Bertie Bassets foster home experience

Please note that the views expressed in this blog are my (Carol the foster Mum's) personal opinion and should not be considered as recommendations by the RSPCA.

5th November , Firework night - not a great day to take in a new foster dog, especially one with issues.  Bertie (not his original name) had come into RSPCA care as his previous owners reported that, on having their shift patterns changed at work he had stopped letting them leave the house by standing in front of the door and barking at them. 

Bassets, like all dogs are pack animals and will consider the family their pack.  Bassets are commonly reported as suffering from separation anxiety on long separations.  They are also often single minded and determined.

Having finally got Bertie into the back of the car with the aid of a ramp and tasty treats we were able to set off home.  I now have a standard routine for introducing foster dogs to their new surroundings and my own 3 dogs which has been based on trail and error over the years.  I let the new dog out of the back of the car into our garden and allow them to freely sniff around on their own but trailing a lead so that I can catch them if necessary. 

Well - best laid plans and all that.  When I opened the back of the car and Bertie jumped out I realised he had managed to shed the slip lead he'd been wearing when I put him in there.  I was aware that he'd demonstrated some fear of leads and being handled around his neck in the kennels so I thought it may be interesting trying to get the collar and house line onto him which I needed on before he met the other dogs.  Fortunately after an amount of wandering around  and regularly calling him to me and rewarding with food when he came it was no problem putting the collar and house line on.  Each time I had called him to me and when I put the collar on I had turned sideways.  This is a much less threatening than a direct head on, lean over and eye contact approach.  If you watch dogs meeting politely they approach slightly sideways, will often turn their head away on the approach and don't stare into each others eyes. 

Onto stage 2. Into the kitchen and utility room where my own dogs sleep have made sure that my 3 were out of the way in the front room.  Again Bertie was allowed to freely sniff and wander around including the indoor kennel/crate where he would be sleeping.  During this time my husband and I calmly sat, chatted and tried to make sure we weren't making eye contact with him.  I threw the odd treat into the crate to encourage him to go in.  Once I felt he was ready I brought my dogs in, one at a time.  It will often be recommended that you introduce dogs on neutral territory and I've tried this and also introducing in the garden.  However, what I've found is that my dogs are most relaxed in the kitchen.  As they consider me a responsible pack leader they will accept new dogs into the house if I've brought them in. 

Bertie did an amount of barking but he also retreated.  I felt it was all bravado and I had the security of the house line if he really had launched.  He came away with light hearted calling and was rewarded for coming away and being quiet.  Phew!  I could see that Bertie was actually quite stressed.  He drank loads that afternoon which is often a displacement activity.  His face was also more wrinkled than it should have been - almost like he was frowning and he had a few sloppy poos during the afternoon (mostly outside).  His whole demeanour was insecurity not aggression as had been reported from the unsuccessful rehoming the previous weekend.  It's very scary when a powerful dog lunges at you barking and growling and the obvious summation is that they are aggressive and dangerous.  Dogs actually give us lots of messages about how they're feeling but they're so subtle we often miss them.  That leaves them with their last method of communication - noise and their mouth.  Bertie has clearly learned over his short life that he can stop people doing things to him which he is not comfortable with or get his own way by intimidation.  I don't believe he's ever bitten and broken the skin which shows good "bite inhibition".  It's how dogs play fight together without damaging each other.  On changing the house line from the indoor one to the outdoor one Bertie did mouth me but it was very gentle.  By my making  a squeak like puppy does when one of it's siblings gets too rough he just stopped.  Many dog bites are triggered by humans approaching dogs in a way they find threatening.  Click here for some good tips on how to safely and politely approach dogs.

The subtle communications that dogs use include licking their lips/noses, yawning, stretching, turning their heads away,putting ears back and sniffing the ground.  The picture here shows Bertie giving a calming nose lick because he has a camera pointed at him.  Well, Bassets sniff the ground all the time, it's what they're bred to do so it's hard to tell whether he's trying to tell me he's unsure of what I've asked him to do or he's just sniffing.  Also with those long ears it's hard for other dogs to read them let alone humans.

I use Jan Fennell, The Dog Listener's method of "Amichien" bonding as a basis when working with dogs.  This allows us, the humans in the household, to establish ourselves as pack leaders.  Pack leadership is notabout dominance, it is about good and fair leadership - more Ghandi than Gadaffi.  It should be like good parenting, having consistent boundaries, ignoring/not making a big scene out of undesired behaviour and praising/rewarding desired behaviour in addition to provision of a safe home and good nutrition.  Once we've established this communication and trust, training becomes much easier  and mostly just falls out of everyday life.

Within 2 hours of arriving home with me I was delighted when Bertie chose, of his own volition, to go and lie on the bed in the crate and have a snooze.

Something that didn't go so well that day was Bertie managed, unnoticed, to get past the barrier I use to discourage the foster dogs from going upstairs.  This is one of my boundaries - no dogs upstairs.  Plenty of people do allow their dogs upstairs and that is their choice which often will not cause any problems.  Whilst he was up there he left a wee and several sloppy poos down the stairs.  Hmmm nice!

6th November 2011
It was great to get up having had an undisturbed night.  That is certainly not always the case with a new dog.  As trying to barge through doors is an issue with Bertie and also not wanting to be left.  We did lots of going in and out through doors whilst attempting to not let him through first by blocking with legs.  There were a few occasions when I did let him barge through first but then shut the door behind him so he found himself somewhere he didn't really want to be and on his own for a couple of minutes.  The downstairs toilet and the shed were useful for this.  He doesn't barge through those doors now.  He also barges his nose into cupboards, the fridge etc.  I was happy that when he started to do this in the afternoon he stepped back and gave me space as I calmly moved in front of him.  Still really early days yet though.

Our back lawn is fenced off from the dogs otherwise we wouldn't have a lawn - just mud.  Whilst doing some gardening I obviously didn't shut the gate properly an Bertie took his opportunity to come through.  You could just see the mischief on his face as he dashed around.  Chasing him would have been a great game for him but I knew it would just encourage him to try and get on there again.  So, I left the lawn closed the gate behind me and came back in the house.  It took about 3 minutes before he stood at the gate wanting to come out and be with us again.

7th November 2011
We did a bit of retrieving with a ball in the garden using food rewards to encourage the drop.  He won't actually give me the ball at the moment and will try and snatch it back if I'm not careful.  Got some work to do here - he's quite a resource guarder.  I think I'd be better using a dumbbell rather than a ball.
Jumping up at work surfaces to scavenge in the kitchen is an issue to me and also he jumps onto the furniture which is not allowed in our house.  This is where the house line is really useful to remove him from the furniture without getting into a confrontation.  This evening as I stood up to remove him from the foot stool in the living room, he jumped off, grabbed the line and stared barking at me.  I felt it was in play not aggressive.  I only had 3 ft distance from him to get hold of the line because he'd wrapped it round himself but I wanted to remove him from the room and us for such insubordinate behaviour.  I bent down sideways to him and picked up the end of the lead, at which point he grabbed hold of my arm.  It was just a hold though - not bruising.  I made a loud and cross aaggh noise, stood up and took him out to another room where he was left to think about what he'd done for a few minutes.  I calmly brought him back in, dropped the line and he just went a curled up under the radiator.  He is, as Bassets are often quoted as being, quite an assertive dog.  I'd rather not get into a confrontation with dogs like this and in hindsight what I should maybe have done was make sure all the humans left the living room and shut him in there.  That way he'd have lost what is really important to all dogs - the pack.

8th November 2011.
I've been in work today so a new routine.  My son was home at lunchtime to let him out.  I'd left him with a Kong containing a few bits of food as he seems to like to chew.  Chewing, releases natural endorphins in dogs which helps them calm down and feel good.  I don't leave dog toys lying around when all the dogs are about with a new dog in the house because it is natural for dogs to guard what they consider their resource.  This may be food, a toy or something of yours they've picked up.  I'm therefore removing anything that may trigger a fight until the dogs have established their own order.  I also don't leave the new dog with my dogs unsupervised at first.

Did some more retrieving with Bertie which was a bit better.  I guess he'll be really good at and enjoy hide and seek games with toys.

Not so good moment when I found he'd peed in the lounge.  He'd been snoozing in his bed and I should have taken him outside when he woke up before he got the opportunity to find the only carpet we have downstairs.  New dogs should be given the opportunity to toilet on waking, after meals and after play.  Grrr - I should've known better!

On a more positive note he has virtually stopped barking at the other dogs or the humans.

9th November 2011.

Betie had been reallly good at night and we'd not heard a peep from him.  Some of the dogs we've fostered have caused a few sleepless nights until their separation anxiety has started to subside.  However, last night it was Bertie's turn to start barking when he was put to bed.  I should never get complacent about a dogs behavoiur.  They love to test you.  It took about 3/4 hour of in and outs to the kitchen before we got quiet.  Fortunately our kitchen is not joined onto our neighbour.

11th November 2011

Pleased to say the barking at night has not happened again.  Went to the enclosed basket ball court at the park today to let Bertie have a run and check out his recall.  He was great.  Tasty treats worked well.  Will try and post alink to some video from my phone when I work out how to do it.  He's gone back into the kennels for the weekend as I'm going away.  Sue was delighted to see him again.

14th November 2011

Collected Bertie from the kennels.  He seemed pleased to see us and jumped into the car no problem, unlike the first time which was a bit of a pallaver.  Settled back in here like he's never been away except I feel he's a little more respectful and better mannered than last week.  Perhaps it's just wishful thinking.  He's smelling great too after his bath which he apparently really enjoyed.

15th November 2011

After a good run and some great recall in the basketball court we went for a lead walk around the grassy part of the park.  There were no other dogs about so I just thought I would see how he was if I gave Bertie freedom with so many sniffs.  I dropped the lead and gave him my realease phrase "off you go" and indeed he did - nose to the ground.  I may as well not have been there.  No respose to calling or whistles.  Hmm what to do?  So, I played on his insecurity and hid behaind the bandstand wall whilst keeping an eye on him.  As soon as he realised he couldn't see me he started running towards where I'd been.  I moved into the open, called and he came straight back.  Phew!  If I had gone after him it would have been a great game for him.  He's clearly not ready to be let off the lead in open spaces yet.  Some Basset Rescues suggest that you never can rely on a Basset Hound's recall.  I'm unconvinced.

He's definitely holding back at doors now.  It's so nice not to have the great tussle that it was to come in and out of a room.

17th November 2011

Bertie's really starting to chill out now. 

We've had some great walks over the past couple of days where Bertie has met other dogs whilst on a long line.  He's really friendly and polite with other dogs. 

Yesterday I was just thinking that  he hadn't jumped up for a couple of days.  My son then came home from college and Bertie jumped up at him.  It was obvious why.  My son had looked at him and made eye contact as he came in the door.  Eye contact is very important to dogs and it usually means either a threat or an invitation.  Bertie obviously took it as an invitation at that point.  If you watch dogs interact with each other they will very rarely make eye contact with each other.  They approach each other slightly sideways or in an arc and they may even pointedly look away.  If they make eye contact it is often a precursor to play or a fight.

Bertie has also stopped jumping up at the kitchen units.  I doubt I could leave a piece of food near the edge when I wasn't in there with him and still find it there when I came back but his not repeatedly jumping up in front of us is a big improvement in his manners.

He's generally a much happier dog and we're seeing a much more happy, swinging waggy tail.

 20th November 2011

As often happens after a couple of weeks Bertie has started asking if we really mean what we are telling him.  It's hard because you think you have ironed out an issue for it to reemerge. It's nothing serious, just a bit of jumping up and mouthing more than he was.  The response has to be calm and consistent and not a frustrated reaction which is how I really feel.  I'm sure we'll get through it.

On Friday, we went to the vets to check out some dry scaly skin patches on his back   Very common with short haired dogs apparently.  Some antibiotics and antimicrobial shampoo should sort it out.  Bertie was excellent in the vets.  Alowed himself to be examined no problem.  The vet also said what a delight it was to see a  basset who was in such good shape and please keep him that way.  Look at how he can move!

Berite loves other dogs and is no trouble with my own dogs now.  If he wants to play and they don't they just look away.  He takes the hint and stops pestering.  I'm watching how they react to unwanted behavoiur and emulating it - it works!  The only time they shout is if it's really OTT.

 29th November 2011

Wow!  Where have the last 9 days gone?  Well much more of the same really.  Bertie seems to have settled into our routine now.  He still challenges things from time to time but accepts when he gets a consistent response.  He's been enjoying meeting the local dogs in the park whilst on a long line.

Really I think he's ready to go to a forever home now.  It needs to be someone who is prepared to continue with his training, has plenty of time to give him some calm mental stimulation and really understands that dogs are not little four legged humans.  It would be preferable if his new home had Basset experience.  He is a bit sensitive about being handled around his neck and ears which still needs some further work but is manageable.  He's good with other dogs and I think, enjoys their company.  So, a home with another friendly dog would be good.  Could it be you?

17th December 2011

There has been some interest in Bertie since we decided he was ready to move on into a forever home but nothing quite right yet.  We were grateful to the MEN Stockport Times and Express for featuring this photo and a little writ up about him last week.  It has made a huge difference to the number of animals we have rehomed since they began featuring some each week for us.  We had said that he shouldn't go to a home with young children and that was confirmed when a little 3 year old boy came to see him with his Mum.  The little boy teased Bertie and although Bertie was just playing and gently mouthing him, it was inappropriate behaviour and just the sort of situation that could get out of control.  When a dog has had enough of this sort of play and the person isn't reading his body language then, in exasperation, they can resort to biting to stop the irriatation.  An accident waiting to happen.  So, this has strengtened our resolve that there should be no young children at his new home.  He has been no problem with my nephew and niece but they know to ignore the dogs and respect their space when they come to visit.

Bertie is a much calmer dog now.  The barging at doorways is settling.  His bids to get upstairs are now only when I'm up there rather than just for the hell of it.  On the more challenging side, we occasionally find him on the sofa when he has got into the lounge when we're not there.  Yesterday, I'd just made myself a sandwich and put it on the dining table when I was called to help take a large Christmas present upstairs.  By the time I came down again my plate was empty.  If he spots an opportunity he will almost certainly take it  On the whole though he is a much easier dog to be around than when he arrived.  I'm sure he would be much better if I had time to spend with more focused training with him.  It's not been ideal timing with Christmas coming up.

At night he is no longer shut in his crate and is free to roam the kitchen and utility with my 3 dogs.  I think an example of what an assertive dog he is is that we often find him in what we call "the pole position bed".  This is the bed that appears to be the favourite amongst our dogs.  He is the first foster dog to lay a claim to this so I believe that for the sake of peace in the pack they defer to him on this.  With my human hat on, I find it quite hard to think of my dogs being pushed around in their own home like this.  They don't seem to show any resentment though.  Is it any different from my sons giving up their bedrooms when we have visitors to stay?  Ice's favourite bed to lie on now is the one in the crate.  She especially likes to lie there when she comes in wet from a walk.  Hmmm!  What was I saying about resentment?

Published on 17-12-2011 - 19:39 - last updated on 17-12-2011 - 19:39