How do I make a home comfortable for a nervous rescue dog?

Almost everything that goes wrong with a new rescue dog in the first month comes from doing too much too soon out of kindness — introducing it to everyone, taking it to the park, encouraging it out from under the table. A frightened dog needs the world to become smaller and more predictable before it can become bigger. There is a widely used rough pattern of three days to begin decompressing, three weeks to start settling into a routine, and three months to genuinely feel at home. It is not a rule and dogs vary enormously, but it usefully sets expectations against the disappointment of week two.

Safety

What you'll need

• A crate or covered den in a quiet room
• A well-fitted harness and a collar, with a double-ended lead
• Microchip updated to your details
• Baby gates (optional)
• A long line for the garden (optional)

Step by step

1. Secure everything against escape before the dog arrives.Check the garden boundary at dog height, fit a hall gate inside the front door, and update the microchip database to your name and address on day one. Use a harness and a collar together with a double-ended lead clipped to both, so one failure does not lose the dog. Most rescue escapes happen in the first fortnight.
2. Do far less than you want to for the first two weeks.No visitors, no meeting other dogs, no busy places, no children's friends coming round, no photographs in its face. The instinct is to show the dog affection and its new life; what it actually needs is a very small, very quiet, very predictable world while it decompresses.
3. Set up a den the dog is never disturbed in.A covered crate with the door fixed open, or a bed in a quiet corner behind a chair, in a room away from the front door. Absolute rule for everyone in the house, children especially: nobody touches, talks to or reaches for the dog when it is in there. A place that is genuinely safe is what makes a dog able to come out.
4. Let the dog approach you.Sit down, look away, do not reach out or lean over. Scatter food near you rather than offering it from your hand. A dog that chooses to come to you is making a decision it can repeat; a dog that is reached for learns that being near people means being handled.
5. Build a completely predictable routine immediately.Meals, walks, quiet time and bedtime at the same times every day, from the first day. Predictability is the fastest route to security for a dog that has had none, and it does more than any amount of reassurance.
6. Learn the signals and act on them.Lip licking, yawning, turning the head away, showing the whites of the eyes, a low tucked tail, freezing, and going still with a hard stare are all requests for space, in increasing order. Respond by giving space and stopping whatever caused it. A dog whose early signals work does not need to escalate to growling or snapping.
7. Never punish a growl.A growl is the dog telling you it is uncomfortable, and it is enormously valuable information. Punish it and the dog learns that growling brings trouble, so it skips straight from discomfort to a bite next time. Thank the dog by removing whatever caused it.
8. Leave the dog alone while it eats, and do not take things away.Do not hover over the bowl, do not put your hand in it, and do not take chews or found objects out of its mouth. If it has something dangerous, trade for something better. Resource guarding is far easier to prevent than to treat.
9. Start walking somewhere quiet, and short.Ten minutes on an empty street at a quiet time is better than a park. Some dogs are too frightened to walk at all for the first days — garden and house is fine, and a long line in a secure garden gives movement without risk. Do not push a dog past what it can cope with in order to complete a walk.
10. Get help early rather than late, through the vet.A vet check first, because pain makes dogs fearful and irritable and it is frequently missed in a new rescue. Then, if needed, a qualified accredited behaviourist — the rescue organisation will usually help arrange this and many provide ongoing support, which is worth asking about before you take the dog.

Tips

• Expect a change around week three. Many rescue dogs are quiet and compliant at first and then start showing their real personality — including behaviours you have not seen — once they relax. That is progress, not deterioration.
• Toileting accidents, night restlessness and refusing food in the first days are all normal and usually resolve. A dog that has not eaten at all for a couple of days should be seen by a vet.
• Do not bath the dog in the first fortnight unless you have to. It is a lot of handling of a dog that does not know you yet.

Common mistakes

• Introducing the dog to everyone in the first week — It is overwhelming, and every frightening encounter rehearses fear. Visitors can wait a fortnight and the dog will meet them far better for it.
• Comforting by hugging or holding — Most dogs find being held over the shoulders restrictive and threatening, and a frightened dog that cannot get away has no option but to escalate. Sit near, do not reach.
• Punishing a growl — It removes the warning without removing the discomfort. A dog that has learned not to growl is far more dangerous, not less.
• Letting the dog off lead too early — A new dog has no reason to come back and does not know its way home. Weeks of long-line work in secure spaces comes first.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask