was moving too fast and that's what the problem was.

I was skeptical at first but you know what? I had NOTHING to lose by trying it out.

The dogs immediately went on a crate and rotate schedule. What this means is that they did NOT interact with one another at all and only saw each other in passing as they were being crated and taken out individually. One crate was set up on one side of my bed and the other crate set up on the other side of the bed. I kept them separated like this for about one week. I kept each dog out for an hour at a time when I was home. I also had to work with Cyrus on his "crate issues" because he would SCREAM in his crate. Initially, I'd have to wait an hour after getting home to even remotely venture upstairs to get him to start reinforcing the "I'll let you out when you're quiet" routine. I thank doG Deja was so wonderful during this because she got the "short end of the stick" in waiting while he was worked with.

When we were ready to reintroduce the dogs, we took them outside for a sniff first and then brought them back in to play. We kept both dogs leashed at first and then eventually took them off when letting them play. They got about 10-15 minutes of time together then I stepped in, leashed one and took that one up stairs to be crated for quiet time and to give the other dog some one on one attention.

Over the next couple of weeks, their time out together supervised was extended. It was a slow process that WORKED. It may have taken time, however, it set the precedence of who was who in the home and what was expected of them. It was at least a month before I reintroduced toys and at the first sign of any attitude, I stepped in and took them all away.

Now, two years later, they are out together when I'm home. They can have toys out and play quite well with them. The difference from then to now is REMARKABLE and so worth mentioning. Cyrus took a couple of months of conditioning with the crate but he no longer throws fits and waits quietly for the most part.

Slowing things down and setting a solid routine helped tremendously. It helped him learn who makes the decisions and it helped build the relationship between him and Deja. It helped KEEP him in his new home as it likely would have gotten out of control if I hadn't been proactive and stepped in.

It may sound like tough work, but it's worth it!

I think pictures speak the loudest in regards to the benefits of the Two Week Shutdown. Here are a few of the dogs we've had come through New Hope Pit Bull Rescue and how it visibly made a difference in their demeanor :)

Golda's Shelter Picture - Blank expression, no real emotion on her face:


Golda about 2 weeks after bringing her into our rescue- What you see here is a relaxed bully smile :)


Juno's Shelter Pic - Closed mouth, blank look:


Juno at about a month later, out of the shelter - Note open mouth smile and relaxed expression:


Mia's second or third day with me - another blank stare:


And about a month later, she shares a cheesy smile with me :)


Here's Java, stressed from Demodex Mange and little to no hair!


Now, after a month, look at this big ol' smile he was giving!


Tino's first days in my home were spent in La La Land:


However, in no time at all, he came RIGHT out of his shell:


Try it for yourself and see what kind of results you get! And please, feel free to share your own before and after pictures as well!