18) FOR * ALL * RESCUE DOGS: Honest Self Assessments Prior to Adoption - Part 7 of 9: Preparing Your GARDEN for Your New Dog & a Homecheck.

This time, we will be focussing on the preparations needed for your new Romanian, overseas or U.K. rescue dog & the preparations needed for your homecheck, specifically for your garden/s.

It's important to note here that no two homechecks will ever be the same & the elements considered will depend on the criteria of the individual rescue, the individual homechecker, &/or it might also depend on the dog you're interested in, if they have any special requirements.

Here we intend to cover the main aspects, which will not only help you to reflect & prepare, but may also help you with the actual homecheck.

This article hasn't been produced as any kind of 'cheat'. It is hoped that, by considering how your home & garden should be, this article might help you to consider further whether or not you feel ready &/or able to foster or adopt a dog at this time.

What do we mean by this? Well, you might not have considered the security of your garden or the fence height around your garden, for instance, & you might be unwilling or unable to make the necessary repairs or replace fencing. If you are unwilling or unable to make your house & garden new dog ready, then maybe now isn't the right time to foster or adopt a new dog. So, this article might in fact help you to make a firm decision on whether or not you want to go ahead with rehoming a dog at this time.

Similarly, you should be able to get an idea of whether an application will in fact be worthwhile - from the rescue's perspective. Nobody wants to waste their own time or the time of others, particularly a rescue's time, where most of the staff are probably volunteers with a life outside of dog rescue. 

Ask yourself, is there any point in applying if you think your application might fail at the homecheck stage? Not really. Is there any point in applying if you're not willing or able to follow the rescue's recommendations, in order to foster or adopt, which might cost you time & money to rectify? Not really. 

If however, you would do absolutely anything possible to rehome a dog, then this article is perfect for you.

But please remember that this article only looks at some common & generic aspects & is by no means exhaustive or representative of every rescue &/or homechecker's criterion.

Once you choose a rescue to foster or adopt from, or indeed choose a shortlist of rescues, you can then approach them individually to establish their individual requirements. Most, for example, will have a fence height requirement & for good reason.

In this mini three parter, "Preparing Your GARDEN & HOME..." & also, "Case Studies - Mitigating & Managing Risks"; we also aim to help you find workable management solutions to a number of possible issues that you may encounter, so stay tuned.

📣 Before we go any further, are you the homeowner? If not & you rent your property, you will be required to seek permission from the person who owns your home. Most rescues will require this in writing, so before you apply for a dog, please obtain the necessary written permission, if this applies. 📣

Let's start with your garden environments as these spaces need to be ultra secure. Most rescues will require you to have a secure garden & for good reason.

Please have a pen & paper ready... (old-skool is the best 😆)...

Some rescues will assess both the front (where there is one) & back gardens. We will address the risks of front door/s later but have a think about the front of your house now. 

🐶 Does the front door open straight onto the street level? If so, does it open onto a footpath or straight out onto a road? Is the road busy, either most of the day or for part of the day? Is there a porch?

🐶 Do you have a garden &/or driveway before the street level? 

🐶 Is there any shared access to the front with a neighbour or another person? If so, does the shared access only apply to the front or does it include shared access to the rear also? Does anyone requiring shared access across your garden own dogs, cats, or other pets/animals (who might also use the shared access) & do they have any children? If so, how old are the children?

🐶 Is the front garden & driveway gated off? Are all gates made of closed wood or metal panels or are they the gappy metal/wooden railing type? Do they close securely on a latch? Are they lockable? How tall are the gates? Are there any gaps below the gates? Could any gaps allow for escape?

🐶 Is your front garden completely fenced off &/or walled off? Are all fences made of closed wood panels or similar, or are they the gappy metal railing type or wooden picket fence type? How high are these? Are there any gaps below the fencing? Could any gaps in the fencing &/or below it allow for escape? Please note: segregating hedges & shrubs may not be deemed a suitable enough boundary on their own, as they can become thin & patchy in places due to age & during the colder winter months.

🐶 Are all fences, walls, & gates in a good state of repair? Are there any holes or any other signs of damage?

🐶 If there is a road in front of your house, is it a busy main road? Are there schools or other amenities nearby that produce heavy flows of traffic & people at certain times of the day? Other than roads, are there any other potential hazards in the local area, should an escape occur?

Phew 😅 There's already a lot to think about. Try not to feel overwhelmed; you just need to give this some thought.

Whilst you might be saying, "Well, a dog would always be on a lead before they leave through the front door & go into the front garden" - which is quite correct, yes!👍 

What if the worst happened & your dog somehow managed to escape through the front door one day? Just one momentary lapse in concentration or in your management techniques is all it would take.

I would suggest a higher degree of concentration here, by all family members, if your front door does indeed open straight onto the street or road, if your front garden is not fully secure (for example: there are no gates or fence railings or hedges could potentially allow for escape) if your boundaries are lower than 6 ft, & also if your house has a busy road at the front (or one that can get busy on occasions).

Shared access & communal garden areas can present a number of additional challenges depending on the sort of shared access involved. There are obvious security risks involved here, particularly if the back garden, for example, provides access for multiple neighbours; the risk of the gate being left open or unsecured can be a worry. Obviously, before making any adjustments to your garden & its security, you will need to understand the shared access rules that apply to your property. We would suggest that you consult your property deeds & local regulations for clarity. It would also be a good idea to liaise with the affected neighbours. 

You might like to consider making gates lockable & discussing a workable system with neighbours. You could for example consider a timetabling system or a texting system. 

You could also look at creating a secure garden within your garden that only you can access, which won't affect your neighbours access, depending on the type of access & the layout of your garden. That way, you could pop your dog on a lead until you arrive at your secure garden/private garden area, where they can then have some secure garden time.

Whilst most rescues will focus primarily on the back garden, most will consider your front layout, the roads immediately surrounding your house & they will create a risk assessment based on your layout. 

Here, we can actively help to reduce such risks by talking about in-house management techniques, which we will cover in parts 2 & 3 of this mini series.

It is, however, useful to think about how a dog might try to escape once they have managed to get through your front door/s, how easy it would be to access the footpath &/or road in front, & how risky such an escape would be for their safety.

With reference to your back garden, please answer the following questions (some are similar to those already asked re: the front garden, but please bear with us.) For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume that your back garden will be used as the primary secure exercise & toileting area for your dog:

🐶 Is your back garden completely fenced off &/or walled off ? If so, how high are these?

🐶 Are all fences made of closed wood panels or similar, or are they the gappy metal railing type or wooden picket fence type? Are there any gaps below the fencing? Could any gaps in the fencing or below the fencing allow for escape? Again, please note: segregating hedges & shrubs may not be deemed a suitable enough boundary on their own, as they can become thin & patchy in places due to age & during the colder winter months.

🐶 Does your back garden have a footpath or road running alongside it &/or to the rear of it? Is it a busy main road? Are there schools or other amenities nearby that produce heavy flows of traffic & people at certain times of the day? Other than roads, are there any other potential hazards in the local area should an escape occur?

🐶 Is there any gated access to the rear or side of your back garden? Is the gated access just for pedestrian access, or is it for vehicles too?

🐶 Are the gates a closed wooden or metal type or are they a wooden or metal railing type & how high are these? Are there any gaps below the gates? Could any gaps in or below the gates allow for escape? Do the gates close securely on a latch? Are they lockable? 

🐶 Are all fences, walls & gates in a good state of repair? Are there any holes or any other signs of damage?

🐶 I know we've already discussed this at some length but... is there any shared access to the rear with a neighbour or another person? If so, is there a porch to the rear? Does anyone requiring shared access across your garden own dogs, cats, or other pets/animals (who also use their garden & might also use the shared access) & do they have any children? If so, how old are the children?

🐶 Does any neighbour directly adjoining your garden own dogs, cats, or other pets/animals & do they have any children? If so, how old are the children?

In addition, we'd suggest that you do an additional risk assessment if your dog will eventually be allowed to free roam in your secure back garden. (This additional risk assessment also applies if you eventually intend to use your secure front garden for free roaming.) Please note: initially we would suggest that any new dog be put on a lead to go out into the garden, no matter how secure your garden is. As trust is building, you can later move on to using a longline lead. Also, you should never leave a dog unattended in your garden during the early stages. This is because a new dog might try to escape initially, the settling in stages can be a very scary & unsettling process. So, it's best to exercise a cautious approach. This is particularly true for Romanian, overseas or ex-stray rescue dogs who might pose a significant flight risk at first.

So, have a look around your garden & look for things that might be particularly risky for your dog. Some things you might like to consider here are...

🐶 Do you have a pond or other water feature or source? Is it covered & dog/child proofed? Or, is it secure within its own little fenced off area? Consider how you can make your water source more dog safe.

🐶 Is there any rubbish or debris in your garden that could be removed & disposed of?

🐶 Is there any garden furniture or other items placed near any fencing or walls that could be used to assist a dog's escape over your boundary? If so, re-siting such items away from boundaries would be a very good idea.

🐶 Is there anything in your garden environment that could potentially injure your dog? For example, old nails poking out of wooden fencing, garden tools that could be put away, etc.

🐶 Do you have bird feeders? Consider moving them to a quiet area that your dog cannot easily access.

🐶 Do any of your adjoining neighbours have dogs? Consider how you might manage over the fence 'discussions' & local noise levels. If you &/or your neighbour has a reactive dog, you could consider discussing a timetabling system or a text system for letting your dogs out.

🐶 Where you have any gappy fencing or gates (including gaps below fencing & gates) or fencing or gates lower than 6 ft in height, consider what you might be able to do to make these areas more secure from an escape proofing perspective. Most rescues prefer 6 ft fencing as some dogs may try to escape. Seeking to close any gaps & increasing the height of your fences will be very beneficial.

🐶 You might also like to consider flowers & plants that could prove potentially toxic for your dog, if they can freely access them, & look to plant flowers & plants that are dog friendly instead.

🐶 Whilst we're on this topic, is your garden generally well maintained & free from weeds, brambles & nettles, etc. which could injure or prove toxic to your dog if ingested?

📣 Remember to always schedule in the time to regularly inspect your garden's security by checking fencing & gates, etc. This is a particular priority after windy weather conditions & checks should be made BEFORE a dog is allowed to go free roaming in your garden. It's so important to ensure there aren't any potential opportunities for escape. 📣

There's probably many more things to consider & these considerations might very well vary between rescues & homecheckers. Please feel free to comment below with any further considerations that you feel are important. This isn't after all intended to be an exhaustive list.

We hope you have found this blog article useful. 👍

Next time, we will move on to consider the inside of your home, from a homecheck perspective. Then, in part 3, we anticipate running through some real life scenarios, so you can better understand why homechecks are so important & why it is so important to have your home & garden new dog ready. So, please keep checking back...

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These reasonably priced courses & webinars start from just £25 (& some are even FREE, no catch 😱🥰) & are specifically tailored towards Romanian & Overseas rescue dogs, however some of these courses might also prove useful & relevant for U.K. rescue dogs too, so well worth a look.

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Some topics covered include: 

🐶 fearfulness & social shyness, 

🐶 prey drive, 

🐶 building calmness & confidence, 

🐶 techniques to rebalance & calm,

🐶 reactivity on walks, 

🐶 reactivity with visitors, 

🐶 the quirky nature of Romanian dogs, 

🐶 how to set yourself up for a successful adoption.

The course & webinar content has been carefully constructed by Meesh Masters, who is an Holistic Canine Behaviour Consultant specialising in working with Romanian & Overseas rescue dogs. 'The Dogs Point of View' is committed to following the latest scientifically proven fear free methods.

Thank you so much for being here & for supporting Patchwork Paws U.K. 🐶

We always welcome your feedback, so please feel free to leave us a comment or email us. 🥰

📣 Please remember to always choose no harm, fear free, force free & non-aversive training methods based on mutual respect, trust & positive reinforcement. Please always consider that a behaviour that YOU might find undesirable might be quite normal behaviour to your dog, the behaviour might be motivated by a past trauma/fear, or it might be motivated by your dog's emotional response to something. Always treat your dog with love, patience, empathy, understanding & kindness - even if they do have toileting accidents or if they chew your favourite slippers. 📣🙏

📍 The dog behaviour & training world is largely unregulated here in the U.K. & not all are equal. Please do your homework & always choose a behaviourist or trainer carefully. Look at the methods of training they use & the stance they choose to adopt. Always check their qualifications, accreditations & references/feedback carefully. 📍

🐶 Pictured is our Rodney (aka Hot Rod 🔥) enjoying the garden. 🥰

He was rescued from a kill shelter in Romania with just a few days left to live.