Evening fellow Folksyists!
I have found out earlier today that we have been accepted as pet parents to our first ever rescue dog! I know a lot of you guys have rescue dogs too so perhaps you can give me some tips on how to help him settle in when he arrives next week, or just general first-time-dog-owner tips? He is an 18-month-old Tibetan terrier cross. I am unbelievably excited!
Thanks in advance…
Jo
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Congratulations on your new addition!
I’ve had dogs all my life and the biggest piece of advice I could offer is to be incredibly patient, especially with a rescue dog as you can never know what the wee soul has been through. Decide what your house rules are for puppy and try to stuck to them and be consistent. Most of all enjoy them. I couldn’t be without a dog in my life, they give so much comfort and companionship and unconditional love.
I hope your adoption goes really well and pup settles in quickly for you
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How brilliant! Well done! You will find it very rewarding. You will probably need to be quite patient, as it’s new surroundings and very strange for him. I’ve only adopted pups, so not had any experience with an older one, but he’s still very young. You could join a local dog Fb page, they are always full of advice. But, enjoy!
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I have had 2 rescue dogs, the first sadly went over the rainbow bridge last summer after 10 years with us (she was 16 so had a long life), the 2nd is still with us. All I can say is don’t expect too much from a rescue - if you are lucky they will have come from a loving home but often they have been poorly treated or abandoned due to bad behaviour. Unfortunately you don’t always get the full story. Both mine had “issues” which never completely went away and consequently restrict the way we live (neither could ever be let off the lead and were a nightmare when meeting other dogs and people on walks) but with love, patience and acceptance you will have a loyal companion. Wouldn’t have changed my two for the world. Good luck and enjoy 
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Thank you @OrchardFelts @Amberlilly and @Tealiteful for your responses. We are so excited, really hope he will be happy with us. Hubby has an Amazon wish list of pet accessories already… doggie will be well and truly spoilt! I’m trying to think of all the practical things we’ll need, while he thinks about which squeaky toy is cutest 
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He sounds like he’s going to be one very happy doggy 
One toy we wouldn’t be without is a Kong, the kind you fill. We stuff it full of peanut butter and keep it in the freezer for days when our collie isn’t going to get as much exercise as normal (her paws never fully hardened so they get quite sore in frosty weather) this is also great during the summer if it’s too warm to walk her and keeps her busy for hours
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Ha yeah, I’ve seen those in action, thanks for the tip!
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How exciting! Lucky you. Enjoy!
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Hey - that’s wonderful. I have 2 rescue dogs and they enrich our lives so much! I found the first dog (or he found me) on a Greek island as a tiny pup, slung out with the rubbish and was just a starving little bag of bones. But he’s known little hardship since then so is a well-adjusted lad of 2 now. Our second dog has only been with us a few weeks - another street stray from Greece, by chance (via Battersea Dogs Home this time) and he’s had a tougher time of it. He’s about 2 as well but has had to learn to be house-trained from scratch (he’s doing brilliantly so far - we make a big fuss of him when he ‘performs’ outside and keep quiet if he makes a mistake indoors - which hasn’t happened in several days- yay!) We discourage him from jumping on the table to eat our food and I think he’s getting the message that he doesn’t need to steal to survive. He’s becoming incredibly affectionate with us.
My only tip would be to have fairly low expectations of your dog to begin with, be constantly gentle and just let him find his way slowly. Don’t expect him to love your house and you, he may be really anxious and just see you as another temporary stopping-place. Then he’ll bond with you and trust and never leave your side 
Enjoy!
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We have our third rescue dog, Brock, at present. The best advice I can give is to attend dog training classes, and to be consistently kind and patient.
Good luck with your new companion.
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Thank you @Llosgi and @FireHorseTextiles for your replies. The charity we are getting him from have a dog behaviourist who is on hand to offer free training so that’s really handy… we are expecting our new pup won’t love us straight away & trying really hard to not be too impatient… it’s so exciting! We found out earlier that his best friend from his foster home is also being adopted on the same day by someone who lives close to us, so we are hoping they can be reunited on a doggie date at some point. How lovely would that be!
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That’s great news about the behaviourist and his best doggie friend: that’s bound to help him to settle in 
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Congratulations!!! I don’t have any other advice to what’s already been given but rescue dogs are the best!
Is he with you yet?
Not yet @LunaLoco we get him on Thursday afternoon. 3 more sleeps, the excitement is almost unbearable… I’ll post a photo of him here when he arrives 
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He’s here! His name is Pedro. He is just lovely, a very good boy so far… let’s see how his first night away from his foster home & doggie friends goes. We love him already 
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Aww he’s beautiful
I hope he settles in really well
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Ha! What an adorable little fella!
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Oh my goodness, how gorgeous is he?!!! 
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What a lovely little fella, here’s to many years of love and affection with him. Every dog I’ve had has been a rescue dog, greyhounds have been the last 4, and although most come with a bit of baggage with patience and love they have all turned into wonderful companions who give you unconditional love and affection.
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Oh my gosh - he’s a handsome lad and looks full of character too. Hope you have lots of fun with him in your life
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