Siobhan adopted Sushi in December 2020 from Mossmania. She has written the below to help all prospective dog-parents!
PREPARATION
The things I would suggest buying are the following:
– the food you plan to transition them onto (we initially started Sushi on just chicken and rice as it’s easy on the belly). A great website to see the nutritional value of dog foods available is called All About Dog Food. We now have her on Butternut box which is one of the top nutritionally and she loves it. (Here’s some money off the first order if anyone wants to try it butternutbox.com/Siobhan92)
– Sushi had a very dodgy belly for a good month. You can buy pro-kolin paste which helps settle their stomach
– slow feeding bowl. Sushi was sick a couple of times during the first month we had her so we’ve had her using a slow feeding bowl as she was eating her dinner so fast. We also changed her from normal sized kibble to small dog sized kibble (she’s 7kg) and ever since she hasn’t been sick.
– dogs beds, a crate and a vet bed. We weren’t sure if she’d want her own space in a crate or to be more open in a dog bed at first so we went with both options.
– a spray to clean your floor and hide any toilet smells
– car restraint/ harness/ crate to keep them secure in the car
– dog shampoo
– long lead and harness: great for letting them have some playtime in the park without the risk of them escaping
– where to register their microchip. There’s a couple of options but we went with Petlog it’s important to do this ASAP. Make sure to select the registering an oversees microchip option.
– dog robe/dressing gown. This may seem a bit extra but we’ve actually used it loads and found it helpful for the car after wet walks or after a shower. We got ours from Dogrobes
– camera to watch them when out. we got a cheap one off of Amazon which does the job.
– find good pet insurance. After a lot of research, we settled with Many Pets due to lots of good reviews. We’ve already claimed once with no problems at all and the process was really easy. One thing to consider is that you can’t claim for anything which happens in the first two weeks after taking the policy out, so again it’s good to consider signing them up asap if you plan to do so. Here’s a link for an Amazon voucher when you sign up if anyone is considering Many Pets https://mention-me.com/m/ol/ka0jy-72ecb17582
– a detail tag to put on their collar in case they get lost
– I’ve also seen it suggested to create a scent jar for your dog so if they do ever escape you have their smell to show other dogs.
– a light-up collar for the dark nights; makes them easier to see
ARRIVAL:
We loved being a part of the Facebook chat hearing about the update of their travels. It was so lovely seeing all the dogs being dropped off at their new homes. Just be aware that your initial drop off time may change if there are delays. When Sushi first arrived the first thing the poor transporters told us (awesome and lovely guys btw) was that she’d barked pretty much constantly, way more than any of the other dogs. We thought we were in for trouble! however as soon as we brought her up the stairs and into the hallway she was straight on her back for a tummy rub. We’ve been lucky in the sense that from the beginning she settled in the home pretty much immediately and has been super cuddly from the beginning. We have the impression that she’s been in a home environment before as she’s not been scared of anything at all within the home including the hoover. Even when we’re out and about she doesn’t flinch if a bus or loud lorry goes past us. She had a couple of accidents in our house within the first couple of weeks (and one on my parents’ brand new carpet ) but since then she always tells us when she needs to go out by heading to the front door and whining, even if it’s during the night. At first, we started taking her outside every couple of hours on purpose and saying ‘good girl’ when she’d go toilet outside and I think that maybe helped her understand how to ask to go out. She completely ignored all of her toys at first but a couple of weeks after arrival she was gifted a ball and to our surprise immediately started playing with it. She’ll sometimes chase a ball but sometimes she’ll just pick it up and take it to her bed. We get the impression that she doesn’t really know how to play. We had her playing with our neighbour’s dogs in the park while they were chasing the ball but it was sort of clear that she didn’t really understand what to do so we’re definitely going to be working on her socialisation skills.
We can recommend Brandon McMillan for training videos on YouTube: he’s been an animal trainer all his life and now specifically works with rescue dogs. We’ve found his techniques to be super effective. We also did a DNA test out of curiosity and turns out she’s made up of 16 breeds which is amazing!
We still have issues we need to work through with Sushi but 90% of the time she’s a dream. Loved having cuddle time and a belly scratch. She currently still has anxiety in the car and barks a LOT, especially when stopping to chat to people in the street. She also hates when anyone comes to our front door and has selective hearing with recall, especially if squirrels are around! She’s not an everywhere dog by any means and gets overwhelmed if you try to take her to a new environment such as a cafe but we’re working on it!
Hope everyone has the BEST time meeting their new dogs and getting to know their personalities. It really is amazing!