Consider using virtual training for your puppy
Raegan Delgado, 40, was told Bolt was a “mouthy puppy” when she met him at the Paw Works rescue facility in Camarillo, California.
After two separate threehour trips to the rescue, Delgado, her husband and three daughters decided to bring home Bolt, an 8month-old pit bull mix through an at-home trial called “foster-to-adopt.” They liked his sweet eyes and the goofy ear that flopped across the top of his black head.
But the boisterous 45pound dog was hard to handle.
“Right from the beginning, he was jumping and biting,” said Delgado. “The whole reason we wanted a dog was for my girls to take care of him.”
The Delgados are among the many families bringing a new pet home during the coronavirus lockdown. One would think pet rescue groups would be elated, but many are concerned that this boom in pet adoptions and fosters could lead to an explosion of returned pets.
“We have found a lot of people applying for dogs are not necessarily people who would be applying in normal circumstances,” said Krystelle Sun of New York City’s Hearts & Bones Animal Rescue.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it has experienced a 70% increase in animals going into foster homes through its New York City and Los Angeles programs compared with the same period last year, with more than 1,500 online foster applicants. Best Friends Animal Society’s Lifesaving Centers across the U.S. have seen a similarly drastic surge.
Like the Delgado family, many of those new dog owners will need help teaching their pets the rules of the house, a task that has been upended.
Paw Works connected the Delgados to trainer Bernardo Perez of Road Dogs Dog Mentoring, who guided the family via daily text messages and phone calls. They implemented a three-strikes rule — Bolt gets three chances to calm down before being sent to his crate for a timeout.
For example, if Bolt is jumping and mouthing, they tell him “down.” If he gets hyped up again, they go through the same routine. If three tries at the “down” command fail, he gets sent to his crate.
After three days, the training worked.
Dog training is especially important in these unusual times as new pets will quickly get used to spending all day with their humans.
“We’re living in a time where we’re not in real life,” said Larissa Wohl, pet rescue expert for the Hallmark
Channel.
Wohl urges recent fosters and adopters to work on boundaries right away. It’s important to occasionally physically distance from your dog, at times in another room. Also, spend time getting the dog used to different stimuli: grass, street grates, loud noises, different people (from afar). Teaching the dog to “sit” and “wait” for dinner instills impulse control.
The internet is full of free training resources such as Austin Pets Alive!’s YouTube channel and Instinct Dog Behavior and Training’s online school. Rescue organizations are usually happy to offer guidance on integrating foster and recently adopted dogs into new homes. And many private dog trainers have responded to stay-athome orders by moving their business to digital platforms such as FaceTime and Zoom.
Without training, Delgado said, she wouldn’t have been able to work through Bolt’s rambunctious behavior — and form a deep bond with him in the process. Recently, the Delgados officially adopted Bolt. Practicing soccer with the playful puppy has become the highlight of Delgado’s quarantine.
“If I could keep the ball away from him, I’d be like World Cup level,” she said.