2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

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Rosie Sal
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 2:37 am

2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by Rosie Sal »

Hello there, I've always had dogs (Springers mostly) and my last springer died, at age 16, in June of this year. He was 24 hr care in the last year of his life, and pryor to that had SA (he was also a rescue, as all of my dogs have been), so I was severely restricted in what I could do personally. Now that I've retired, and I'm single, I started travelling quite a bit and intend to do so in the future. Having visited Romania and seeing the plight of the dogs there, I decided that as I wasn't travelling until April 2017, that I would foster a couple of Rommies and try to help get them used to settling in a house, before they go on to be adopted.

I've had them for one week so far and they were clearly traumatised by the time I collected them.

The little one (female bat cross muntjac!) isn't any trouble. She's around about a year old, was extremely fearful, but is now coming up to me, stays on her own, has now been housetrained, and keeps the other one in check. And they are now frequently playing together very well.

The other one, a male, vet suspects collie/lurcher cross, is 5 years old. 4 years as a street dog and the last year in a private shelter in Romania. He's gorgeous, friendly, smart as anything, a thief, a barker and adorable. Very wary of men, sticks, bangs etc etc. Very noise sensitive in the house. I realise he hates being confined and now gets stressed if separated from me.

I KNOW it is very early days, but I want to see if I am doing everything that I can to settle him in and help him to move on.

The first few days it was heaven and I could sleep upstairs and there wasn't any barking if I left him. I realise now that he was traumatised and exhausted. His anxious state has emerged now.

So here's what I'm doing and have done.

Initially they both slept in the kitchen with the door closed. The third night he started barking and did so for an hour but then settled for the rest of the night. He then got more and more anxious if I left the room and I noticed that if he had the freedom of the house (downstairs only) that he was much more relaxed.

Luckily I've got a bedroom downstairs, so I moved down there, and he sleeps in his bed in my room. The little one is quite happy sleeping in the kitchen. And I leave all the internal doors open, downstairs.

I walk him on a lead (extendable now) for an hour after breakfast, and he's very sensitive to pulling on the lead, and is great to walk. Wary of people and dogs approaching but very well behaved. He's a very passive dog.

I've been doing some basic training and he already knows sit & down. He's eager to learn and loves praise and loves treats even more. I've found it difficult to carry that's on me as he just won't leave me alone and jumps up and barks. He's barking when I prepare my own food and I can't shut him out of the room because he barks. He barks at noises in the house and my lodger if he hears him creaking around upstairs (floorboards, not knees!). He barks at my neighbours cars and if he hears them talking. I live in a rural and very quiet area and he hears everything!

I've read through lots of the advise on SA on the forum, but just wondered if there was anything I could do in particular, at this early stage of him settling in.

Oh and I've started to crate train him. The crate is in the kitchen and he's relaxing in there and I shut the door when he's got food or a Kong in there. I'm wary of closing the door any more than that as I don't want to stress him.

I was supposed to be going over the road for Christmas lunch with friends but that seems out of the window now! And they have 2 dogs, so I couldn't take them with me.

All and any advice gratefully received.

Many thanks

Sally
Rosie Sal
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 2:37 am

Re: 2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by Rosie Sal »

Oh and I should add that I do walk iphim in the afternoon for half an hour too.

And if I go upstairs and sing, he doesn't bark!
MayLou
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 8:06 am

Re: 2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by MayLou »

I have no useful advice, but I'm posting because we also have a Romanian rescue and have similar problems! The barking, oh my goodness the barking. We've had our dog for three months now and he is more confident that we will always come back, but he still barks and cries if we're out of sight.
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: 2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by Erica »

I would try a couple things - try playing white noise or rain sounds at a decent level. This might help mute some of the quieter sounds, so he's not constantly hearing something strange happening.

If you do hear a sound and/or he starts barking, say a certain phrase (I tend to use something like "thank you!" to remind myself to keep it to a happy voice!), then offer him some treats. This does depend on keeping treats around the house - it sounds like he isn't picky, so some kibble in a tupperware up on a shelf would do nicely, since I think he'd probably pester you constantly if you kept them in your pocket ;) He is likely barking because he is startled by or scared of the noises, so you want to use Pavlov's laws to make him think that scary noise = treats! The noises will become less scary, and he should stop barking.

I would also suggest something like It's Yer Choice so he learns that holding himself back from food earns him a treat! If you find that the way demonstrated in the video is too difficult for him (as his whole life experience has taught him "grab food whenever you see it, immediately), I would do the same basic thing with a few modifications...Start with a closed fist of low-value treats like kibble or sliced carrots or plain no-honey-coating cheerios - whatever he's interested in but isn't enough to make him do backflips, if such a food exists! When he stops mugging your hand, even for a split second, mark with a click or marker word (and ask if you need an explanation of those), then quickly grab a treat from your fist with your other hand and give it to him. Straight It's Yer Choice works well for puppies, who learn quickly, and adult pet dogs, who usually have been asked to demonstrate self-control in some way or another, but for a street dog I might start with that easier version and work my way up from there.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JudyN
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: 2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by JudyN »

Erica wrote:... or rain sounds at a decent level.
Just a slight caveat - a Rommie I know is terrified of rain because (the owner believes) in the rescue she was in in Romania she had no shelter from the weather at all. So by all means try this, but be on the lookout for any negative reaction.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
emmabeth
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Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
Location: West Midlands
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Re: 2 Romanian rescues. - settling in & barking

Post by emmabeth »

To add to the advice you've already had - I would strongly recommend you buy Malena De Martini's book Fixing the Unfixable on sep. anxiety - it IS really aimed at trainers/behaviourists but she is without overegging the cake, the BEST person ive met, on separation anxiety and her way of setting out the steps and identifiying progress is excellent.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
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