Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:40 pm Post subject: Rehoming A Puppy Farm Breeder
Hello everybody,
This is my first post, and I apologise for it’s length! My partner and I are considering adopting a four year old lab from our local rescue centre. She arrived there in August as a stray, and she is almost certainly an ex puppy farm breeder. She is afraid of all people and cowers if you go near her. She’s apparently never lived in a house, and is obviously not toilet trained. They’ve done some work with her at the centre and she can now walk reasonably well on the lead (although she always keeps the lead tight – presumably trying to keep her distance). She was adopted in October and returned within a few days – we’ve been told three different reasons for her return (the owners other dog was too excitable for her, the owner broke his ankle and couldn’t care for her, and she bit the owner). We don’t know which of these reasons, if any, is true.
We have walked her twice with our own 3-year old lab boy, who is very calm and is happy to just be in her presence. The rescue centre have met him and are happy with him. We have our home check this week and a meeting with her behaviourist on Thursday. My partner has fallen head over heels in love with this little dog, and I’m always in love with any animal I meet, so unless we’re deemed unsuitable I think it’s highly likely we’ll be adopting this little girl. So I was hoping some of you more experienced fosterers / adopters could give me some advice.
The first few days I anticipate all manner of problems – she’s not been exposed to anything in a house at all. I expect the first day we bring her home we will struggle to get her in the car, struggle to get her out of the car, struggle to get her in the house – pretty much everything! I’m sure we’ll overcome the problems one thing at a time, but there are a few things that I’m concerned about:
Toilet Training: The rescue haven’t said she’s not house trained, but since she’s never been in a house I find it hard to believe that she will be. So, how do I go about this, baring in mind I probably won’t even be able to touch her at first? With my current dog, we simply took him outside when he woke, after he ate, and every hour in between, and he picked it up pretty quickly. We ignored accidents that we found after the event. If we saw him about to toilet inside, we just said “ah-ah” and took him outside. With this new girl, I suspect even the “ah-ah” will be scary, so should I just focus on making sure I keep on encouraging her outside?
Reward: Any idea of how to reward her? Once we gain her trust obviously we’ll figure out what motivates her. However, at the moment she bolts if you hold out food to her or drop it on the floor. Toys are very scary. I can’t pet her. The most I can do is a soft “good girl”, but will this even mean anything to her? Will my soft tone be enough?
Stairs: Might be no problem at all, but if not I do need to sort this. Our current lab sleeps in our room (upstairs), and I can’t see him hanging around downstairs to keep the new girl company! I’m not keen on shutting him downstairs (and would struggle to do so anyway, due to open-plan design of our house!). Any ideas for helping her with this? Worst-case Scenario we could just drag our mattress downstairs and camp out in the lounge for a couple of days!
Separation from our Dog: The rescue centre has told us that she will almost definitely bond strongly with our dog, and then will hopefully come around to us. However, our dog currently goes to daycare once a week, obedience classes, and agility classes. We probably won’t be able to take her to these things for a while, and I really don’t want to stop him going to these things. Will separation from him be an issue? She’d be with me or my partner in the meantime, so not on her own.
Leaving the dogs alone: We plan to be around most of the time, but obviously there could be times when we need to leave the dogs alone. What’s the best way to do this? Current dog has the run of most of the house, probably not a good idea for the new girl yet, and I’d want to make sure they were OK together before leaving them. Could we put a baby gate between the lounge and kitchen so they could still see each other, but she’d be safe? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?
Any other hints and tips for us? I’ve read through the thread where people have written their experience of rehoming these special dogs, and it’s been really helpful – so thanks all! Hopefully I’ll be able to report she’s home in the very near future. In the meantime, I’m just planning, planning, planning!
I'm sure there will be some members along soon with LOADS of insightful advice. But having read your post I just wanted to say that by the sounds of it you are really going into this with your eyes wide open and with this little lady's best interests at heart. You really sound like you are prepared and have done lots of research. I really hope you get this little dog as I am sure once she settles in she will have a long and very happy life with you.
I agree, it sounds like you know exactly what you're taking on.
Both of my girls are ex breeders. Porscha is not nervous at all, she totally lacked socialisation. Bonnie, on the other hand, is slowly but surely coming out of her shell - we've had her since August. She was in foster since May.
Bonnie still doesn't like the hoover but is practically used to every other household noise we have going on now. With toilet training, it will help a great deal that you have an resident dog. They do end up watching/copying
Every single day with my girls is a complete joy. Teaching them to swim, watching them grow. You will not regret it for a minute
Having a well rounded and socalised dog in the household will help hugely, she will learn from him, and this is so important with puppy farm dogs, they need to learn from their own kind.
Let her do things when she wants to, my Mum took on an ex breeding bitch a Cavvie girl, she was petrified of everything, we take for granted how easy it is with a normal dog.
She used to phone me up about every little milestone they had achieved, like putting a lead and collar on, walking through a front door, stopping to enjoy a sniff when out on a walk.
____________ Natalie x
LAB LINK RESCUE Co ordinator and Forum Administrator for my sins
Jack, Molly & Maia, watched over by Tara Banana from the Bridge
Hello, I read your post and this dog sounds so similar to a dog I have met a few times recently in rescue. Her name doesn't begin with J does it? If it is her, I really hope things go well. She is a very nervous young lass, but so deserving of a wonderful home and the chance to know what it is like to be a much loved dog.
I have worked with some nervous dogs in rescue and we adopted one of them He was fine to be handled after a short initial period, but he will always be a sensitive sort. He was five when we adopted him and also apparently hadn't lived in a home before. He had spent 2 years in rescue kennels by then too I was worried about how he would adjust to a home environment. Well he was on the sofa within about half an hour of arriving home He did struggle more getting used to some household noises - he is a Collie with very good and sensitive hearing. He was fine with things like the TV and hoover, but cupboard doors closing scared him and other things most dogs wouldn't be bothered by.
He's been with us for seven years now and very much a part of our family. I toilet trained him as I would a puppy, by taking him out often, staying with him, praising him for going in the right place and also introducing a toilet "cue" while he was going in the right place. He became completely clean very quickly and always has been since then.
I have no idea of whether he was ever used for breeding (I hope not!) but he has had to make some of the same adjustments an ex-breeding dog would. I believe he has definitely gained confidence from living with other dogs. He will always be a sensitive soul, but if I think back, he has improved greatly.
Good luck for Thursday - am hugely curious now as to whether this might be the same dog I'm thinking of!
Thank you so much for all of your positive comments. I really hope we can adopt her as we really have fallen in love.
Angela - her name does indeed begin with a J She's a very short-legged labrador.
Our current lab is fantastic (slightly biased!), very confident, has great doggie manners, so we're really hoping he can help her along on her journey. I'll keep you updated with how things go!
Oh yes, definitely the same dog She liked my home-made tuna cake
You can only post five times before you have to pay £10 to subscribe, but I really hope all goes well and she's found a fab home I can't PM you, but if you email me at f@oldies.org.uk, I will send you a link to a few photos (including one of her playing with a toy).
Hi and welcome to LF, you have so obviously researched this very well before even thinking of taking this girl into your home, very well done for that.
I`ve never adopted a rescue myself but many members here have and have always sung their praises and have experienced the pleasure of reaching milestone after milestone with them.
I`m thinking there wil be no problem with your home check and this girl will get to experience what its like to live in a house where she`s loved and cared for as a she should always have been.
When she first arrives I`d just leave her to do what she wants for the most part, wander about, sit in a corner, whatever makes her happy, above all don`t force her to do things, no doubt she`s experienced this all her life.
Well done for wanting to adopt this girl, I hope you decide to subscribe with as as, there are many members here who will be able to advise you on any problems you may be having.
We would also like to follow this girls progress as she becomes used to being a pet in a loving home
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He was fine to be handled after a short initial period, but he will always be a sensitive sort. He was five when we adopted him and also apparently hadn't lived in a home before. He had spent 2 years in rescue kennels by then too 
I was worried about how he would adjust to a home environment. Well he was on the sofa within about half an hour of arriving home 
