More reports of neglect

In 2020 we received 600 reports about people neglecting their pets. “This year we expect an increase of almost 50%,” says Roos Kuipers of the Animal Enforcement team of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). “Just after the summer, we already had more than 500 reports.” We work together with the National Animal Protection Inspectorate (LID) for these reports. Together we make sure that pets are well taken care of.

What do we do with a report?

Kuipers explains: “If things really get out of hand, this will be reported to the LID. For example, via telephone number 144.” Anyone can report anonymously to the LID via this number. An inspector from the LID will then visit the owner of the animal.

Kuipers: “Pet owners often respond in a good way and take good care of their animals again. But sometimes things go wrong and then we have to enforce.” The LID inspector will then contact us. “Then we can, for example, only demand a penalty payment. Or even take the pet into custody in the event of very serious animal suffering.”

Of course we want to prevent this. That is why we started the Care of your animal campaign.

Blogs and videos with tips

Kuipers explains: “During the campaign, we provide pet owners with tips and information to take good care of their pet. So that they also recognize when something is wrong with their pet. We do this through various blogs and videos, among other things.”

Less at home? Let your animal get used to it

Now that many people are going back to the office, dogs in particular have to get used to being alone for longer. That is why it is important to continue to take good care of them. Especially after the corona period. Dik Nanninga of the Animal Protection gives a tip for this: “Slowly let your dog get used to the fact that you are no longer always at home. So go away for an hour and then come back. And you slowly build that up with more time away from home.”

When you consider fostering a bloodhound dog, the first thing you should seriously consider is whether you have the time and willingness to do so. Incorporating a dog into your routine, especially if he is a puppy, implies a significant level of dedication and effort, which can greatly change your lifestyle.

Dogs are extraordinary animals with an infinite capacity to offer affection, but they have a dependent nature and a series of needs that you cannot ignore. The daily walks, the care routine (bath, brushing, nail clipping, and teeth cleaning), as well as playtime and socialization with bloodhound dogs, are aspects that will be part of your coexistence for more than 10 years. And to this, we must add the veterinary visits that may occur, with the cost that this entails.

How and where to adopt a bloodhound dog

If you have already assessed all these aspects and decided to go ahead with the adoption, the first thing you should do is find out how to adopt bloodhound dogs, knowing the ways and conditions to do so, as well as the requirements to adopt a dog. Currently, there are multiple shelters, shelters, shelters, associations, and other local non-profit entities that offer the possibility of adopting dogs of different ages, sizes, breeds and characteristics.

Most of them have a website that allows you to know the different profiles of dogs for adoption (age, size, history, character), and some of them even offer the option that you can filter the search according to the parameters that you have preset.

If the selected entity is close to your town, we recommend that you make a visit to meet the dogs and receive more personalized advice. Think that many protectors offer the possibility that you can walk the chosen dog or foster it temporarily before formalizing the adoption so that you can assess your level of affinity and joint well-being.

Cost of fostering a bloodhound dog

In parallel, the entity will inform you of the cost of adoption, which will be conditioned by the age of the dog you are going to adopt. The average adoption price ranges from €180 (puppies under 4 months) to €100 (adult dogs up to 7 years of age). Dogs over the age of 10 are usually offered free of charge. These costs are derived from the veterinary care received up to the date of adoption, to guarantee that all dogs are delivered with their up-to-date vaccination records, sterilized if they are adults, internally and externally dewormed and microchipped. In the case of taking in a puppy dog, surely the entity will offer you the possibility of having it sterilized by its own veterinarians when the moment of its sexual maturity arrives, for a price lower than the market average.

Steps to adopting a dog

Once you have expressed your choice to the chosen entity, it will implement an action protocol, which usually includes the following steps to adopt a dog:

• Questionnaire to validate your attitudes and predisposition to adoption.
• Visit your home, in order to establish personal contact and confirm that the environment in which the adopted dog will live will be favorable for its well-being.
• Signature of the contract prior to delivery, in which the commitments and responsibilities assumed by both parties are revealed, in order to rule out future abandonments, episodes of abuse, and other aspects that may harm the physical or mental health of the animal.
• Payment and delivery of the adopted dog.

In most cases, the entity will carry out a follow-up during the first days of coexistence, to ensure that the adoption process of the animal is optimal, and to offer you advice in case you need it.

It is common for adopters to send the entity comments, photos, and videos together with the new member of the family, showing their level of gratitude and happiness for the result of the process.

Every dog ​​owner thinks it’s great that his four-legged friend misses him a little. Because admit it, what could be nicer than being greeted at home by someone who is really excited to see you and clearly shows this? Even if you were only gone for a minute. However, this missing should not get out of hand and turn into separation anxiety. Because no one wishes their dog to nervously squeak until you get back and maybe even turn the whole house upside down out of sheer desperation.

The first part of this article contains tips to prevent your pup from developing separation anxiety. The second part contains tips that may help your dog overcome mild separation anxiety. If your dog has severe separation anxiety, it is best to work with a behaviorist.

Teaching your dog to be alone

Signals that you are going to avoid

Dogs pay a lot of attention to details. If you always do the same actions before going out the door, your dog will learn this. For example, think of putting him in the bench or putting him in a certain room. He can then already dread that step, possibly try to resist, and in the worst case get separation anxiety.

To avoid this, try to be unpredictable. For example, occasionally put your dog in the crate with a bone if you just stay in the room yourself. And sometimes open and close the drawer where the car keys are in without leaving.

Just let it build

Build up being alone quietly, ideally you take the first weeks that your puppy comes home or arrange a babysitter. If you plan to crate your dog, begin crate training until he can comfortably remain in an enclosed crate while you are in the room.

Then gradually increase the time your dog is ‘alone’. Start walking out of sight and coming back. Then get something from another room and build it up by, for example, folding the laundry above, or drinking a cup of coffee at the neighbors. Make sure that you are not only out of sight but also out of hearing, so if you stay in the house it is better not to make phone calls or something like that and sometimes really go outside to check whether your dog can handle it. Preferably practice spread over the day. So instead of going through the door 5 times in a row and closing it behind you, do it once and again later in the day. As long as your dog remains calm you can extend the time that you are out of sight, if he starts to squeal you build up too quickly and it is better to repeat the previous step a few more times.

Once your puppy is okay with being left alone for a few minutes, the time you can leave is usually limited only by his need to be walked. Letting him build up on his own seems to take a lot of time this way, but you’ll save yourself a lot more time if you can prevent him from developing behavioral problems.

Tips for dogs that already have separation anxiety

Fade signals that you are going away

Most dogs that have separation anxiety become restless before you actually leave them alone. This is because the things you do already tell them that you will leave.

So the first step is to remove these signals so that your dog is not stressed before something actually happens.

These signals can be the smallest things, from grabbing your coat or keys, to putting on your make-up. Before all actions, first check whether your dog responds to them and make a list of the signals that your dog has already picked up. Then temporarily change your ‘going away routine’ so that none of these signals occur anymore. This could mean, for example, keeping your coat temporarily in the kitchen so that you can leave the house through another door, or having your dog stay in another room when he is alone. Then, one by one, blur the signals on your list by removing the link to leaving alone. You do this by doing them randomly throughout the day without leaving. For example, if your dog responds to taking your keys, grab your keys several times a day, walk around with them for a while and then put them back. Repeat this until your dog no longer responds when you perform that action.

You can work on multiple signals at the same time as long as you don’t do it at the same time. For example, you can grab your coat or your keys. If your dog no longer responds to any of the signals, you will work on them in combination, for example, you grab both your coat and your keys without leaving. Repeat until you can perform your original leaving ritual without getting a response from your dog.

Take away the fear of being alone

Then you can start working on actually being alone. While it takes you to teach your dog that it’s okay to be alone, get a sitter for those times when you need to go out on your own. This way you prevent your dog from having a relapse and all the work has been for nothing.

Depending on your dog, it may be smart to temporarily work with a crate. The advantage of a crate is that it is considered a safe place by many dogs with proper training. The downside is that you have to start with crate trainingand as a last step must practice that it is not bad to be left alone when the door of the bench is open. The structure of being alone is essentially the same as for a puppy without separation anxiety, but the steps are smaller. With a dog that stays in his crate, start by taking one step away from the crate and immediately walking back. With a dog that stays loose in the room, start by grabbing the door handle and immediately let go. Then go ‘yo-yo’; by moving a little further away and returning to your dog. For example, when you work with the crate, take one step away before going back, then two, then three, and so on. Build up the distance step by step. As soon as you are out of sight you wait until 1 minute only 1 second longer, from 1 to 5 minutes 10 seconds,

Tools

Especially for dogs there is an odorless fragrance for sale that reassures them. One dog owner swears by it, it doesn’t work for another, but it can’t hurt There is a good chance that your dog will squeak or bark at a certain step. As soon as he beeps, wait for him to calm down and go back to him. Then you pick up the training again at the first step of that session. So if you stayed out of sight for 5 seconds when you started, you start again, even if your dog only started beeping out of sight at the minute. If your dog has not calmed down within 5 minutes and continues to squeal or bark, go back and stop the training session. Then try to make the steps even smaller next time. If this does not work and your dog continues to panic in such a way that it does not calm down on its own, then this is not the right training method for you and it is wise to enlist help. Practice several times a day for up to an hour at a time. Start each new session just a little easier, so closer to or less long than you finished last time. What can help is to give your dog something to chew on. For example, astuffed kong classic , a safe toy that is loved by many dogs. As soon as your dog can stay home alone for an hour without any problems, he can most likely be left alone for longer.

anyway. This fragrance is sold under the name DAP as tablets, spray, collars or atomizers. For this purpose, the atomizer ( for sale here ) ( very suitable because it provides a constant dose. We do not recommend the collar for this, as well as wearing any collar if your dog is alone indoors, since he has something to do with it. The DAP atomizer will most likely not solve your problem just like that, in addition to using this remedy it is still important that you train being alone in the right way.

Training a dog with separation anxiety, like any other behavioral problem , takes a lot of time and patience. There is no one best way to help your dog, every dog ​​and every owner is different. If in doubt, ask a behaviorist who has experience with separation anxiety for help.