I have always rescued the dogs I have. I am seriously considering adopting
an ex puppy mill dog in the near future. He is 6 years old and has spent
his entire life in a puppy mill. I am trying to read any bit of info I can
get my hands on as to the care these dogs need and "what to do". This has
been a dream of mine for quite some time, and now I have the time to
dedicate my attention on this little guy. He was only rescued about 1 1/2
months ago. He is still in rescue and they are taking care of his
immediate health problems. I would appreciate ANY advice anyone has for
me. Thanks.

In article
outpets.com,
fourpups wrote:

I have always rescued the dogs I have. I am seriously considering adopting
an ex puppy mill dog in the near future. He is 6 years old and has spent
his entire life in a puppy mill. I am trying to read any bit of info I can
get my hands on as to the care these dogs need and "what to do". This has
been a dream of mine for quite some time, and now I have the time to
dedicate my attention on this little guy. He was only rescued about 1 1/2
months ago. He is still in rescue and they are taking care of his
immediate health problems. I would appreciate ANY advice anyone has for
me. Thanks.

We are working to rehab a puppy mill brood bitch (Libby) - she is
somewhere between 4 & 6 years and a bichon frisee. We have been looking
for elists and, of course, watch this newsgroup (it isn't too active
and has been dominated by puppywizard unhelpfully). What we did was to
go to yahoo groups and look for elists for our breed and that has been
helpful. If there is a general.state or city newsgroup near you, you
might inquire there. Our preference was to find a support group in our
area where you can talk face to face with others doing rescue.

Our little girl was fearful of everything and after 3 months is slowly
getting better. I made sure I did a lot of holding and comforting - we
still kneel of the floor as she eats. When we first got her we left the
crate door open but after a few days of her hiding in it we coaxed her
out then closed the door permanently. We were fortunate in having
access to another well adjusted but very active and yound bichon, which
helped a lot. After about a month we fell into an opportunity the adopt
another bichon that was a 'normal' female puppy (Dinah). She has helped
us a lot without, of course, knowing it. Another thing we did was get
Libby into obedience training, after consultation with the instructors.
Our aim was not to instill obedience but to give her experience being
around other people and dogs - we think this helped Libby to get past
some of her fearfulness. A friend who did a rehab of an abused golden
retreiver told us that it took over a year for the dog to become a dog
again.

Keep the news groups up to date on your efforts and good luck.

Thanks so much for the advice. You have given me some helpful avenues to
follow. Others have told me to crate our new dog away from my other dogs
for 7 days and then introduce him into the group. What are your thoughts
on this?

Well, I am not a training or behavior expert so please take what I say
with a grain of salt. When we got our second bichon through adoption, we
first introduced our rescued bichon to the other dog. They got along very
well - no growling or high voltage excitement. Our rescue is somewhere
between 4 and 6 years old and the adoption dog was 9 months at the time
(she was 'miss excitement' but not high voltage). So my inclination is to
suggest you introduce the new adoptee to the others, one at a time. If
there is no or only low level territoriality, then it might be safe to let
the adoptee run free with the others. I would think that crating the
adoptee would hamper your efforts to rehab the dog, if that is what you
will be doing. So let the dogs decide, because in the end the other dogs
will help the adoptee more than you will ever be able to do. These are my
thoughts, from a non-expert. Keep the list informed - you are doing
important work.

In article outpets.com,
"fourpups" wrote:

Thanks so much for the advice. You have given me some helpful avenues to
follow. Others have told me to crate our new dog away from my other dogs
for 7 days and then introduce him into the group. What are your thoughts
on this?

--
John Ferman
Minneapolis, MN

Fourpups,

I would ask the foster parents that are caring for the dog now about
the dog temperment, and any behavioral problems, food agression,
territorial, submissive urination, fear biting. Those are usually the
biggest factors on the tememperment end. The medical end is something
all together different, most that some from PM sadly are HW positive,
and that treatment is hard on any dog. But the Rescue Org will know all
of that prior to adopting the dog. Do you know the breed of the dog
you are planning on adopting? That will help alot as well. I dont
think personally any 2 dog trainers wll totally agree on how to handle
a PM dog or pup. Again it depends on the breed of the dog and if it
has issues. I hope for you it does not. Remeber though all dogs
reguardless of breed are pack animals they are very black and white on
things. You have to lead they will follow you, show the dog you are
the alpha in the pack, with paitence, love, attention to his needs and
of course safety.

One of the first things you need to get is a crate, and if you have
other dogs intoduce them slowly. Only allow one dog out of the crate
at the time meaning. While the resident dog is out the new dog remains
in the crate, and when the new dog is out the resident dog is inthe
crate. You do this so the resident dog wll not do what wll come
natural for him, you are a stranger in my home and you dont belong here
and I will show you. You either submit to my will or else the fight
will be on. So kept them apart for a while. The next thing I would do
is feed him in his crate and only by you. Your new guy has to learn
you are the pack leader you control his food, his water, when and where
he can potty. Only take him out of the crate to go potty and then to
play a bit with you then back in the create he learns that is his den
and he is safe there and you will protect him. know this all sounds
really harsh but I learned this from a man that trains GSD for police
k-9 and he says that buildin the bond with your puppy or adult dog is
the first thing you must do. I have 2 dogs myself and I used the Basic
obedience DVD he has they are great then obedience for show. I have 2
mini dachshunds now not German Shepards. The other reason for the
crate is the dog I am sure is not goign to be house broken if you plan
to keep him in the house. I went here www.leerburg.com and read for
several days. Again this man trains protextions dogs and police k-9
but the basic stuff and his outlook on how to do groundwork ith yoru
dog to build a bond, to teach it manners, and le tlet the dog know he
is safe and loved by you. Its wonderful. I would recommend it to
anyone.

I wish you luck

Rana