A simple way to understand this process of getting your rescue dog adjusted and comfortable in its new home is called the 3-3-3 rule. This rule will help you understand the decompression process that your new furry friend will go through in the first 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months at a new home.

You can gauge the time it might take for your dog to fully acclimate to his home in threes: three days, three weeks, three months (Drs. London and McConnell)1. We think of that first 3 days (at a minimum) as the initial “detox period” as the dog transitions from the shelter to your home.

Every dog will make the transition to a new home at their own speed. It can take a shelter dog six to eight weeks or even more to fully adjust to a new home.

How To Help Your Newly Adopted Rescue Dog Settle In

1. Keep Calm. Dogs take emotional cues from the humans around them.
2. Socialize Slowly. From the moment your dog walks through the door, they’re bombarded with new scents and sights.
3. Be Predictable.
4. Establish Positive Associations.
5. Forget Your Expectations.
6. Offer Patience.

If the dog’s name was unknown, the shelter will have given them a name. Most shelters are not able to give each dog a lot of individual attention, so if you truly dislike the name, it’s usually not a big deal to change it. It’s likely that he or she may not even respond to the name that they have been given yet.

Actually, it’s easy for your newly adopted dog to learn a new name. Don’t feel that a dog cannot learn a new name, and don’t feel that a dog can’t learn a name completely dissimilar to his previous name. A dog or puppy of any age can learn a brand new name within a few days.

Remembering Previous Owners Rescue dogs, and other dogs who have lived with multiple families, use associative memories to remember all the different people in their lives. You can tell by the way the dogs bark, jump, and wag their tails that they remember their owners, even if they were away for a year or longer.