Sun 3rd May: Good settling-in advice

If you don't already know, all adopters of HKDR dogs and puppies have free phone and email access to our very experienced and highly qualified trainer, Cactus Mok.   It's important to us that during what can be a challenging settling-in period there is always support at hand, as well as at any time in the coming months and even years.  We want both sides to be happy, that means adopters and the dogs, because in almost every case there's a need at some point to ask questions.

Puppies adapt to their new families and environment far more quickly than adult dogs do, but there's the inevitable play biting that's often misinterpreted as aggression,  and then the "teenage" period when the doglet is struggling with the change from puppy to adulthood, with just the same hormonal disruption that human teens experience.  This is the time when most puppies are given up as their behaviour can lead to misunderstanding, but be assured it's short-lived and will pass. 

I saw this very good settling-in post on Facebook today and it reminded me of the number of times Cactus has had to answer the same questions, most related to a newly adopted dog not eating, peeing or pooing.  It's all perfectly normal, as is the "testing" time which sometimes comes when a dog feels semi-permanent but doesn't quite believe it.  This is when the good-as-gold new kid behaviour suddenly shows moments of "bad", and again this is a time when a lot of dogs are returned.   Be patient and work though it, because it's just a passing phase of uncertainty. 

Today marked the end of the four-day holiday, and while we had quite a lot of potential adopters visiting there we no actual adoptions to report.  Lost dog Taylor has been spotted and we know the area she's in, but while our Tai Po team have been out there and a trap has been placed, so far there hasn't been any good news about her recapture.