Hello!

I am a first time poster and I am loving this site! So much useful information.

I have a couple questions regarding the "honeymoon" phase of rescue dogs.

Here is what I know of my Doberman that we rescued one week ago: Male, 3 years old, no known background on him other than he was found as a stray in Northern California one month ago and then taken to a Dobie rescue where we adopted him 2 weeks later. He is behaving VERY well (see notes below on the behaviors he has demonstrated thus far)

BUT I am starting to get nervous and I’m so scared that he is going to do a 180 and be like jeckel and hyde and turn into a completely different dog after this "honeymoon" phase.

Can you help me understand the level of change that I might expect to see? Can it go from great to terrible????? What can I do to minimize the change?

Additional Details on how he acts now are noted below:


- He lives with my 2 year old Chihuahua and they are only together under supervision. He seems to have no great interest in her. He sniffs her sometimes, but then just walks away. He also tries to initiate in play. No agreesion whatsoever here.
- He sleeps in the laundry room which is closed off.
- We walk him at least 2 hours every day
- He stays right beside me on walks and does not pull. He is very calm around other dogs and greets them politely.
- He will sit and stay at the front door b/f a walk and only exits the home after I have done so and tell him to come.
- He will only enter the home after he sits, after I enter, and after I tell him to come.
- He sits before his meal
- He knows sit, stay, come, lay down
- If we have company over, he is polite and shows no aggression. He loves affection and is very friendly.
- He does not beg for food.
- We work on new tricks and commands every day for at least 10 minutes.
- We are always aware of letting him know we are the Alphas in the house.

Only areas of concern thus far:
- He is stubborn when it comes to bed time. He will not come when I tell him to get in the laundry room. He acts silly and runs down our stairs and lays by the front door. He will only come for food. Last night I has a small piece of chickbreast and he was more than happy to come in and lay on his bed for it.

- We were at a friends place (I have since learned that I should not bring/intro him to new dogs at this early stage of the game). My Dobie was playing with a toy (again, another no no in someone elses home, as I now know) and thier Rotti puppy tried to take it from my Dobie. He growled loudly at her and let out a warning bark.
-At the same visit above, we introduced him to my friends older male yellow lab. Upon the intro, there was a power struggle, barking and a lunge. It happened so quick, I dont know who started it. We broke them up and after the initial incident - everything seemed to be settled. They were respecful of one another for the remainder of our visit. (Again, I now know after reading this site, it was WAY too early to do this.)

I'm not a rescue person--but it sounds to me like this guy is doing great and so are you.

The only advice I'd offer is not to call him for something you know he doesn't like (like going to bed in the laundry room.) Every time you say come and he ignores it is reinforcing to him that you don't really mean it.

Instead, I'd just go get him when it's time for bed and lead him to the laundry room. Give him a treat and leave.

My guess is he simply doesn't like being separated from you. But it's your rules and if you want him to sleep in the laundry room he'll eventually realize that he doesn't have any say, that's it's really not that bad, and it'll just become routine.

Simply reduce the amount of "energy" being expended at bedtime by just getting him (put the leash on if you have to) and taking him to bed. No big good-night routines. Just put him in there and leave.

Thought---is there a special toy or treat (a stuffed Kong?) that could be an "only in the laundry room" thing? Something that would make going in there seem more appealing to him?


eta: Welcome!

I like Tracy's post - the only other thing I would do is do some "touch" marker traing with his bed, so he learns to love it.

I agree that you got really lucky with this rescue - keep up the rules boundaries and limitations and you increase your chances of nothing changing and maintaining your awesome dog.

I think you learned a lesson from the wrong intros and giving your dog toys around other dogs. Two things I wanted to point out is this dog should have NO toys. The only toys he should get are the ones that YOU use to play with him (tugs, ball on a rope, etc) He should not possess anything. When you are done playing the toy goes away - this way your value (in his mind) is always increasing. The other thing I wanted to point out, is the situation with the puppy could have been a lot worse - to me, the restraint your dog showed in warning the puppy is AWESOME, but not a situation I would ever put my dog in again.

With the second intro - again another situation I would not repeat. Intro'ing dogs inside a house for the first intro is never a good idea. If you feel that your dog needs to meet another dog, it should be done outside and away from either one's territory. For myself, I prefer that my dog just ignores the other dog. They don't need to like them, they just need to be neutral to them. I hike with friends and their dogs on a regular basis, two of my dogs will play if the other dog is willing, the other two just walk and ignore. If the other dog ignores my playful two, they will ignore them back.

I think you're doing a great job! Keep up the training sessions and the structure and I'm sure it will all come together. As you continue to work with your dog, your bond will go stronger and I'm sure things will improve as far as compliance. Practice coming when called all day long for a high value reward. A few days of that and your dog will soar in like a canon when you call him. Randomly call him to you, have a party, give your high value reward, then let him go on his way.

At this point I would caution you against socializing with other dogs since he may not be feeling very secure yet and may be inclined to
be more defensive. The other two situations in which there was growling involved, he wasn't acting unreasonable given the
circumstance and his background. The first instance with the puppy, he was guarding a resource.

The second issue was male on male posturing. I would be hesitant to introduce two males at all. But none of these are red flags.

Keep up the good work!

Sounds like you know what you're doing and I agree with all the others. Great job so far.

Having said that I want to answer the questions you started out with. You asked about the level of change you can expect. Every dog is different so it's impossible to tell.

What I can tell you is that he will change. It sounds like this dog has had some basic obedience training and also is not an aggressive dog.

His true personality will take at least a few weeks to show through. Until then continue to do what you are doing by managing him carefully. I would be extra vigilant around other dogs and people.

Good Luck.

Nicole,

We currently have a 4 yo female GSD, a senior male GSD, a 3 yo female Mal, a 9 yo male Westie, and a 9 yo male Pek mix at home.

The senior GSD came to us a couple of years ago, he was found as a stray in Southern California and picked up by the animal shelter, a GSD rescue took him right before he was scheduled to be put down. He was with the rescue for 3 months before we found him. He already had basic OB training, was crate trained and housebroken.

We got lucky with him, he was just all around very easy to care for, not dog or people reactive, attitude was fairly consistent since day one.

We are currently fostering a 3 yo female Mal. She was too energetic for her previous family. We've had her for about 3 months, we are trying to train her and find her a good home early next year. If anything, her demeanor and attitude have improved since we got her. She is a lot more confident and less skittish than when she first came to our house.

That being said, for these two dogs, we followed the ground work instructions from Leerburg. My Mal is still crated whenever we are not home, she is on a short leash when she is free in the house (only under supervision). She was tethered to my husband for the first 3 weeks.

We didn't let the newcomer interact with our other dogs for at least the first month (even now, the Mal's interactions with my other dogs are limited). We wanted the new dog to bond to the handler, not the other dogs.

If anything, marker training is very important in our success with these dogs. It really helps to build the dogs' confidence levels and is a good bonding tool

BTW, welcome to the site!

Congratulations on your new family member. I too own a rescued Dobie, and I continue to work as a volunteer with the agency I adopted her from. I do home visits where I interview potential adopters, and based on your post, I wish we had more adopters like you!

Yes, it's true there will be a honeymoon period, but it's not necessarily anything to fear. You are already doing the types of things I would recommend. Establishing pack leadership, structure and routine are extremely important. It sounds like you are well-aware of the need for exercise and brief training sessions throughout the day. The most important thing at this stage is that the dog be given the opportunity to adjust to your household routine. This will take time. One week is still very early for him. In my experience, the honeymoon period can be anywhere from about three to six months. During that time, you can expect his "personality" to come out as he gets more comfortable and starts to really feel at home.

You don't mention whether you have any previous experience with Dobermans or other working-type breeds. Dobies were originally bred to guard and protect, so don't be surprised if he becomes a little more territorial as time goes by. And I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean alert barking, etc. With my girl, I don't think we heard her bark for the first couple weeks. Now, she is our "Intruder Alert!" dog. My male Dobie just sits back and lets her do all the barking. In my experience, some Dobies bark at the slightest provocation, others are a lot more mellow. If yours does turn out to be a barker, you will want to teach him to stop when you ask him so it doesn't turn into a nuisance.

Dogs end up in rescue for many different reasons, and some, unfortunately, come with a lot of baggage. Mine came from a starvation and neglect situation, and she has fear issues that will probably never go away, but she has also made a lot of progress in the two and a half years we have had her. Your guy sounds like a real gem. With him being a stray, you will never know his history, but it doesn't sound to me like there will be any real surprises.

Just keep doing what you're doing. As you mentioned, you've learned that it's way too early to be introducing him to dogs outside his pack. Turn the nighttime routine into a marker training exercise. Consistency, structure, love and patience are things all dogs need, but especially rescued dogs. Try not to worry about things that have not happened yet. Chances are they won't happen anyway, and you will have wasted all that emotional energy for nothing!

Wow! I am overwhelmed by all of your supportive and helpful comments - Thank you a thousand times overI feel better and more confident already.

I will take the advice you have all outlined and give it a try.


Nicole