Tips for welcoming your new pet home

There is definitely a difference between a rescue dog and one you might get from a breeder. Rescue dogs do take a bit more work and a lot more patience.

“Give them space,” Adams County Pet Rescue employee Erika Salmeron said. “Be patient because they are scared and don’t know you’re the new family.”

Salmeron was anxious to share her tips and offered a story to demonstrate some of the issues with a rescue dog.

“We were at the Tri-Cities PetSmart doing an adoption event,” she said. “Students from the vet tech school volunteered to help.”

Their first job was to introduce the volunteers to the dogs.

“We let them know about the dogs,” Salmeron said. “When one student went to get his dog, he thought he was going to get bit, so he jerked his hand back and the dog got out from under the fence.”

They chased the dog around the parking lot until it went through traffic and to the canal.

“We went looking for him, but there was so much sagebrush,” Salmeron said.

The dog went across the railroad tracks and after hours of searching, they found him hiding in the sagebrush.

“He just sat there while we were looking for him,” she said. “One of the girls got her finger into his collar.”

It’s a story with a twist of humor, but it also demonstrates some important points when bringing home a dog for the first time.

“Keep them on a leash,” Salmeron said. “They just know they have been taken away from what is often the only home they’ve known and they don’t know where they are at.”

Salmeron said the escapee – a 1-year-old Chihuahua mix named Inoka – knew he had done something wrong and acted sorry, but he is a stray and didn’t know why everyone was upset with him.

Inoka is sweet and playful, but no one knows what happened to him before he was found wandering on Highway 17 near ACPR. They caught him and brought him to the shelter.

“Just remember, the more you chase a dog, the more likely it is to run,” Salmeron said. “They need to know you’re not going to hurt them.”

When dogs do escape, like Inoka did, they sometimes have to look for days to find them. That means they have gotten hit by cars.

“That’s heartbreaking,” Salmeron said.

So how do you get a dog comfortable in their new home?

“Create an escape room for the dog, with food, water, a bed, toys and occasional treats,” Salmeron said. “When you are home, let them roam around and find a place they like and move their bed there.”

There are other ways to help with a new dog and ACPR’s staff can offer more suggestions to make the transition smooth, often eliminating the need to return a dog that doesn’t work out. They will also help you find a dog that will likely fit in with your family.

“They are like kids,” Salmeron said. “You can’t take them back and forth … it’s stressful for them.”

Adams County Pet Rescue is located at 1961 Bench Road east of the fairgrounds. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The facility is closed Mondays and Thursdays for cleaning.

To contact ACPR, call (509) 488-5514 or email adopt@AdamsCountyPetRescue. Be sure to visit the website at www.adamscountypetrescue.com and like their Facebook page.