I've got a number of rescue dogs and
worked with many students that have had rescue dogs. And there's one thing that so many
rescue dog owners get wronged and rescue dogs. Even more than puppies
really need you to get this right. I'm instructor Carol. This is the
Berk. Welcome back to McCann Dogs Here in our training facility, we've helped more than a hundred thousand
dog owners to overcome the same dog training challenges that you have.
So if this is your first time on the
channel and you're currently training a dog, make sure you hit that subscribe
button so that we can help you have a well-behaved four-legged family member. Here's a very common mistake
that new rescue dog owners make you wanna stop thinking
about whether or not your dog has friends. And you wanna start to develop a
relationship with your new rescue dog. What do I mean by relationship?
That may sound really fuzzy, but I want my dog to think
I'm valuable to care about me, to look to me for information,
to look to me for confidence. And it goes two ways. I also need to understand my new
rescue dog and what they need from me in order to set them up for success
for the rest of their lives.
The Berk is a rescue dog. I got him
when he was over four years old. Now, when I got him, I didn't rush to
introduce him to my other dogs, to family, to friends. I don't want so many
people when they get their new dog, we wanna make their lives wonderful. They
maybe come from lousy situations. So, you know, we wanna suddenly give them all this
affection introduce them to people and dogs, but so many rescue dogs.
They're not used to that. They need a little bit more quiet.
We might overwhelm them. So instead, you know, Berk and I spent some
time together, you know, one, I maybe hand-fed his meals. So he gets to see me as the provider
of good things. What a good boy. Yes. So he can see I am providing him, he's learning some skills like taking
the food gently cuz so many rescue dogs are ravenous.
They'll take your hand off. So he is learning some manners and
we're getting to know one another. We might go for a nice, quiet walk, not the middle of a dog park where he
could be overwhelmed, but someplace quiet. And I can see, you know,
is he nervous of noises? As people are in closer proximity,
is he still comfortable? So I get to know him, he gets to know me.
Another really part of
relationship is that the Berk sees me or any of our rescue
dogs. See us as leaders. That's gonna set the pace for
the rest of our time together. So you can see he's looking at me. What
are we gonna do? He sees me as valuable. So it's not that leader. You
will listen to me or else. I'm inspirational he sees
me as important to him. So that's the leadership I want
to establish with my dog. Now, how do you do that? One of the
best ways is some training. So one, I want my rescue dog to have life
skills, things like response, to name, being able to walk with
me and you may say, oh my rescue dog knows his name.
Well, there's a difference with the dog knowing
their name and responding in a room full of squirrels. I want my dog
to respond despite the distraction. So I may go back and
put lots of value to my dog, truly knowing their name and
billing, being willing to respond. So we're walking along. I'm just gonna
Berk show 'em some food. Yes. Good boy. I wanna build tons of value.
I'm rewarding. Close to me. So he's rehearsing perfect
response to name Berk.
Yes. Good boy. So yes, I'm helping
him with food, but you know what? For the first few weeks with me, Berk
is gonna respond to his name first time. Every time we're regardless
of what's going on around us, did you get that last piece? I'm
rehearsing. Perfect responses. So if you're not getting
perfect responses, you need to stop treating your rescued
dog like a dog or a trained dog and think of them more as a puppy.
So I might need to be working this
response to name in a hallway at home where I can be sure my dog is perfect. Same if I want to teach
my dog to walk on leash. So many people get rescue
dogs that don't walk well. And then what happens is the dog's
not getting out for exercise, but it's a great way for me to spend time
with my dog, my dog, to get exercise, fresh air exposure to things. So again,
I wanna set my dog up to be perfect. If I need to, I can treat him like
a puppy, I'm right in the house. I could have treats right on his nose,
just walking along and rewarding. Now, if your rescue dog's a little
more comfortable and we
can do that outside bonus, I can start out here. I'm still gonna
be using my voice. What a good boy, my treats, or a toy to help my
dog practice perfect walking.
I don't have to do this forever, but I
need to set them off to a good start. Now I told you to stop
thinking about your dog, having friends and I absolutely urge you. Don't take your rescue dog to a leash
free park and let them interact with dogs. Especially dogs. You
don't know. Number one, if my dog is new to me and something
bad happens or they get overwhelmed, where's their trust in me gonna be. I
wanna establish that bond and that trust. Number two is so many rescue dogs
have not had enough exposure. So they're gonna be
terrified by this situation. Blue's a new rescue dog
and lacks confidence. There's no way he would be able
to handle what Berk is right now. So Rob works well away from distracting, creating lots of positive association, building confidence and strengthening
their relationship rather than throwing it away.
Socialization. Isn't letting
my dog loose to play with other dogs. Not necessarily even
visiting with other dogs. Socialization is letting my dog
experience the world and gain confidence. So new locations are so important. Taking them out to new places
where they can be safe. They get their trust in me. I can let
them explore. I can let them sniff, check out new things. New
sounds, new environments. In a number of instances I've said to
stop treating your rescue dog like a dog and treat 'em like a puppy.
Here's one where you wanna stop treating
your rescue dog like a puppy and treat them like a dog with
puppies, like little kids. They're always happy to see us, right? Your three year old runs and meet you
every time you come home teenagers. Not so much. We'll see with these
dogs that are a little bit older, a puppy's gonna take treats and
not even care what's around them. But with our older dogs, they're gonna be more interested
in other things going on. So I'm going to mix up my
rewards a little bit more. I'm not just going to use the same
old treat over and over again. So I'm gonna use toys far more often. And that also allows me to interact
with my dog and build that relationship further. Ready? Berk. Get it.
Yeah. Get that thing. Ho good boy. Yes. Out. Good boy. You wanna stop gambling with what
you think your dog already knows? Just because they're older.
Another huge thing that many
people get a rescue dog on. Assuming they're gonna understand
is housebreaking or house training. Now Mac grew up in a barn. So for his
first nine years, he never had to hold. He could just eliminate wherever he
was. I had a rescue dog like that too, who for four years had that experience
and it takes time for them to understand one how to
physically hold and two, to understand that that's
what they're supposed to do. So I'm gonna need to go back
and treat those rescue dogs, just like a brand new puppy. Even if your dog has been house
trained in another location, they don't know your house. And if they've
got a lot of freedom and don't know, they may eliminate when you're not paying
attention. Now that's self rewarding. So we may develop a problem that I
could have avoided by treating my dog a little bit, like more like a
puppy and helping them be right. Now that takes me into
management. And what do I mean? I need to make sure my puppy's safe when
we get, and we think about that, right? Because puppies will eat everything, but some of our rescue dogs have had
that experience or they may have had situations where they weren't
getting proper nutrition.
So maybe our rescue dogs are
gonna put things into their mouth. That could be unsafe. Maybe they're
gonna chew. Maybe they're gonna dig. Maybe they're gonna eliminate. So that gets into how do I keep my
new dog safe? If I've got other dogs, how do I keep them apart? So I'm
going to use baby gates for me. I'm going to use a crate. I know a lot
of people, oh, I don't like the crate, but those first few months with my new
dog, one, I want them safe. And two, I wanna develop that a
relationship. So for a few months, that's gonna set me up for life. I also want my dog to be
comfortable in a crate. Again, they haven't had that
puppy experience perhaps.
What happens if they have to go to the
vet now they may not be feeling well and the stress of the crate, or if I travel or in my vehicle
to make sure they're safe. I need to know they're comfortable either
with that harness being restrained or in that crate so they can ride safely. So management is just as key with our
rescue dogs, even for a dog like Mac, that was nine as it is
for our brand new puppy. I've talked about using treats a few
times in this video. There's one mistake. So many people make. We wanna make
sure you don't make that mistake. So check out this video here. If you'd like personalized
training for your rescue dog, from myself or our other
McCann instructors, check out our Life Skills online
program. To hear more about that. Click the link in the description below
on that note. I'm instructor Carol. This is Mac happy training..