Rescue Shit
Go behind the scenes with Pate and jme from Motley Zoo Animal Rescue. Learn about rescue, pet ownership, dog training, volunteering, fostering, and more- plus, hear the untold stories of the animals as told by this dynamic duo who have been partners for almost 16 years.
Despite the name, this is not an explicit podcast though the content is geared toward adults to learn in-depth about their pets and the world of animal welfare.
Rescue Shit
Rule of 3 (abbreviated)
Learn about the adjustment period for dogs when you transition them into a new home!
Original music by Matt Setter and friend Sean!
Original content by Matt Setter and friend, Sean!
Hi, I'm Jamie
Pate:and I'm Pate. This is Motley Zoo Animal Rescue with our podcast
jme:Rescue Shit. Woo!
Pate:We still need that squeaker.
jme:Okay. Today we are going to talk about the rule of three and if you haven't heard Pate, why don't you tell everybody a little bit about what that is?
Pate:So basically it's, you know, when you adopt a dog or even when you get a dog, but everyone kind of associates it with adoption, right? And it's the three, three, three rule, three days, three weeks, three months. And basically, it's about acclimation and what you can expect during certain, generalized time frames of any dog that you bring in your home, whether it's from a rescue, whether it's from a shelter, whether it's, you know, from, A breeder.
jme:Heaven forbid a breeder. If you're listening to this podcast, we hope you're not buying dogs.
Pate:A backyard breeder, please don't.
jme:No, you know. Yeah. That's really what I mean by backyard breeders.
Pate:Yeah, yeah.
jme:Puppy mills and stuff.
Pate:Right. Or, you know, purchasing a dog at the pet store, which,
jme:no, that's just as bad.
Pate:Those should, oh, you know what, we need to talk about that. Yeah. Bailing out Benji, right?
jme:Yeah.
Pate:So, anyway.
jme:That'll be next time.
Pate:Yeah, but no, just don't. So it's the rule of three, three, three, three days, three weeks, three months.
jme:So in the first three days, that's when they're typically getting used to their environment, right? They're, they're in a new place and they're kind of shell shocked. And it's, I guess, maybe it's kind of like going on vacation and it takes you a few days till you know your way around the hotel or around, you know, how to get to the beach. And, I mean, for us, obviously, it's a little bit more directional, I suppose. For a dog, you know, they're kind of just trying to figure out where things are, who are these people, you know, what's going on. So, what are some things that you should not do in those three days?
Pate:Well, the first three days, you, you want to get them, To know you and they don't know you and a lot of people just get so excited about having a dog We're gonna go on adventures right away. I'm gonna go hiking. I'm gonna go to the pet store Meanwhile, this dog is like who who are you? What's what's your name?
jme:Why am I following you? I don't know
Pate:exactly and and you know What sometimes it's fine. You've got a very Friendly outgoing dog who is just like I'm gonna go with the flow And we're great, but that's not the general rule. The general rule is like, if we, like Jamie brought up vacation, right? If we got just dumped in the middle of China, true story. And, and you don't speak Chinese and there's no English anywhere around and they don't speak English, you are overwhelmed. You don't even know. I mean, you know, here's doors, but which door goes to the bathroom, you know, like you don't want to walk in into the wrong room or anything like that.
jme:Are you going to actually find a toilet or a hole in the ground? That's what I found. What's behind this door.
Pate:It's a hole in the ground. But, and then that's the thing with dogs, right? Because everyone asks, like, are they housebroken? I'm like, well, to that house they are. But a door is a door is a door like how we know oh this door might go to a bedroom. It might go into a bathroom, but then we Instinctually, you know as people because these are houses that we built we know where the back that where the like the door would be To the backyard, which is where a dog's bathroom is a dog is just gonna see a door They're not gonna know. Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'm gonna go to that door specifically so just little things that you may not even think of that is going to be totally new and overwhelming for the dog, which can cause stress because a lot of dogs do not want to go to the bathroom where they live. They want to go outside and not make a mess. So that can be like a form of stress. So your first three days, you want to alleviate that stress by creating a very tight schedule. When do we get up? When do we go to the bathroom? When do we eat? Those kind of things. Well, okay, my question was what not to do, but Oh, was that? Did I totally digress?
jme:Yeah, I see you did.
Pate:This is what happens.
jme:But that's okay, because, yeah, it, so a lot of people, when they want to adopt a dog, they want to do it on a Friday so that they have the whole weekend to be with their dog. Or take vacation. They want to take a whole week off this. Really that concept. I, we know that they're trying to do a good thing, but the dog, most dogs are completely overwhelmed and do not want you in their face for the next 72 hours. And if you establish a routine where you are home all the time for those 72 hours. Or that whole week, and then you're going to leave for work, you are creating a pattern for them that you are then going to break.
Pate:And then restart.
jme:You're going to have to restart. And you're going to have to restart it. So, honestly, for us, we're just like, you know, that isn't really how it works for dogs. So, you know, you get the dog on a Tuesday evening, and you go home, and you, you know, let them be in their crate, you give them some food. You know, if they're, if they're willing, then, you know, take them out and, and pet them and let them sit on your lap for a little while and then put them back to bed and then go about your business and then start the next day with the routine. And that way they understand from the beginning, you're going to get up and you're going to go to work. And more days out of the week, you know, five days out of the week, it's going to be, you're getting up at seven on the weekends. You're going to get up at nine. That's fine. You know, they, they can start to understand that, but when they've come to depend on you being there 24 seven, it is very hard for them to, to break that habit. So we really suggest when you get home, letting them be more than you're playing with them or being in their face. And that's true for the first time. Yeah, well, I mean, and you establish your routine because even if you do get a dog on the weekend, you want to get them up like you would on a work day because you want to establish that routine. This is the routine that we're going to have moving forward, but yeah, people don't want to do that because they want to sleep in.
Pate:So you better get up
jme:what's beneficial for you and what's beneficial for the dog. And Pate's right. It would make sense that you should get up at seven o'clock on Sunday. After you've got your dog on Saturday and try and get them used to the routine already,
Pate:right? And then another thing is that we do a lot of crate training with our dogs Because that is the one thing that is going to be kind of like a stable or a norm for them they're used to being in a foster home in a crate and and then they may See a crate in their new home and they already know they they're already trained to the crate. So they're like, oh, this is my room, you know They don't where I eat. This is yeah,
jme:they they don't have to look at the doors and be like, which one's mine Hey, right, they look at the crate and they're like, oh I go in here and it makes them feel safe It makes them feel happy. So again being transported to some some if you just got dropped off at someone's family house in a country you didn't You know, speak the language and you're just sitting there and the whole family is running around and, you know, talking and doing all those things that you don't know where you fit in. A crate helps a dog know where they fit in.
Pate:Right. And also it helps establish that number one question. Is this dog housebroken? You don't want a, you don't want to give a dog too much freedom at the beginning because you don't want to take stuff away from them. So what you want to do when I say it's like bootcamp, I mean, you are very strict at the beginning. You're very not militant, but you know, like we wake up this time, we eat at this time, we go to the bathroom at this time and you keep the dog with you. You don't let the dog run around the house. Make Mary because they don't know They're gonna wreak havoc. Yo, they don't know where that backdoor bathroom is
jme:Well, and you don't want to like start them on a thing, you know pattern where if they're scared And they, they don't know what's going on and they are fearful that they start peeing in the house because they're scared. So this is, this tends to avoid that because most dogs won't pee in their crate unless they're a puppy and they're just learning. That's a different story. But most adult dogs don't want to pee where they are. So why get started giving them so much freedom when you're. Like chances are that's not what they want or need and you're just gonna have to take it back and start over again So just start with the rules don't ease into anything. There is no easing into it They're very black and white start with the rules enforce the rules and they will learn them,
Pate:right? And then once you once you start trusting them, you know that they're not going to you know, eat your walls Pee and we gotten there yet? We're only three days. No, no, no. Right. But we're still talking about the three days. Is that you want to be so strict that you don't give them, like, this freedom. Because if you give them freedom, then they may sneak off and have an accident in the house. And then you have created a bad habit for them. Unknowingly. Right? So, yeah. So, that's why, you know, your first three days, you're going to be very strict with them. And then your, this strictness continues for the next three weeks, because the three weeks is when you estab, when the dogs in their head establish and know that schedule.
jme:Can we call it structure instead? I think people will, um,
Pate:Boundaries.
jme:Structure and boundaries. Very structured. Yeah.
Pate:What did I say?
jme:Strictness.
Pate:Oh, well, yeah. Because I was thinking about, you know, I was thinking military, because you know how the military, you get up at this time and you, you know.
jme:Yeah, which, I mean, I understand it, like, we want you to be strict with your structure, but what we're talking about is.
Pate:You can have some leniency.
jme:Is. Yeah. They can't free flow like we can, so you need to construct how their day is going to look and, and they, all they want is to know what's going to happen next. It's just like kids. It's,
Pate:I mean, they are kids. They say that their intellect is like, what, a two to three year old.
jme:Yeah.
Pate:Unless it's a border collie, like an actual working line.
jme:Yeah. So they just want to know what, what's expected of them. And, and when you are very black and white about that. And very consistent about that and you create that structure from the beginning, then you will be better off and your dog will be better off. So, so then we're at, three weeks. So three weeks they're starting to understand like what the routine is, how things are going. They might be trying different, strategies, I guess, to see where they can, what they can get away with, what they can't. This is why it's important to have that structure. So, why don't you tell them, what the three week mark is about?
Pate:Well, the three week mark is for them to feel a little bit more settled because of the structure, right? They know what to expect. They're not, they, if they had anxiety at the beginning, they, you should start seeing the anxiety lessen as they know what to expect from you. They've kind of accepted you as, you know, Hey, I'm a part of this pack. I know you, there's like some trust involved, you know,
jme:they belong.
Pate:The bonding has started. It's not a hundred percent there. So don't think that you're going to go and, you know, have a hundred percent recall in the backyard. Have, you know, like. Oh, let's go to dog parks and yeah, just don't,'cause the recall's not there. The bond's not there at three weeks.
jme:So actually, when I asked what not to do at three days, don't go to the dog dog park. Go to the dog park, don't take them to shopping. Don't do all these things that are really fun for people to do, but it's just too overwhelming for most dogs. And this is true. Again, no matter what kind of dog you get, no matter where you get them it, this is the. The general rule and the way to help them adjust in a healthy and confident way.
Pate:Right. Yeah. Like I said, I mean, you may have that unicorn dog who is Mr. Adventure seeker, easy flow. Well, you know, I love everybody. Everyone loves me, but that's not the majority.
jme:They're still going through the same process. They're just doing it with a little more grace. Yeah, they're just, they have a more flexible personality,
Pate:right?
jme:So they're still going through this process. They just care less about it because they're not, you know, maybe not as anxious as another dog, but they are still doing this process. And that's the thing that you can't, you know, you can't forget is that the process is the same for all the dogs,
Pate:right?
jme:It's just how extreme is this. Anxiety or, you know, transition going to be for, for the dog that you just brought home.
Pate:Right. Yeah. Three days is just to get acclimated to the space and the people. Three weeks is to get acclimated to the schedule and when you'll start seeing some behaviors as they get a little bit more comfortable, like jme was saying, they might try to push some boundaries. You know, um, but
jme:I call it letting their hair down. It's like, you know, they were on their best behavior and then it's right around three weeks that you'll start to see they're like, Oh, well, I guess I'm going to really, you know, be myself now because I'm comfortable and that's when you'll start, you possibly will start seeing things like resource guarding or. Reactivity or something, because they were not comfortable before that. And now they're like, this is my place, like, I can do this. And they are going to try, just like a child, to see what they can get away with. And it's not, it's not unnatural. People do the same thing. You do what gets results. So if they, misbehave and you don't have, structure. They got away with it and they're going to keep getting away with it. So, you know, that's why it's really important to keep this structure up. And it's not like you have to take all this time to do it. It's just the order in which you do things and remembering, you know, ask them to sit before eating or, you know, just little things like that where you are helping them exercise some control. So that they aren't running around, you know, being insane little hooligans, you know, kind of like my daughter when she was trying to learn the ways of the grocery store and you sometimes get a treat and sometimes you don't and when she would want to treat and she wouldn't be allowed to have a treat at that time and she threw herself on the ground, throw a little temper tantrum You know, um, dogs will do that too. Yeah, and you have to leave the grocery store. If you don't know, you need to leave the grocery store. All your, all your groceries, you just go. And they realize, oh crap, that won't work. If you keep, if you buy them a treat to shut them up, they will continue to do it.
Pate:Yep, exactly.
jme:And so, yeah. The right answer is no, yeah, just don't let them do this.
Pate:Yeah, or yeah, or you walk away while they throw a temper tantrum and then they come back like, I didn't mean it.
jme:Yeah, my mom did that to me. She did it to me once and I was whining about something and she just walked right out of the store and I was like, oh shit, like, and, and I quickly ran out and she just, she was like, She wouldn't even say anything to me. And I was like, okay, lesson learned. I will never do that again.
Pate:Right. And then, and then that's what happens sometimes with dogs. That you have this little angel, and then at three weeks, you're like, hmm, do I see a little sass? Is there a little bit of a devil in you? Because they may, like jme said, they may start resource guarding. Like, this is my bed. Or this is my toy. They're going to see what they can get away with because they're not yet established in your home, right?
jme:It's like, it, it is exactly kind of testing the boundaries of their limitations. So
Pate:And testing you,
jme:yeah. And if you correct them and, you know, give them a consequence, like, you know, if they're barking and you pick them up, then. They'll bark again. And if you pick them up, they'll bark again. And, and all of a sudden now the third time, for sure, you have a pattern. So, that, that's another rule of three is that it takes dogs about three times of doing the same thing before it becomes, something they've learned.
Pate:Three is a magic number.
jme:A pattern. It really is.
Pate:And then, and then after our three weeks are established, then you've got three months, right?
jme:Oh, am I taking on three months? So by the time it's three months, they, they do feel like this is their home. They think that's pretty much where they're going to be. This doesn't mean, you know, like if they're three months in a foster home, that they can't go to a new home or that they can't adjust. That's not what that means, but they've accepted. This is their fate, I guess. And you know, they're probably pretty happy about it, but they've accepted this as their home and they feel like they belong. More permanently, and this is where by this time you really want to have established those rules and structures and, and at this time, this is when they really will be more bonded to you. But this also still doesn't mean you can just let them off leash. So yeah, don't think that.
Pate:No, because then at three months we've, they have established in their head, I'm home. And that can be a good thing or that can be a bad thing, you know, and hopefully during this time after the three weeks where they've adjusted to your house, you've started going to training classes because at three months when this is their home, we talked about resource guarding their bed. Sometimes they can resource guard. quote unquote protect their people now because this is their home. This is their people, you know? So it's not just, this is my bed. This is my people. This is my house. And so you'll start seeing that they have totally let their hair down. And, your sweet angel baby may. Now
jme:yeah, that's that's the last of the layers that you really peel back and that's pretty much who they're who they are And and how they're gonna behave and and so you're gonna hope that you've you know established a good pattern Obviously with puppies, they are still developing, so there's another layer of complexity to that that is, you know, how they're going to develop, they're going to develop and have fear stages, and they're going to start being afraid of things that they weren't afraid of before, and this always throws people for a loop, but it's, it doesn't have to do with this 3 3 3 adjustment period that we're talking about.
Pate:Yeah, and, and then not every dog is going to decide that. You know, these are my people. I'm going to protect my people because if you are, you know, the leader of the pack, so to speak, they're happy with you being their leader. They want you to be their leader. They want someone to protect them. And
jme:that's the irony, right? Is that a lot of people, you know, want to get a dog because they're like, Oh, they'll protect me. But that dog is actually usually most comfortable when, when you are protecting them.
Pate:Exactly. And. It's not to say that at three months all of a sudden you're going to have a demon dog at all. No, not at all. That's when you're going to see that they've really come to the conclusion that this is my place and this is my people and you're going to have, you know, that bond. And one thing like with fostering, cause you mentioned the fostering at three months, they're, they're pretty, like they're subtle. This is great. You know, some fosters have to kind of pull back on their bonding and that's another reason why we, when like us in particular, our rescue, we want the dogs to be crate trained and not be in bed with the people because that's an extra bonding that's, when you adjust to a new home, it's like, that's yet another adjustment that's not okay because it's not my people. It's not.
jme:Yeah, that's a really permanent choice that if you're going to keep that dog forever, then you can make that choice, but otherwise you're doing the dog a disservice,
Pate:right?
jme:It may be great for you, but you are doing the dog a disservice,
Pate:right? And cause you want to, you want to bond with them. You want to bond with your foster dog, but not a hundred percent.
jme:Yeah. You know, that's going to be for the new family to do. And if you've had a foster dog for three months. This is when people start to get pretty attached and they may think about adopting If that's an option for them for their family, that's when they start to think about it and But sometimes they ask us if you know, are they gonna be able to love another person again?
Pate:Oh, yeah,
jme:you know, what if they can't get along without me and we're like don't flatter yourself too much. Like,
Pate:you did not just say that you ain't all that,
jme:right? Because no, what you've taught them is how to trust people. What you've taught them is that they can be loved and they will be more open to it the next time they have this opportunity. So even though they may have to go through this transition again, it will actually be easier because they know what to expect.
Pate:Right. Yeah. It's not hard to move a foster to another, a forever home and they'll have to adjust for three months and they've already adjusted for three months. We've seen how successful that is. So adjusting to a new home for three months with people who are focused on them a hundred percent is not that hard for the dogs. I mean, dogs are very adaptable. Um, that's, that's, I mean, that's one of the saving graces of, of dogs in general is that they are very adaptable.
jme:Yeah, and resilient.
Pate:So resilient. I mean, I don't want to say I hold a grudge. I don't even know if I remember long enough to hold a grudge, but Eva does. Anyway, that's one of our foster dogs. But, the dogs can come from horrible situations and you're like, Oh man, you got so broken by someone, someone's failed you like so hard. How can you even get, how can you even look at another person without wanting to, you know, like punch them in the throat for lack of a better, you know, but, but dogs are just like, Oh. majority of dogs, like no matter what happens to them, they still have that forgiveness. And then that openness to receive and want. And give affection,
jme:especially if they've been in a home, like even, honestly, even in an abusive home, they may be afraid of people, but they're still going to, most of the time, they're going to try and trust you. They're going to try and find who, who can they trust? I would say it's, you know, dogs that have grown up on the streets that haven't grown up with people that are going to be less trustworthy and much harder to, get them to trust you in general.
Pate:Right. Cause they speak more dog than people.
jme:Well, and, and. Chances are they've survived that long either because they avoided the right kind of people whereas the dogs that maybe get saved, they find the right kind of people, but you know, just like people, dogs are going to trust in different ways, but I will say it, even a dog that's been severely abused,
Pate:which we've seen,
jme:yeah, they live more in the moment. So, while we have seen PTSD, it's pretty rare, really, that you can't overcome it.
Pate:Right.
jme:And so, you know, it's really important for you to know that, you know, even if your dog did have a rough past, there's a better chance that they are going to turn it around and recover, than they're not,
Pate:right.
jme:And it doesn't mean that they're going to have, you know, lasting symptoms of that. Especially if you create a new safe environment for them, if you run into a situation where, they're experiencing abuse again, but you know, hopefully that's that's not the case But yeah, Dogs are pretty resilient and they really they want to they want to move forward It's people that have such a hard time moving forward,
Pate:right? Yeah, like we we kind of get stuck in our past a lot But dogs, they take it day by day, one step forward. Stormy, I don't know if you remember Stormy. She was a Catahoula Shepard mix, like an Aussie Shepard mix that we had from California. A friend of mine from college was doing her own kind of rescuing, and pulled her from Lancaster, and her face was buried in the wall. She wouldn't look at anything, I mean, she was the most shut down dog. And then, when I first got her, seriously, like, three days, she was not moving, she was so sick, she almost died. I had to like really, really force feed her. It was just a lot, in the recuperation process for her. And she was an older girl. Puppies and younger dogs are, are able to kind of get over like that kind of trauma bonding, I guess. But she got very, very bonded to me and she was an old girl. So I was just like, you know what, you're not, you're not leaving. But she, I mean, she was happy, like after all the trauma that she's, she'd been through, she was a happy old lady. When she was with us and, and that just tells you that dogs can just overcome so much in the right environment with the right people. Could I have like adopted her out? I don't know. I didn't choose to. So, but we have had like seniors that have been brought to the shelters, that the people have just discarded. And I'm sure there's a little bit of sadness, but then they bond with their new people. I mean, these are seniors who've lived an entire life possibly with another family, but they are still able to love another family just as deeply. I can't think of any dog foster dog that I've had that hasn't bonded with me. I was going to say we should add the three minute rule too, because, when you go to the shelter and you get a dog and you know, you put them in your car and like, maybe you've not even touched them yet, but then you go to the vet. And they act like you're their best friend and yeah, and that's a trauma bonding right there.
jme:And they're like, they're like, I love you Protect me.
Pate:You're the lesser of two evils.
jme:I was like, I don't even know you yet I'm like, we've known each other for like 10 minutes. No, no, you're my person.
Pate:You're my best friend forever
jme:So yeah, so it's funny because that you know, the one person that they Had familiar for the car ride. That's the person that they're like, okay, I know you,
Pate:right.
jme:I know you.
Pate:And that's what we talk about. Like when we train is, sharing the trust.
jme:I experienced that really hardcore. It was truck, truck stop. Um, he,
Pate:Oh, blue blues.
jme:Yeah. Yeah. So we were creating a pattern, trying to get him to trust new people and the foster mom would hand the leash to the person. The person would do a little routine and then they'd hand the leash back to the foster. Then the foster would hand it to a different person. And I broke the rule I tried to take the leash from the other person and the dog would not go with me. The dog would only go with me once the leash was transferred back to the foster and then he saw me take the leash from her. Then he went with me.
Pate:Instead of her giving you the leash.
jme:Yeah, because I just took it and I skipped it going back to the foster mom. He was just like, my mom did not hand you that leash. I don't know who you are. I'm not going with a stranger.
Pate:Right.
jme:And then also I was just being, I wasn't doing it on purpose, but I was dumb and I broke the pattern and he just stopped and he was like, you're doing it wrong. And he didn't want to go with me because I did the routine wrong.
Pate:Yeah. Yeah. Um, and another thing is like with the three, three, three rule, the reason why that is spoken about more is that it's not necessarily that dogs have trauma or whatever, but some dogs may be under socialized. There's a lot of reasons why dogs are shy or scared. That's not the point to go into here, but the fact is, That the 3 3 3 rule kind of helps those shy dogs center and you don't overwhelm them by doing too much. And then just to be realistic in your expectations. You know, like too much, too soon, that's not a good thing.
jme:And no, it's not for cats either, like opening up your giant house to them. They prefer, you know, very small world, small introductions to the home. And it's really the same with dogs, you know. We've had people who take, a little five pound chihuahua and they have literally a 5, 000 square foot house. And the dog is terrified because it's so big. It just doesn't even know what to do with it. So, we'll say it again and we've said it before. You know, the, the last thing they need is more freedom,
Pate:right? Yeah.
jme:They need more structure,
Pate:right?
jme:And that will make them happier,
Pate:right? Yeah.
jme:When they're happier and better behaved, then you'll be happier.
Pate:Exactly. The three, three, three is mostly adult dogs because puppies, that's a whole different, that's a whole different topic to discuss puppies because their brains. They're clay. They're being molded. So you're molding them all the time. But when you have an adult dog, they have a personality already. They have experience in the world. You know, they, they have, they have their own expectations, their own fears, things like that. It still applies, but not so strictly. I mean, well, I mean, yeah, because you're growing with them the entire time because everything you do with them should be structured. Yeah. Yeah.
jme:Like you're creating the routine. You're creating the routine for their life for the
Pate:yeah.
jme:Whereas an adult dog has had some experience and they have a perspective and they have, you know, you know, somebody did it this way. Somebody did it this way. They can adapt. They can adapt just fine to how you do it. But you just have to show them how you do it. But, you know, a lot of times too, we're separating them from their siblings. And, you know, those first three nights are probably going to be pretty hard. The three, the three rule really does apply for that. And it does apply. It just is probably a little less obvious.
Pate:It's different. And the thing is with the three, three, three rule with them is that your first three nights may be a little hard, but they are going to glom onto you a lot faster, then adult dog, right? And then sometimes I find that adult dogs, a lot of times, not just sometimes. A lot of times a fearful adult dog will glom on to one person and then that's when that one person has to share the trust with everyone else in the family. But like with a puppy, they, you know, they're going to glom on to the person who is paying attention, is paying attention to them, to them the most. But if there's other people in the family and you're paying attention to that puppy, that puppy is going to be just as affectionate with you, you know? But when you get to like older. under socialized dogs or a puppy that's going through a fear stage at like six months or whatever then you know it'll be a little bit different than getting a young puppy in your home but not that whole glomming and learning process and everything and then the training with the puppy is just different than if you have like an adult dog who is like fearful and Shut down. It's a totally different, scenario with them. It's raining. Very hard.
jme:Mm hmm. I think we've covered everything. So, in general, our, our kind of food for thought is You know, you want to give the dog everything, but hold your horses and slow down and like do it on their terms and, and do it with consciousness and, and forethought and take the time to let them be alone, take the time to let them decompress, take the time to, create a routine that they can rely on, structure that they can rely on. Okay. If you don't want them on the couch, start that the minute they get home. That kind of thing. And the more consistent you are, honestly, the better your relationship will be with your dog and the stronger bond you'll have.
Pate:Yeah. Exactly. Some shelter dogs and rescue dogs are shy and fearful. And for whatever reason in their past, and they need that time from you and that patience from you to show their true selves. That's why we say three days just to get used to the house, three weeks to get used to the schedule that you've set and three months for them to think that you are their family, that this is their home. So if a dog that you get is not like your best friend in a week, be a little realistic, basically. Yeah. You know, I mean, I'm not going to be your friend in a week.
jme:I would like to say too that, it doesn't matter where the dog comes from.
Pate:Yeah.
jme:Because a dog could come from a breeder and. And be completely unsocialized, we've seen that before and people try and tell us in one breath that that's a good breeder. And then we see this completely unsocialized dog and I'm like, no, they are completely unsocialized so it's like you locked a kid in a closet until they were five and now you're letting them into the real world and expecting that they're going to understand things. So, yes. When they're in rescue, sometimes they've had experiences. They're not always negative experiences, though, either. So, you know, there are plenty of happy go lucky dogs that are, adults that are ready to move into your home. And maybe that you won't see extreme signs of this. But, but the problem is, is that people think that they need to buy a puppy, of a certain breed to get the dog they want. But then they are the ones that screw up. They're good loving families, but they've screwed up on socialization, they've screwed up on training, and then when they're a year old, you know, now they're in the shelter, I mean this is what's happening right now especially, but now they're in the shelter, and they did not come from an abusive home, they came from a loving family that didn't do enough with the dog. And so, you're just basically taking a one year old dog and starting from scratch in terms of training. A lot of these dogs come from loving homes where people just did not understand the expectations of having that kind of dog, or having the dog in general. Right. Training and socializing.
Pate:How much time and effort, you know. What I always tell people when they get a puppy from us we're giving you a solid puppy and you are the one who's going to take Make or break him as an adult for him to be a good adult or her That's going to be on you. So there's you know, your genetic component But there's also that, you know that nature versus nurture
jme:well, but there's very few dogs that come out of you know, the womb with a screw loose if your dog is messed up as an adult, chances are more often than not that you are the one that created that. And it is not something they were born with.
Pate:Right.
jme:There are cases where, you know, maybe they were born with it. I, even then I would say it tends to be more a breed trait or something that they didn't like or weren't expecting I do really think though that you can never underestimate the amount of impact you can make on your dog and you can make more of an impact than any experience that that dog has had in the past.
Pate:Right. And like I said, it's. It's small. It's actually not that much genetics because they found like with these clone dogs or whatever nature versus nurture, right? The, the clone dogs, the exact same DNA of the previous dog, but not the same personality because you cannot replicate every step of that puppyhood to get that same personality.
jme:That's a good, bolster for the whole. idea of you, you are responsible for the development of your puppy. That is really interesting because, yeah, I never really thought about that.
Pate:Yeah. Because you can clone your dog, but you're not going to clone your dog.
jme:That's a whole thing that I don't really understand
Pate:like it's son or it's daughter, you know? Well, like when you clone,
jme:I don't know, but I guess I don't understand why people actually think. Even if the physical components were the same, I would never actually believe it was the same dog, or the same, it would have the same personality.
Pate:Okay, then, then we're just gonna go down a whole, like, rabbit hole of, like, soul, right? Because that's not the soul of your previous dog. And it's an interesting the fact that we can even do it is like cray cray.
jme:Yeah, that is weird
Pate:That's all like weird sci fi shit. Maybe that's something we talk about. We're rescue shit, not sci fi shit, okay?
jme:All right. Well, I guess we've wrapped it up for the day. I'm jme.
Pate:I'm Pate.
jme:Rock on.
Pate:Rescue on.
