A shelter dog is a diagnosis. And not so much for the dog, but for its owner. By at least, this seems so to many who have never adopted a dog from a shelter. And I've never been there. And I didn't think about it. However, a shelter dog often exhibits fewer problems than many purebred dogs with tendencies to eat furniture, sing in the walls of an apartment, and aggression towards relatives. Oddly enough, 80% of shelter dogs try their best to be “sugar” at home - apparently, they are subconsciously afraid that they will be returned back.

However, there are also difficulties with shelter dogs. For the new owner of such a dog, the main thing is to carefully study the Instructions for accustoming a shelter guest to a new home. And since this Instruction is a rare document, we decided to publish it on the pages of the World of Dogs as a reminder to all current and future shelter dog owners.

But before proceeding with the instructions itself, you need to explain why you need a dog from a shelter in your apartment at all.

Dogs are brought to the shelter by various reasons. Often they are good-natured, plump animals that lived at metro stations and were fed by “the whole world,” sometimes they are lost animals, never found by their previous owners. There are many old dogs in shelters whose owner has died, and no one needs them - they are the same as old people in nursing homes: lonely, thrown out of their apartments just to live out their lives. It happens that you end up in a shelter and pedigree dogs- careless people give up recently acquired dogs for reasons of suddenly appearing allergies or completely ridiculous reasons: “the dog ate my boots.” Naturally, this is a dog that needs to be trained... Lazy people If they don’t want to do this, it’s much easier to give the dog to a shelter. In shelters where bitches are treated without sufficient care and are not sterilized immediately, puppies appear - it is very difficult for them to survive in the conditions created for dogs, which is why puppy mortality in municipal shelters is high. Rarely lucky people manage to go to new house. Very rare case– wild, aggressive dogs. There are few of these in shelters. Why? It's simple. They are almost never caught. These are cunning, cautious, accustomed to surviving “like in war,” strong animals, not suitable for humans, who know how to hide and defend themselves.

Much more often, trusting, people-friendly dogs that do not expect anything bad from humans are caught. It is difficult for them to live in a shelter. Municipal shelters are still not able to maintain animals at a good level - the cheapest food is used, meals are often not regular, dogs do not have insulated kennels and periodically drinking water. The shelter enclosure is small, but four dogs are placed there at a time. Walking is available to a few. After entering a shelter, dogs experience enormous stress due to cramped conditions, from which they cannot leave for months.

And, probably, every shelter dog dreams of going outside of its cage. At least subconsciously. Well, people, consciously, can offer these dogs a second chance at

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A SHELTER DOG

As can be seen from the Instructions, a shelter dog is not much different from any other dog. Perhaps more sensitive to the world around her. But shelter dogs have their main trump card - they are endlessly grateful creatures. They are delicate, listen to the wishes of their Master, often behave unnoticed in the apartment, only sometimes they come up, press their muzzle to you and quietly, quietly, like a dog, say “thank you.”

Daria Pushkareva

It's normal to have questions and concerns with a new pet. It's good if you can prepare for them in advance. If you are thinking about adopting a dog at home, we will tell you what to expect from this event and convince you: adopt a pet from a shelter - great idea. Experts will help us with this: dog handler Jay Koes and Evgenia Drach, a volunteer at an animal shelter.

The easiest way is to compare the appearance of an animal with the appearance of a child. Only this child will never grow up. Responsibility for his life will remain yours forever. It doesn’t matter whether it was purchased or rescued from the street or from a shelter, a new animal will be stressful for you. This is normal and it passes.

Choice of animal

An animal that will become part of your family. A dog has emotional needs and a personality. It is logical to choose the pet that suits you and your loved ones. Evgenia Drach advises: the less experience you have in keeping animals, the more carefully you should choose a friend.

“Even though you’re not buying this dog, it’s still worth getting to know each other and understanding whether you’re right for each other,” notes Evgenia. Otherwise, the noble desire to save the animal will result in disappointment and the return of the pet to the shelter.

The simplest and useful advice: Take an animal with a temperament close to yours. If you love hiking, take someone who is energetic, active dog in the prime of life. If you like to sit with a book or at a laptop, take a phlegmatic, not too active, and maybe even a fairly mature animal.

Don't rely on the "opposites attract" principle. If there is no contact, the most flexible dog will become a burden.

Family preparation

Discuss the addition of a dog to the family and make sure that everyone, without exception, agrees to this step. Jay Kus notes: if someone in the family is against it, this almost certainly means conflicts and, as a result, problems in the dog’s behavior in the future.

Agree on your responsibilities for caring for the dog. Someone should walk her in the morning and evening, someone should buy food, someone should play and teach her commands. Also, be sure to agree on who will take the dog out into the yard for a minute in the middle of the day. Jay says it's not healthy for dogs to wait all day between their morning and evening walks. Your pet will be healthier and calmer if he has the opportunity to go outside for at least a short time three times a day.

Very important: if there are children under 12 years of age in the house, they must be taught the rules of safe and respectful interaction with dogs.

The main ones are not to touch the dog when it is sleeping, not to approach it when it is eating, and not to frighten it. sudden movements and sounds, do not lean on her, respect her wishes when she pulls away, leaves or in some other way clearly shows that she is uncomfortable.

Jay Kus, dog handler

Time

Prepare to devote a sufficient amount of time and attention to your new friend. After all, he will need it.

Evgenia Drach notes: if you are not ready for this, the dog will force you to draw attention to yourself in a different way. Chewed shoes, torn wallpaper, tattered sofa...

Mutual understanding between a dog and its owner is the result of long work.

It is important that you understand why you endure this stress, so that the joy of communicating with an animal easily and quickly outweighs the discomfort from minor problems. You will need to change your usual life and daily routine. Later you will be glad of it, it may be hard at first.

Adaptation

How to behave on the day when the dog finally crosses the threshold of your home? You also need to prepare for this, because your instincts and aspirations will most likely deceive you.

The first thing you'll want to do is put everything aside and spend the rest of the day talking to your dog, recording him on video to post on social media, offering him food and toys, checking to see if he knows , and the like, says Jay Kus.

As offensive as it may be, you need to do exactly the opposite. The best thing you can do is to pretend to be the owner of a dog hotel: show the animal a quiet corner in the apartment where bedding has been prepared for it and where no one will disturb it, put a bowl of water in a visible place and politely forget about the existence of your guest at a minimum for a few days.

What else needs to be done? Here are some quick tips.

• Take your dog outside more often. If she seems anxious and shy about fulfilling her natural needs, try walking her on a long leash and take frequent breaks from her.
• Help them get used to the new area and home. Don’t rush to take your dog to a park where your familiar dog walkers walk, or introduce it to your neighbor’s dogs.
• Inviting guests home to show the dog is also not recommended in the first weeks.

It is better to postpone all this until the moment when you notice that your dog has become bolder, requires more attention and comes to you more often during the day, behaves more confidently on walks and shows more interest in things in the apartment. This will be the official beginning of his new life as a confident family dog.

Jay Kus, dog handler

Specialists

Make sure to meet people in advance who are ready to help you live with your new friend.

1. Veterinarian

If you try and find a good doctor for your dog, you will see him very rarely.

How to determine if a veterinarian is good? Evgenia advises paying attention to three main points:

1. How calm does the animal feel in the hands of the veterinarian? A good doctor will not twist the dog or clamp its mouth shut. According to Evgenia’s experience, good doctors give injections, gently stroking and not fixing the pet.
2. How experienced is the doctor? This is important, because the more experience the veterinarian has, the fewer tests and procedures your animal will have to endure.
3. How well do you understand each other? Personal contact with your veterinarian is also important. “If there is no normal communication, treatment will be delayed or will not work at all. Find a specialist with whom you feel comfortable talking and after talking with whom everything becomes clear to you,” advises Evgenia.

2. Animal psychologist

An animal behaviorist can help you work through your problems, sometimes even online. If your dog's behavior is problematic, you will need to contact such a specialist.

3. Dog handler

If you want to train a dog, you will need a dog handler or trainer. Jay Kus talked about how to understand that you have a competent specialist in front of you.

For example, if a dog handler talks about dominance, this is a sure indicator of his failure. A person who talks about the dog respecting/disrespecting you, or the role of a strong leader, may even harm the pet.

Dominance ideas were around decades ago, and their theoretical basis has since been refuted. The "show the dog who's boss" ideas have been replaced by a much more humane and effective paradigm based on rewarding good, positively interrupting or ignoring bad, and creating an environment in which good is easier to do than bad.

Jay Kus, dog handler

Another important signal is understanding the mechanisms of behavior change. Jay notes: if the trainer does something physically forcibly (presses on the butt, saying: “Sit!” so that the dog sits under pressure), “hangs” it on the collar so that the dog sits when commanded “sit”, recommends stepping on the fingers hind legs or stick out your knee if the dog jumps on people, or recommends jerking with the leash in any situation - fire such a dog handler without talking.

Other problems

In general, it is obvious: any animal can have behavioral problems. For dogs adopted from a shelter or from the street, they most often are as follows:

• Fear. The dog may be afraid of the street, people, leash, loud sounds, roads, separation and even completely unexpected objects and phenomena. Evgenia Drach notes: if you do not pay attention to this in time, fear can lead to other problems (destruction of the house, running away, fighting, barking, loss of contact with the owner).
• Health. First you will need to spend time diagnosing and solving problems.

In most cases, all problems appear and are finally resolved during the first year of marriage. “Many diseases that are difficult or impossible to treat in homeless people (for example, demodicosis - subcutaneous mite), are easily removed forever from households at the expense normal nutrition, stress reduction and simple but regular treatment,” says Evgenia.

Useful books

Jay Kus talked about books that will help you and your new friend find mutual language, make the adaptation process easier and warn against possible errors on this way.

• "Don't Growl at the Dog" by Karen Pryor. In the book accessible language stated effective technique positive reinforcement. It will be useful to you not only in your relationship with your dog, but also with yourself and loved ones.
• "What to do before and after you adopt a puppy" by Ian Dunbar. This book is worth reading before you bring a dog into your home. She talks in detail about the periods of raising a puppy and helps prepare for the moment of meeting a new friend.
• “On the other side of the leash. How to understand a dog and become understandable to it,” Patricia McConnell. The book teaches you to observe your dog and learn to understand it, and then interact with the dog with body language and voice.
• "Dialogue with dogs. Signals of reconciliation", Turid Rugos. The book describes several dozen signals of reconciliation with clear stories about how dogs use them. It will help you avoid conflicts with your dog and learn to communicate with him.

Good parting words

I wish young owners to treat the process of education as a kind of creativity, where there should be a balance of logic, intuition, work, love, discipline and emotions. Even if you have a problem dog, don’t forget to be happy, run, stroke its belly, throw a ball, wander in the forest, look into the eyes, scratch behind the ear, because a dog’s life is too short not to enjoy it.

It is possible that you will not buy a puppy from a breeder, but decide to go to a homeless animal shelter. Most likely you will be able to purchase faithful companion life, but disappointments are also possible: for example, certain behavioral problems of a dog will not allow it to adapt to home life. Much, of course, depends on luck, but the likelihood of a successful outcome will increase if you are prepared in advance possible difficulties(see pp. 116–117).

Shelters not only house puppies, but also old and infirm animals. Each of them has its own story. Many dogs end up on the street after their owners lose their jobs, get divorced, move homes, get sick, or die. Dogs can get sick themselves, and can sometimes cause allergic reactions from one of the family members. The decision to get rid of a dog can also be influenced by its constant fights with other animals in the house, or simply bad habits. There are also owners who beat their dogs, starve them, and do not let them off the chain for a long time.

Adolescent dogs (6–9 months of age) are the most common dogs found in animal shelters. Owners often get rid of them simply because they didn’t think through the purchase of a puppy at the time. Either the fluffy little ball suddenly turned into a naughty mischief-maker, or the owner suddenly discovered that he could not control his bad inclinations. Sometimes this happens due to the wrong choice of breed, or because proper attention was not paid to raising the puppy.

Compatibility of dogs and their owners

Unfortunately, when giving a dog to a shelter, owners do not always inform the real reason, which prompted them to part with their pet. More than half of the dogs admitted to shelters exhibit some form of bad habits, from barking and jumping on people to... aggressive behavior. Many animals can be successfully re-educated, especially if the new owner loves dogs, is willing to be patient and devote enough time to their pets. In some shelters problem dogs specially prepared for life in new homes. Particular difficulties arise with those animals that have already changed several owners.

When you contact such an establishment, explain to the employees what kind of dog you want to adopt. Who do you want, a puppy or an adult dog? Have you owned dogs before? Where do you live - in a separate house or in an apartment? Are there children or elderly people in your family? How much time are you willing to devote to raising, walking, and caring for your dog? Agree with the shelter staff to first take the dog for a walk, try to find a common language with it, and only then take it home. With this approach, the hope of success increases significantly.

Dog care

Before making your final choice, carefully consider all the circumstances. No matter who you choose, a puppy or an adult dog, a plea will be read in his gaze: “Please take me home!”

• What will be required of me if I want to adopt a dog from a shelter?
• Usually you need to pay a small amount of money. In addition, you may be asked to sterilize your dog. It is possible that they will also sell you vaccines at a discount. Otherwise, you must show the dog to a veterinarian and arrange for everything to be done for her necessary vaccinations at the veterinary clinic.

• Who is better to choose - a puppy, or adult dog?
• The choice is entirely yours. As a general rule, it is best to adopt a puppy before he or she is 10 weeks old, as time spent in a shelter may then have a negative impact on his or her development. Having chosen a puppy, you begin training and raising him from scratch. However, often the age, origin and state of health of a puppy can be judged only approximately, and it is almost impossible to predict what its size will be in a year (large paws usually indicate that the animal itself will grow large). A teenager or adult dog may already be accustomed to correct behavior in the house, but it may take him some time to get used to his new surroundings.

• My friend recently adopted a dog from a shelter, but he has a terrible cough. A friend invites me to visit with his children. Is this cough dangerous for them? Can my children get infected?
• Most probable reasons cough - infectious tracheobronchitis (“ kennel cough"), or plague. Both of these diseases are highly contagious in dogs but cannot be transmitted to humans; they can be prevented through vaccinations. However, it is necessary that your friend's dog is examined by a veterinarian and the cause of the cough is determined.

Do's and don'ts when choosing a dog from a shelter

Need to:

• Before visiting the shelter, decide whether you need a puppy or an adult dog.
• Weigh all the circumstances. You are always busy? Then don't get a dog that needs daily grooming. Are you an old man? Don't get too excited strong dog. Do you have a young family? Your dog should love children.
• Take your time. There is no need for you or your dog to make a mistake.
• Find out as much as you can about the dog's personality and background. Go for a short walk with her. Observe how she reacts to other dogs and people.
• Once you pick up your dog, take it to the vet. Be sure to get all necessary vaccinations.

It is forbidden:

• Adopting a dog from a shelter, seduced by the cheapness. Please note: you will have to devote a lot of time to your pet.
• Hurry up to make a decision. Before you take your dog home, try to get to know him better.
• Count on the fact that you will immediately get exactly the animal you dreamed of.
• Base your choice solely on appearance. Take a closer look at the dog's behavior.
• To strangle a dog taken into the house in your arms and caress it beyond all measure. An animal that has already suffered grief may immediately become overly attached to you. Give your dog time to calmly settle into the new environment.

Next article

In December 2010, the section "Already at home!" The catalog of our website has been replenished with the “card” of another dog from the shelter - . And a month later we received a large, wonderful letter from Tikhon’s new home, which you can read on this page.

How we adopted a dog from a shelter

Summary:

About two months ago we adopted a dog from a shelter. Everything is going well, both we and the dog are happy. And it turned out to be not at all as difficult and scary as we initially feared.

Detailed presentation

This story is about how we chose a dog at the shelter and how our relationship with her began living together, does not generalize experience, and does not contain advice. Only our own impressions and thoughts. Maybe they will help those who are planning to do the same.

It is important to emphasize from the very beginning: no one in our family (my husband and I are both over forty, our daughter is 21 years old, our son is 15 years old, we live in Moscow, in an ordinary small apartment) is a passionate dog lover or a fanatical animal lover.

We're sorry stray cats, but we don’t take them home. We do not feed puppies near garages and are not touched by every “little animal” we meet. Moreover, We are all afraid of stray city dogs, and quite consciously, we have been attacked by them, more than once. Both my husband and I used to have dogs, back in adolescence. But in my family life We just recently decided to get a dog for the first time.

Firstly, my son insisted on this, and has been for several years. Secondly, we finally left the center for a green area where there is room for walking. Therefore, immediately after moving, in the fall of 2010, it was decided to finally start making a choice. Of course, we were talking about a purebred dog, with a pedigree, from the club. And, of course, the puppy is 2-3 months old. We simply could not imagine that it could be otherwise. After all, street dogs are dirty, sick, and, most importantly, angry. Yes, and ugly. And in general, they are already adults, how will they get used to us? And why do we need these alien, ill-mannered dogs?

Part one. Choice.

After reading a lot of descriptions various breeds, we all went together to the Eurasia exhibition, one of the largest held in Moscow, hoping to examine in detail all the dogs that were interesting to us.

Indeed, the exhibition made an impression, but - oh horror! – it became clear that each of us likes our own breed. This was in no way suitable, since the fundamental condition for the appearance of a dog in our house was one thing: we all must like him. Everyone has the right to veto, and compromise is not an option.

For a month and a half, all four of us combed the Internet in search of a breed that everyone would like and would suit us according to its characteristics. Not found. It became clear that we were doing something wrong and things weren’t going to work out that way. Moreover, after reading a ton of puppy raising guides, we realized that we were not capable of raising a puppy.

We both work and a lot, the children study and seriously, no matter how much they want, no one will have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the puppy, feed him 4-5 times a day, and even more so raise him the way he should be raised. Among other things, it quickly became clear that pedigree dog- this is not a cheap pleasure, not only for herself, but also for all the care and service associated with her. We had no plans to become breeders or participate in exhibitions, so the question inevitably arose: why do we need such expenses if we just need a friend?

My daughter suggested looking at dogs from shelters. She is generally a kind-hearted person. The thought seemed quite strange and somewhat frightening. However, after two weeks of tireless searching on shelter websites, we began to look at the matter differently, seeing that the choice is large, and if desired, you can find among those “given up to kind hands"Literally any dog. Together we outlined a list of applicants. There were more than ten of them, in different foster care and shelters of the city, and in different parts of it.

The daughter took on the difficult job of organizing the viewings. And so she and I came to the shelter for the first time. ABOUT! This place is not for the faint of heart. Dozens, hundreds of dogs sit in large cages, two or three in each, and bark. Their barking can be heard hundreds of meters from the shelter and does not stop for a minute. Most of all, these rows of cells reminded us of American prisons, as they are shown in the movies, only here the prisoners are definitely not guilty of anything. Of course, the staff cleans both the cages and the area, but still, even in the open air, in some places the smell takes your breath away.

The staff is a special matter. In the shelter where we went for the first time, these were people who had come from afar. They speak Russian very poorly, their work is not the most interesting, and visitors are clearly very annoying to them. But we didn’t come to look at them! We will endure, even if we are kicked out of the gate. In other shelters - and we visited several - the situation is different, but the staff everywhere does not suffer from special courtesy.

Volunteers are a completely different matter. This is very different people: by age, income, social status. Rarely are men, the vast majority are women. Very elderly, dragging two huge bags of food for the dogs from the nearest bus stop to the shelter. And all the shelters are not on the main road, but in such backyards of industrial zones that even if you drive a car, you sometimes wonder if you should go there? Or just gorgeous, even glamorous girls driving up in their shiny new foreign car. Or serious, intelligent, middle-aged women, obviously educated, obviously not rich. And they all have one thing in common: dogs need help.

Volunteers at shelters do a titanic job: they prevent dogs from going wild. Shelter dogs don't starve, but feeding them obviously won't hurt them. But the main thing is that you need to walk with them, communicate, pet them, talk. The rows of cages where “nobody’s” dogs sit and the dogs cared for by volunteers are strikingly different: in the former we saw simply wild animals, and it was not clear how to approach them. Secondly, there are dogs with whom you can communicate.

As far as we could see, the volunteers are competent dog handlers, who quite accurately select from the hundreds of dogs that end up in the shelter those that can generally be adopted in a reasonable time. Volunteers generally do not work with stray dogs, and with those that came to the shelter from home or, although they were caught on the street during a raid, were clearly previously pets. In addition to the fact that volunteers regularly come to walk the dogs and feed them, they make information about them available on the Internet, for which we thank them very much. If it weren’t for them, not for all those who took care of our dog, walked with him, photographed him, designed website pages, we would never have found our Tishka!

But you need to understand when communicating with volunteers that this is not a job for them, the time they can devote to helping dogs is limited, so you need to adapt to their schedule, to their plans, to their requirements and wishes. After all, they carry this burden for free, so if they are not very punctual, well, that means they will have to wait.

I would just like to draw the attention of these people to one fact. On all sites dedicated to the “adoption” of animals, the leitmotif is the same: have pity! Have pity on the dog, cat, puppy... he feels bad, lonely, scared, he needs attention and care, he will be so grateful to you if you take him... Volunteers write this way because they themselves feel sorry for the animals and give them a lot of time and effort. But any marketer will tell you that this is a wrong approach. It's not about rescuing dogs. The point is to save people. From loneliness. From selfishness. From melancholy, from the fact that they have no one to take care of, but they want to.

It is people who need warmth and affection, attention, the joy of communication, the joy of movement, communication with nature. Needed every day. A dog can give it all. Of course, dogs need us, but it is much more important that we need them. When trying to place “prisoners” in good hands, you need to write about what “good hands” can get from this particular dog, what problem they can solve with its help. It is necessary to make each description more individual, detailed, so that it “catches” the potential owner, and not be limited to the general “and you will probably good friend" Otherwise, most descriptions turn out to be simply sweet and sentimental, without accurate and practical information, often the height of the dog is not even indicated. But, of course, this is a profitable business, because shelters appeared on a significant scale in Moscow only a few years ago, and besides, it is really difficult in shelter conditions to get to know a dog well enough to accurately describe its personality. A few more points are important. Firstly, veterinary care is clearly available in shelters. We didn't see any patients there. Secondly, the choice is really huge. If you are ready to adopt an adult dog, at least up to two or three years old, then with some effort you will, of course, find one that you like. At the same time, it is immediately clear that most shelter dogs are not suitable for apartment life - they are simply too big.

Although Konrad Lorenz, the famous ethologist and animal expert, believed that the size of the apartment is not important for a dog - for it it is still just a big kennel, and the world is outside the door. It seems that street life mercilessly selects the most tenacious, and therefore wild, large, and their unprepared or physically ill to a strong man You just can’t keep it, at least not at first. Most shelter dogs are the result of random crossings, and there are very few of them that are truly harmoniously combined. But they exist, and sometimes they are simply amazingly beautiful. Medium-sized dogs are enough, with a height at the withers of 45 to 60 cm, which any adult can handle. If it had been possible, we would have taken not one, but a dozen dogs, they were so good, and it was difficult to make a choice. Volunteers do not have the opportunity to photograph and describe all the dogs, so by walking between the cages you can see many new dogs compared to what is on the website. Visitors are not simply allowed into the shelter - not a single one, as far as I know - only accompanied by volunteers. If you describe to a volunteer what kind of dog you are looking for, why, why you need it, then he will most likely offer you something similar. But you can’t do it without effort: you have to drive, look, search, and perhaps look at the dog you like more than once.

We did just that, but we don’t consider it difficult: after all, a dog is chosen for at least 10 years. When you even just buy a car, you still have to drive around and have a look. In photographs, dogs often look completely different than in real life. When the dog you like is pulled out of the cage on a rope, he will rage, and jump, and frantically pull the leash and bark like crazy, because he has finally gotten out into the wild. But, would you agree, if you are locked up for three days in such conditions, you, too, most likely, will not be in your best shape? On the territory of the shelter it is impossible to get any idea about the character and characteristics of the dog.

You need to agree to go for a walk with her, of course, together with a volunteer. If you have your own leash, bring it - then the volunteer can take another dog for a walk... and they already have plenty of walks. Usually twice a week for about 20 minutes: that’s all a dog can expect from a cage. Near the Eco shelter in Pechatniki there is a wild bank of the Moscow River, where all the volunteers walk with dogs. There you can try to take a closer look at your future comrade, but you need to dress and especially put on your shoes with dirt in mind. This shelter generally makes a good impression general organization business, although all the sad aspects of such institutions are characteristic of him. So, after visiting shelters and fostering, meeting several dogs, we chose one. A final decision had to be made, and this turned out to be very difficult. We decided in advance that we needed a dog, a male, and not a female. The one we chose was quite young - one and a half years old, large - 60 cm at the withers, and active - you could barely hold it down. In addition, it was known from volunteers that he is aggressive with other dogs. And then we hesitated: can we cope? We started asking all our dog lovers for advice. From all sides we were told that he would run away, that he could not be controlled, that he would be aggressive. It is better to take a spayed female. Moreover, it seemed - after two acquaintances - that he didn’t care about us, that he was not affectionate at all, and was not human-oriented at all. After all, he had already spent six months in the shelter, after he was handed over there by his owners. unknown reason. And has he forgotten where to do “business”? But the dog did not bark even in his shelter cage, did not dominate it, got along well with his “guardian,” suited us in size and age, and was absolutely charming, in our opinion. During a “carpet survey” of acquaintances, it suddenly turned out that quite a lot of people are already connected in one way or another with shelters. Someone took the cat. Some people have friends or relatives who are volunteers. And someone took dogs from there, more than once. My colleague turned out to be such a person, a man judging by work matters - very smart, but dry, very reserved, very pedantic, and a decent cynic to boot. It turned out that he had already adopted four dogs from shelters, one of them still lives in his family, others died in due time, some from old age, some from illness. And he said that these shelter dogs are no different from any others, that they get used to the house well and there are no problems with hygiene, and that in general all difficulties can be solved with affection, it just takes time. And we calmed down.

Part two. Tishka is going home. And now we have our own leash and collar. Bowls for food and water have been purchased, bedding and food are ready. We pick up Tishka with my husband: I will drive the car, my husband will keep him in the back seat, because we don’t know whether he will want to ride in the car, how he will behave? And he behaves great! He calmly jumped in, sat down, then lay down on the seat and dozed off. Probably his previous owners also had a car? We arrived home, walked around, and came to the apartment. Oh, we clearly have a storm of emotions here. We need to examine everything. Urgently. And mark it. Within reasonable limits, fortunately. Then you need to wash: immediately, because the smell is stunning. However, the washing went relatively smoothly, without resistance. And then mutual adaptation and recognition began. We picked up the dog on Sunday, and on Monday everyone had to leave the house for at least half a day. Tishka was very upset, and as the neighbors later told us, he even howled and barked. But that only happened once.

The first person to return that day - and it was the son - was almost knocked off his feet by the red, joyful typhoon. And to this day, every family member entering the house takes powerful paws on his chest and is licked. At first, the children were somewhat disappointed: the dog slept at home almost all the time. He didn’t caress, didn’t even ask to go outside, and almost didn’t eat. He walked willingly, but only sniffed the area, pulled the leash very hard and did not pay attention to us. After a while we realized that we were controlling the leash incorrectly. My husband found the right method online - you don’t have to pull, but pull with a sharp tug, and after a couple of days of such walks, Tishka began to walk almost like a decent dog. We continue to work on the “near” and “to me” commands. We have made noticeable progress, but so far there is no absolute obedience. Tishka gets along well with most dogs, but males of his size and age are always welcome partners for growling and attacking. We try not to walk in places where there are stray dogs: they always attack. In the city we mostly walk on a leash, but in the village where we went on vacation we use our voices. We were greatly helped by the clear and precise recommendations posted on this site about the content, primary processing and raising dogs, our whole family has read them and try to follow them. A visit to the veterinarian - we simply went to the nearest clinic so we could walk there - went without any problems. Two vaccinations - and Tishka has international veterinary passport. The dog is not at all aggressive towards people, even strangers, and when he got used to us, he became very affectionate. But not intrusive. It is clear that he understands intonation well and understands prohibitions. The dog turned out to be balanced and calm.

Tishka is cute, and not only we, but also many strangers like him. We are often told about this and even asked what breed it is. The issue of breed worried us until the last moment, since we shared a very common idea: by choosing a breed, you get a guarantee of certain qualities of the dog. Apparently, this is certainly true if selection is carried out based on working abilities, and the owner of the puppy is personally acquainted with the parents of his future pet. For most puppy buyers in big city this is not realistic, and selection of the most common breeds for home care is clearly carried out according to the exterior. Konrad Lorenz, who was a supporter of selection only for working qualities, aptly remarked: “How many people do you know who are both beautiful and smart?” There are also breeds that are selected for service qualities, but there the situation is different. The breeder of the Wachtelhund breed, whose puppy we were thinking of purchasing, explained to us that this breed - the German spaniel - is bred only by hunters for hunters, only for work, and he does not want to sell the puppy to us, despite our rather active, but not hunting, lifestyle . After all, if such a dog does not hunt, it ceases to understand what it is for, and this is important for dogs, he explained, otherwise they become nervous, poorly controlled, and their naturally balanced psyche suffers. “The same as with people, in general,” we thought. And this argument immediately made us refuse all hunting breeds. We decided that it would be easier with a dog without obvious working preferences. When we discussed with the children what it would be like when a dog appears, we said: approximately like a one and a half year old baby, only he does not grow up. And what is a baby of this age? They know, they already have nephews. Therefore, we were prepared for a much more serious load than it turned out to be in reality.

Of course, Tihan (this is the youth version of the nickname) changed our life, but not as much as we expected. It doesn’t stop us from doing what we need, adding new colors to what we like – walks and travel. And it’s simply amazing: how did we manage without him? The missing member of our family, another comrade of our team, was found and took the place whose emptiness we only vaguely felt. And if you are thinking about whether to adopt a dog, and are weighing the difficulties that this will bring and the joys that it will give, keep in mind: most likely, having adopted it, you will discover a lot of things in yourself that you never suspected, such properties and qualities, oh which you didn’t even guess. And they - well, wow! - good ones. This is not to say that everything is smooth and simple with Tihan: our beauty loves to climb into the trash can, drag something from the table in the kitchen that doesn’t fit well (even cabbage pies, but only if we’re not at home), open it with her nose refrigerator and from there you can also carry whatever you like.

We have already read the measures recommended to combat this, we will gradually wean it off, but for now we are tying the refrigerator with a rope. We intend to take a “controlled city dog” course in order to completely eliminate problems on the street. And gradually we ourselves learn to get along with him, catching ourselves thinking that at first we were worried about him as much as we were about a newborn or even small child: he will fall, run away, be stolen, get sick... However, gradually confidence becomes more and more, the contact is ever closer, and one cannot watch without admiration how he rushes, a white and red fluffy animal, ears pressed to the wind, tail in a ring, when I shout “Come to me!” »
Olga, owner of Tikhon

The decision to save a dog by taking it home from a shelter is very commendable.

For some animals, this is literally salvation, because a shelter is far from a sanatorium with comfortable conditions and a guarantee of a long and carefree life.

Unfortunately, due to complete absence any mechanism to prevent the appearance of “extra” homeless animals on the streets of our cities, the vast majority of private shelters are overcrowded, and municipal ones mainly solve the problem of animals captured or surrendered to the shelter by euthanasia.

At the same time, shelter dogs are no worse than those who are lucky enough to find loving and caring owners. They simply became hostages of someone’s cruelty, indifference or ordinary irresponsibility.

But adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean making her life joyful, or making yours next to her comfortable and carefree. As in any other business, it is important not only to have good intentions, but also to be willing to solve some problems.

What should you be prepared for if you decide to adopt a dog from a shelter? First of all, you need to understand that a shelter dog is not a blank sheet of paper on which only what you would like will be written down - as is the case with a small puppy from a competent breeder. Most likely, in the life of this dog there was a series of events (unpleasant, perhaps scary, traumatic), which brought her to the shelter walls. It could be the death of the owner, moving, loss, betrayal, which is often covered up beautiful phrases that it’s possible that “someone else’s dog will be better,” but in reality they were tired, fed up, overestimated their capabilities...

And if the dog also happened to wander before it got to the shelter, one can only guess what it had to go through. Persecution, beatings, bullying by other dogs, hunger... And sometimes the shelter conditions themselves are nothing better than life on the street.

Naturally, everything experienced leaves an imprint on the dog’s behavior.

And all this must be taken into account when deciding to adopt a shelter pet.

You definitely need to ask in detail the shelter workers or volunteers who are familiar with the history of the dog and its characteristics - how does it communicate with other animals, is it aggressive towards strangers, does it allow itself to be examined, does it trust people?

If you have chosen a dog you like and are determined to take it home, try to introduce it to all your household members on neutral territory - this will make it clear how easy it will be for you all to find a common language with the new family member.

How to properly behave at home with a dog from a shelter?

The first rule is not to bother or put pressure on the dog. A dog that is not too accustomed to attention may panic, become frightened and react aggressively even to your affection. Therefore, give her the opportunity to look around and calm down. This may take time. For some animals, more “open”, sociable, trusting, a couple of days may be enough to feel “at home”. For other dogs, it may take more than one week, or even a month, to stop flinching when you make a sudden movement.

Don’t rush things and don’t try to become a friend for the dog by force - endlessly stroking it, hugging it, dragging it everywhere with you and introducing it to all your guests. Such pressure can be discouraging to the dog. Everything has its time. You should be especially careful when interacting with children.

Explain to your child that the dog needs rest and that it should not be disturbed unnecessarily. Forbid touching the dog when it goes to its place - it should have a corner where it can feel completely safe.

Don't forget to check the date of your next vaccination (usually exactly one year from the date of the previous one). If the dog did not have a veterinary passport, find out at the shelter when and for what it was vaccinated for the last time.

It is advisable to bathe the dog after adoption. But this must be done with caution. If you and your dog have not yet established full contact and trusting relationships, bathing may become a severe stress. If possible, delay this procedure a little, but do not delay it for too long - after all, hygiene, as everyone knows, is the key to health. If necessary, use the services of grooming salons or veterinary clinics, which can help you with washing your dog.

Often former homeless and shelter dogs have problems with cleanliness. There is no need to be afraid of this. If a dog from birth until the moment it came into your home lived only on the street or in a shelter enclosure, it simply does not know what order should be. Under no circumstances should you punish her for her “misdeeds.” Dogs are incredibly intelligent and smart, so all you need is the ability to explain what you want and patience so that the dog can learn your lessons.

If your pet once lived in a family that raised it, you are in luck. At a minimum, your dog most likely knows how to answer your call and walk more or less tolerably on a leash.

In all other cases, you will have to take your dog to “first grade,” just as you would with a small puppy. The main thing is to be patient and remember that her jerking on the leash may not be a sign of stubbornness and unwillingness to obey, but a consequence, for example, of a negative experience from the dog’s past. Perhaps this was how a negligent owner punished her, or perhaps the catch workers treated her cruelly, dragging her on a loop from the car to the enclosure. And there can be a lot of such moments.

Observe your pet's reaction and never use force. Try to replace physical impact(tug, pull, palm pressure, patting) other irritants, for example food. Be affectionate, caring, but at the same time firm and persistent. Try to establish contact, win over the dog, but do not “baby” it. Of course, her sad past deserves some exceptions and special treatment, but this should not affect the quality of your relationship. The dog must understand that it can trust you, but at the same time, you remain the main thing in your couple - as the leader, as the unconditional authority.

If necessary, be sure to consult with professional training instructors. It is better to correct only the dog's problems than problems in his behavior, aggravated by your incorrect approach to solving them.

And finally, the most main advice. There are no problems that cannot be solved with the proper amount of patience and, most importantly, love for your pet.