The first week of having your new dog in your home is the beginning of an exciting journey with this wonderful being as your new family member. You're pretty much guaranteed to be overjoyed and bursting to bring your pup everywhere with you, but there's plenty of time for that later.

Your dog needs this first week as a time to destress and decompress.

The transition for any dog into a new home comes with a degree of stress, often more so for a rescue dog. Rescue dogs come from a variety of backgrounds, circumstances, and experiences - some easy and some not so.

The way your dog handles the initial first-week adjustment period in your home depends on his or her individual temperament, personality, age, breed type, and experiences.

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How your particular dog might react during the first week vs other dogs can run the gamut:

• Some dogs are naturally happy-go-lucky and quickly adapt to everything.
• Some dogs are so overstimulated by their new surroundings or stressed by the abrupt change in their environment that they become mouthy and jumpy.
• Some dogs may be so traumatized by their previous experiences that they go into learned helplessness or intense fear and try to hide.
• Some dogs can be flight risks due to fear, anxiety, or stress, and become opportunistic escape artists.
• Some dogs just find their dog bed and sleep.

When adopting a dog, how your dog reacts upon arrival in your home will dictate your next steps. Whatever your dog's reaction is, remember to savor this time - the joy of giving a rescue dog a new life with you is rewarding beyond words.

Don’t despair when it gets a little challenging or if your dog turns out to be more fearful than expected. Dogly is here for you!

The biggest thing to remember when you bring a rescue dog home and your dog transitions into your family life: give everything time and don’t rush anything.

It’s very common for people to put unrealistic expectations on the dog they’ve just brought home and not see their dog’s first week through their dog's eyes. So let’s look at how your highly-feeling dog feels and talk about some things you can do to help smooth the adjustment period from the animal shelter to your home.

(The tips below are more for an adult dog but can also be used for a puppy or adolescent dog. One thing to remember with puppies, the focus should be more toward positive exposures and introductions for socialization.)

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First steps with your new rescue dog during the first week

Ideally, the shelter or local rescue group where you’ve adopted your dog has given you insights into your newly adopted dog’s behaviors, guidelines, and of course, your dog's medical history and medical records.

It's good to remember many dogs show different behaviors in your home than they've shown at the shelter or at the foster family house due to the stress of changes in their environment. So be patient, understanding and be prepared to adjust your expectations and goals when adopting a dog.

Here's a checklist of things to do/not to do during this first week with your new rescue dog:

Do...

• Take it slow
• Let your dog sleep
• Make slow introductions around the house and garden
• Watch your dog’s body language and behavior to learn how your dog communicates and to help build trust
• Keep a consistent routine
• Use reward stations around your home to capture, reinforce, and strengthen good behaviors like "wait," "four paws on the ground," or responding by name
• If you do go for walks, make sure they’re sniffaris, slow sniffy walks, to let your dog process all the smells in this exciting new environment
• Enrichment, enrichment, enrichment!

Don’t...

• Introduce your dog to loads of people
• Force interactions with other pets in your household or other dogs on walks
• Take your dog to the dog park
• Take your dog for a long hike
• Start dog training immediately

Why what you do/don't do this first week with your new rescue dog matters 

Although most dogs amazingly accept changes with a breeze, we need to understand how your dog feels to help your pup with the stress of the transition process. Respect and honor your dog's boundaries, give him/her plenty of space to adjust and make sure to reward good behavior. Be patient, understanding and consistent in all you do.

Imagine being transported from your regular routine and home to a strange place with different smells, sounds and routines. EVERYTHING is different. It’s like moving to another country and into someone’s house and being expected to quickly adapt.

This is why we need to have realistic expectations of what our dogs should do in the first week when in their new home environment. Consider where your dog has come from and what he/she is feeling.

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Why everyday house stuff might spook your dog (& what to do about it)

Some dogs may have never lived in a house before and only lived their lives in the shelter, on the streets, in puppy mills, or in kennels (like ex-racing greyhounds, for example). This means everything in your home is a new experience and can potentially scare your dog.

Everyday items that you might not think about like the vacuum, washing machine, television, the stove, coffee grinder, certain furniture, stairs, and even shadows can all spook your dog - at least initially.

Try this

When using these routine items, be mindful and give your dog...

• a stuffed chew toy (a super easy, stuffable one so you don’t create frustration as some dogs have never had a "food-stuffed" toy before)
• a lick pad (prepped with peanut butter or other spreadable dog treat) so your dog can lick as a soothing mechanism to relax
• a scatter feed so you can create positive associations to all these different household noises.

Or if it’s loud noises like the vacuum, make sure your dog is in your specially created dog space and away from the scary noise so you don’t create one-time negative exposure that can lead to lifelong fears. Then your dog can get used to the vacuum at some later date when your pup is an old hand at everything and full of confidence.

Reacting to this strange new world, your dog’s body may be in stress mode initially. Rescue dogs might have gone through other previous life transitions such as possible re-homings from a previous owner, time spent in shelters, and or a foster home. If your dog has had potentially traumatic experiences, it makes sense that he or she might be uncertain as to what this new experience will bring.

And that's why you're here - to give your dog constant support to feel secure!

Your new motto: take it slow, don't rush, be patient

Here are 8 ways to help connect with your dog and do everything in sync with your dog's pace:

1. Always speak calmly to your dog and keep your movements slow as sudden movements may be startling.
2. For getting your dog potty-trained, if you have a fenced yard, great; otherwise, first use a long leash and a harness in your garden in case your dog is a flight risk. Mark and reward immediately when your dog uses the toilet outside (with high-value dog treats). If any accidents happen in the house, clean it up with an enzymatic spray (I like this natural cleaner here on Dogly that gets the smells out to discourage repeat episodes ). Never punish which only increases fear and accidents in the house!
3. Safety straps, which attach from the harness to the collar, are additional insurance to keep dogs safe especially if they’re a flight risk. (Just in case a clip breaks or your dog somehow figures out how to wriggle out of the harness.)
4. Don’t make immediate introductions to other dogs in the house and at first keep them separated. Take time to do parallel walks (see the how-to here in this series), and swap clothes with their scents such as giving your new dog a blanket for the day and letting your cat smell that blanket to make intros more positive.
5. Designate one specific room for your dog as a quiet rest space using baby gates or pens to help your pup sleep or rest peacefully.
6. Go for slow quiet walks around your garden.
7. If your dog can easily do a few walks in the garden, go for slow sniffari walks.
8. This isn't the time to begin getting your dog trained. Wait for at least 2 weeks to help your dog settle before you start training; give your pup a chance to adjust as behaviors will change when they do.

With all the life changes your dog has experienced, don’t rush anything. Be patient. Keep your daily routines consistent so your dog knows the exact time meals and walks will be, especially helpful for dogs who are overwhelmed or uncertain in their new environment.

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Decompress for Success

In the first week after adopting a dog, your focus should be on helping your pup decompress through this adjustment period.

Your dog has now entered a new and large life change. Dogs need time to decompress and process so they can adapt.

Why is decompression so important?

Decompression allows for stress reduction and decreases potential for trigger stacking which is the accumulation of stress over time.

Take your dog for sniffy walks using scatter feeds (tossing of high-value treats) in your garden/yard to help create positive associations or sprinkles (a toss of wet food into the grass) to really let your dog use his/her nose.

If your dog doesn’t show signs of stress, fear, or anxiety in your garden, take your pup for slow sniffy decompression walks and let the sniffing begin and last for as long as your dog wants. Sniffing helps dogs gather information about the neighborhood and world around them through their number one sensory tool: their noses.

Sniffing lowers your dog’s heart rate, tells your dog the health and species of animals in the area, and is mentally and physically stimulating and relaxing at the same time. And it makes your dog happy!

Decompression for success means to not have all of your family or friends over to visit your new dog. That can wait.

If you need to have people over during this time...

Try this

Use your pen or a baby gate (see above!) to have your dog in a designated, quiet, dog rest area with a stuffed enrichment toy or a licking mat. Your dog will have distance from the hubbub, and chewing and licking help dogs relax.

If you have children at home, this is a great learning opportunity for them to be involved in responsible dog ownership such as creating enrichment and DIY toys for your dog or joining you for sniffy walks.

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Why sleep matters for your dog

One of the most important things to do in the first week is to let your dog sleep. Rest or sleep allows stress hormones to return to a healthy level and for your dog's body and mind to heal. Adult dogs need on average 14 to 18 hours a day of sleep and puppies need around 18 to 20 hours.

Shelter dogs who are newly brought home are often overstimulated with all the new introductions so having a specific rest spot for your dog in the house will help your dog decompress, destress, and sleep.

Make sure all family members in your house know to not bother your dog while sleeping, especially children. Let sleeping dogs lie!

 Try this

• Provide your dog with a comfortable sleeping spot near you. Dogs are social sleepers and get a sense of security sleeping near their family. Sleeping with you on your bed is also fine (contrary to myth)! I personally wouldn’t crate dogs at night as this isolation won’t provide them with a restful sleep but instead will increase their anxiety and keep them on alert. I’ve seen it create behavioral issues especially in rescue dogs who go from a kennel to a crate, making them feel trapped and emotionally back in the stress of the kennel, which is what you don’t want to do.

• If you want your dog to not sleep on your bed or a bed near you, then set up a specific area to sleep in. Give your dog massages at night to create calm and put on relaxing music (such as RelaxMyDog with 15+ hours of it free online) or white noise, creating a super chill dog sleep spot. You can also use this music throughout the day or when you leave to block sounds that might be scary to your dog.

As your dog decompresses in the first week home, individual characteristics will start to show themselves and you’ll see a whole new dog. To ensure long-term success, remember that consistency is key. And with time and patience, you will be able to build a healthy relationship with your rescue dog.

Next up in the New Pet Channel on Dogly

Now that you know how to have a successful first week with your new dog, continue on to the next guide to learn potential behavioral issues that may show up as your dog begins to settle into your home life and how to set up your pup for success. You can jump into it here.

If you have any questions about acclimating your new dog as a happy member of your family, just ask in the community discussion in the New Pet Channel.

Or if you ever need more personalized dog training guidance, please reach out!