toblerone
Well-known member
Hi...
I am looking for advice about adopting a puppy mill rescue from people who have actuallly adopted one. Feel free to send me a PM if you would rather not post on the board. Also, if any of you have any on-line references that you could point me to I would appreciate receiving them. I have found a few sites that gave helpful information but could always use more.
Here's my situation - have had cavaliers for almost 11 years. Currently have a 1+ year old ruby and a 9 1/2 year old blenheim. Had a rehomed dog (adopted at age eight) for almost 8 years. Had a Cavalier who went through a rapid decline because of MVD and died at age 10 this past February. Yesterday we had a home visit (it is just my husband and me at home now) from a 3 year old (best guess of his age) Amish puppy mill rescue. He has been living in a foster home for the past five months with 12 other dogs.
On the plus side he seemed to get along well with Sasha (younger dog) and Gadget and was even playing some with Sasha. He was interested in his surroundings and explored the yard and the house freely. He is crate trained. He was (but is not currently) sleeping in her bedroom in a dog bed and has even gotten up on the bed to sleep with his foster mother.
On the negative side, he has probably had little to no additional work done on his housetraining. He had a bellyband on but seemed to feel free to mark in lots of places in the house. This was not surprising to us since he is a puppy mill dog. His foster mother reported that he didn't mess in the house but she admitted that he did mark.
He also has had no training on being on a leash. If I understood correctly, he has maybe had a leash on him to try to walk only a few times, today being one of those days. He has to be contained to get a leash on him. His foster mother didn't try when leaving...she just picked him up and carried him.
We had been told that he had been extremely fearful of people when he arrived at the foster home. So much so that his foster mother thought he might be either blind or deaf or both. However, his eyes and hearing seemed to check out fine. He did approach us to sniff but he was clearly very fearful.
Here is what we would hope for in terms of training: that with work we would be able to have a housebroken dog; that with work we would be able to take him for a walk: that with work we could get him to recognize his name and respond to simple commands--sit, down, wait. Here's what we know that we would not likely get...a Cavalier who freely affectionate. We would accept that he would not trust us in the same way that Gadget and Sasha do, but that he would be comfortable with us.
So here are my questions:
Knowing what I have said about the dog do you think we would be successful in:
house training him at age 3
teaching him to walk on a leash
teaching him some basic commands
reducing his fear level to one where he was comfortable with us
And finally, a little bit more information - we both work; I work part-time and my husband works full-time but sometimes from home. Four days a week, the new dog would be at home with just Gadget and Sasha for five to six hours a day. For the first month or two I could change my schedule to be home more, but it would mean that I would work five days a week. The total time I would not be home would be the same...just spread out over five days, not four. When I said "with work" in what we hope for him, we would be willing to bring him in for training, either individually or in a group. We would be willing to continue the training at home but we would not be able to make his training the entire focus of our life for many, many months, or even years.
I would very much like to give this dog a home with us. But I am also very concerned about taking on a responsibility where I was unlikely to meet the goals we hope to met.
Would any of you offer any advice on this?
I am looking for advice about adopting a puppy mill rescue from people who have actuallly adopted one. Feel free to send me a PM if you would rather not post on the board. Also, if any of you have any on-line references that you could point me to I would appreciate receiving them. I have found a few sites that gave helpful information but could always use more.
Here's my situation - have had cavaliers for almost 11 years. Currently have a 1+ year old ruby and a 9 1/2 year old blenheim. Had a rehomed dog (adopted at age eight) for almost 8 years. Had a Cavalier who went through a rapid decline because of MVD and died at age 10 this past February. Yesterday we had a home visit (it is just my husband and me at home now) from a 3 year old (best guess of his age) Amish puppy mill rescue. He has been living in a foster home for the past five months with 12 other dogs.
On the plus side he seemed to get along well with Sasha (younger dog) and Gadget and was even playing some with Sasha. He was interested in his surroundings and explored the yard and the house freely. He is crate trained. He was (but is not currently) sleeping in her bedroom in a dog bed and has even gotten up on the bed to sleep with his foster mother.
On the negative side, he has probably had little to no additional work done on his housetraining. He had a bellyband on but seemed to feel free to mark in lots of places in the house. This was not surprising to us since he is a puppy mill dog. His foster mother reported that he didn't mess in the house but she admitted that he did mark.
He also has had no training on being on a leash. If I understood correctly, he has maybe had a leash on him to try to walk only a few times, today being one of those days. He has to be contained to get a leash on him. His foster mother didn't try when leaving...she just picked him up and carried him.
We had been told that he had been extremely fearful of people when he arrived at the foster home. So much so that his foster mother thought he might be either blind or deaf or both. However, his eyes and hearing seemed to check out fine. He did approach us to sniff but he was clearly very fearful.
Here is what we would hope for in terms of training: that with work we would be able to have a housebroken dog; that with work we would be able to take him for a walk: that with work we could get him to recognize his name and respond to simple commands--sit, down, wait. Here's what we know that we would not likely get...a Cavalier who freely affectionate. We would accept that he would not trust us in the same way that Gadget and Sasha do, but that he would be comfortable with us.
So here are my questions:
Knowing what I have said about the dog do you think we would be successful in:
house training him at age 3
teaching him to walk on a leash
teaching him some basic commands
reducing his fear level to one where he was comfortable with us
And finally, a little bit more information - we both work; I work part-time and my husband works full-time but sometimes from home. Four days a week, the new dog would be at home with just Gadget and Sasha for five to six hours a day. For the first month or two I could change my schedule to be home more, but it would mean that I would work five days a week. The total time I would not be home would be the same...just spread out over five days, not four. When I said "with work" in what we hope for him, we would be willing to bring him in for training, either individually or in a group. We would be willing to continue the training at home but we would not be able to make his training the entire focus of our life for many, many months, or even years.
I would very much like to give this dog a home with us. But I am also very concerned about taking on a responsibility where I was unlikely to meet the goals we hope to met.
Would any of you offer any advice on this?