Taking on with the life of another is one of the most selfless things you can do -- this is especially pertinent with the life of a rescue. Deciding to adopt rather than buy your forever-friend brings plenty of its own rewards, but the first week or so has plenty of challenges too. If you find yourself lying awake at night listening to howling, crying or whimpering, read on and see how you can rest well once again!
The first night:
Introducing your pet to their new lodgings should be done when you’ve plenty of time on your hands. To begin, allow them to investigate your home on their own terms; this is where a you-smelling blanket comes in nicely. Once you think they’re comfortable around or in their surroundings you can leave them for the time being… However, the hard part is when it comes time to lock the house down for the night and go to bed.
Coax them gently into where you plan on letting them sleep. Remain in the room with them for a short period and then make your exit. If you hear barking or howling don’t return to investigate it immediately (not unless you think it sounds dire). What should happen is that your pet will gradually calm down. When morning comes, enter the room as you normally would and make little fuss over it. Repeat as necessary until the nightly barking stops or they willingly enter their bed for a rest! When you’ve time, investigate their bed for signs of wear and tear or biting; those signs can be a good indication of how your pet is taking to their new home.
All Night:
Howling all night is not good for your ear drums and certainly not good for their throat, but it means that they are in desperate need of a companion or some attention from their owner. Granted, they’re probably still wary of their new surroundings and you being out of their sight is only adding to that fact. A solution I’ve seen some owners use is to buy a life-like or life-sized teddy resembling their pet and put it in with them when they’re going to bed. In theory this should give your pet something to cuddle, as well as the feeling of having someone with them.
If that fails, there is one more thing you can try though it can be awkward depending on the size of your pet: Take them to bed with you. As an owner there’ll probably come a time when you’ll have a snooze with your pet anyway, so as a last resort at this early stage of your journey together you can try it and see if it helps!
Tire Them Out:
What tends to work for toddlers will tend to work for your pet! Give them an action-packed day of playing, running, jumping and eating and all they’ll want to do is sleep after it. If, in-fact, the opposite happens, you can use herbal remedies such as drops in their water or burning an incense to try and relax them into a deep slumber. They’ll be in so deep a sleep that they won’t even be able to worry about where you are!
So, after our few nudges in the right direction we hope that you have success with weaning your new rescue off of you! For advice, the chats or anything else you can always phone us or pop in for a visit.
Be good!
