Puppy!

[_Lisa_]

1. Find out if this dog has been socialized with cats in the past. If he has done well before it is a good indication he will do well now. Has your cat been socialized with dogs in the past? It might be a great idea to let them meet a few times (supervised) but do not leave them alone together.

2. Is the dog crate trained? If so you will need to return home every 4 hours or so during the work day to make sure he goes outside to use the bathroom. Is he potty trained? If he is going to remain free in your house while gone you may be able to train him to use pee pads (which I wouldn't suggest as he'll just learn that peeing in your house is OK.)

3. He is most likely slow witted because he is a puppy-in a way, he is similar to a child-in that he only learns what he is taught. Its great news for you if you want to train him to heel, sit, down, or hell-just offer his paw to shake. There are few important things when it comes to training a dog-always set them up for success, don't repeat yourself (give one command for each action, make the dog follow through), have a lot of patience, and repeat repeat repeat.

4. Make sure he is up-to-date on his flea/tick meds, the summer season is ripe with fleas/ticks that can spread to your cat if the dog brings them in. On this same note, don't leave him outside for prolonged periods of time-and if you do be sure he has a shady place to lay (all day, even as the sun rises/sets), and an endless supply of fresh water.

Be wary that his first few days in his new home may be unsettling for him & his routine, but he will adjust in time as long you keep him on a routine. He may not eat as much at first, or need to use the bathroom as often. Just keep a close eye on him & don't let him have too much free reign of the house until his routine is settled.

Let me know if you have any other questions that I may be able to answer, I've got two dogs myself (one from a rescue & another from the humane society) and they're such great dogs (as pound dogs are often are!)

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by _Lisa_

1. Find out if this dog has been socialized with cats in the past. If he has done well before it is a good indication he will do well now. Has your cat been socialized with dogs in the past? It might be a great idea to let them meet a few times (supervised) but do not leave them alone together.

Right now, he's with my parents' cats and they get along okay - he hasn't hurt them or anything like that. My cat has always been a one-pet show.

Originally Posted by _Lisa_

2. Is the dog crate trained? If so you will need to return home every 4 hours or so during the work day to make sure he goes outside to use the bathroom. Is he potty trained? If he is going to remain free in your house while gone you may be able to train him to use pee pads (which I wouldn't suggest as he'll just learn that peeing in your house is OK.)

No, the shelter didn't train him in any way. My impression is that they just left him locked up most of the time and if he peed in there, oh well Right now, my parents (who also don't know much about dogs) take him out a lot and also leave him in their garage if they're gone for a long period so it doesn't matter if he pees or poops on the floor ... My sister got a crate for him before she left, but I don't think anyone's used it. I'm going to try to find a book about this and hopefully we can pull it off. Is there any way to teach a dog to let you know when it needs to go outside (like cats do)?


I am very familiar with cats (raised with them), but dogs are very mysterious to me, lol. I'm excited, but I just don't want to mess up the poor thing who has already had such a rough time! Thank you all for your help

By the way, this is Sam (my sister named him after the Lord of the Rings) at my parents:

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

Has anyone ever seen "Summer of Sam?" lol he looks just like the dog that David Berkowitz claimed he was taking orders from.

Btw: great looking dog.