Ups and Downs of Adopting a Shelter Dog - Read this before you adopt
First the main thing you need when thinking about adopting is patience with the new pup. They have a past and it might have been really hard on them. Hopefully my story helps.
I wasn't planning on getting a new dog we have a old girl Abby (she will be 15 this year!)
I have always wanted another one but my husband was like "NO" I felt like our old lab mix would be able to teach a new dog where and what to do. My Aunt asked me to go with her to the shelter to look at cats and there the cutest pup which looked a lot like my Abby staring back at me. She has Heterochromia which is 2 different colored eyes. The pup was 1 years old. Basically fast forward, I begged my husband to just see her and he begrudgingly agreed. And because I have the best husband in the world:::::
Here Enters Margarita !
The shelter was very upfront and told me about her past. When they found her she was in a crate and covered in poop -- she was mistreated and shoved in there most of her life. She was jumpy and taught no manners.
I thought love and caring would solve it all and I was wrong.
We went home and I took her outside on a leash to show her it and to see if she needed to go potty. She did go potty (ya) and had a strange eating of plants like obsessive.
When went to walk back in the house she jumped at me (in total excitement) and kept doing it over and over. Mouth open and catching on my arms. They call this mouthing in pups but it adult dogs it's a major problem with adult teeth and she was 60 lbs. This is very important puppy training and is 100% needed.
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I almost gave up crying in tears and marks and bruises on my arms.
She would jump happily, but at me with mouth open. It was hard to take or know how to stop it. She was just so happy to be outside doing things. I felt defeated I had no idea how to teach her the right way to make her stop. I called the shelter and asked for a recommendation to find a local dog trainer. I got in contact with the dog trainer and told her how much I liked the dog but this was draining me. She is very affectionate and took only a few days to potty train. But it was the beginning so I had to watch her all the time making it hard to get a break and the pressure was building. ... and then there was Abby a whole other issue I didn't fully think about. Plus add in that I already knew I didn't want to crate her to bring up past issues. So I bought a dog bed and made the newly remolded bathroom her place. She did well, but a lot of scraping up the door and she did eat my glasses! I did a big sweep not to put anything down , around where she could get at it and it helped a lot.That was my fault I left it in her area where she could easily get it. The trainer, Gail Parks, helped me so so much. Taught me a few tricks and explained dog behavior too. BIG help! -
->If you want to get in contact with her: Gail Parks is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer with over thirty years of working with animals. If you would like to contact Gail for help with your dog, you may contact her at Tewfparks@seneca24.net. Gail charges $15.00 per a three question email, payable via Venmo prior to email response.
The ONLY thing that worked was all the fun stopped. I turned my back when she started acting up. No looking , no fun, nothing. It took about 2 weeks for real improvement. A month to learn not to do it. But it did happen and it worked so good.
Abby has tolerated her, but doesn't like to be jumped at or want to play. There was a lot of barking , but no fighting Margarita didn't bark back. I would give Abby "her time and her and me time" Time has helped with this too.
She's amazing now! 5 months in. Really looking back now it was about time, patience and repetitive learning.
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