Ann Marie Payne is with SOS Animals in Coin and has become very concerned about the number of posts for lost dogs! Here’s what she writes.
‘Lately I’ve seen so many posts about newly adopted dogs escaping.
You may be excited at the idea of having a new dog, but your dog is probably terrified and will want to flee at the first opportunity.
Please try to put yourself in their mind and try to imagine this.
They may have had a miserable life and ended up in the pound, or simply might have got lost and ended up in there. The pound is not a nice place, and many struggle to survive mentally as well as physically. They go into foster and regain some of their trust, only to find themselves crated up and off to somewhere new.
Can you imagine how that must feel. By the time they get to you they are shell shocked, so bewildered and frightened.
The only way a dog knows how to deal with this is to try and escape from the situation. Gradually you will earn their trust, but in the meantime at this crucial time, PLEASE KEEP THEM SAFE.
NB Never open the car door or hatchback boot lid without someone inside the car to hold the lead of the new dog.
Never walk the dog outside of your garden unless it is on a lead.
Be aware that a nervous dog can rush passed you through an open door.
Make sure your fences/walls are at least 2 metres high and without flat tops that a dog could climb up and stand on to escape.