New dog
First week with a rescue dog
Six things to capture while you still can, including the one almost every adopter forgets.
Adoption day is the only time you will have all the information and none of the time to write it down.
Somebody hands you a folder and tells you six important things while you are trying to get a frightened dog into a car. Three weeks later you are trying to remember whether the heartworm dose was given before you collected him, and the foster has moved on to the next dog.
None of this needs to be a system. It needs about twenty minutes in week one.
The six things
1. Write down everything the rescue told you
On adoption day somebody tells you six useful things in a car park: what he was found with, what he is frightened of, what the foster did about the crate. Within a month you will remember two of them.
Do this the same evening. The foster is the only person who has lived with this dog, and they are about to stop being reachable.
2. Confirm the medication schedule
Heartworm, flea and tick, and anything left over from the shelter. Get the dates of the last dose, not just the name of the product, because the next one is calculated from it.
Shelters often send you home with a partial course. Write down when it runs out.
3. Book the first vet visit
Within the first week or two, even if the dog seems fine. Bring the adoption paperwork so your vet can start a real record rather than reconstructing one later.
4. Learn the food they were already eating
Then keep feeding it for a while. If you want to change, do it over seven to ten days, mixing a little more of the new food in each day. An abrupt switch on top of a house move is how the first week goes wrong.
5. Note what scares them
Stairs, men in hats, the car, the bin lorry, being left alone. You are learning this in real time during week one and you will never have a clearer view of it than now, before they settle and the signs get subtler.
Write what helped, not just what scared them. That is the part a future sitter needs.
6. Update the microchip registration
This is the step most adopters skip. The chip is already in your dog, but it is still registered to the shelter, the original owner, or nobody. Transferring it to your name takes about ten minutes online and is the single thing most likely to get a lost dog home.
Find the chip number on your adoption paperwork, look up the registry, and transfer it this week.
Give it three days before you worry
A dog who hides, will not eat, or sleeps for eighteen hours in the first few days is usually decompressing rather than unwell. The widely shared rule of thumb is three days to settle the nerves, three weeks to learn your routine, three months to feel at home. Treat it as reassurance rather than a timetable, and call your vet if anything looks medical rather than emotional.
Start the record on day one
Pet Dossier keeps feeding, medication, vet details and the notes you make this week in one place, so the next person who looks after your dog gets the real picture rather than your memory of it.
Common questions
What is the 3-3-3 rule for rescue dogs?
A widely shared rule of thumb: roughly three days to decompress, three weeks to start learning your routine, and three months to genuinely settle. It is a guide rather than a schedule — some dogs are themselves in a week, others take much longer, and both are normal.
Should I take my new dog everywhere in the first week?
Usually not. A quiet first week at home, with short walks and few visitors, tends to work better than a tour of everyone you know. Meeting the whole family on day two is a lot for a dog who does not yet know where they sleep.
How soon should I see a vet after adopting?
Within the first week or two is a common recommendation, even for a dog who seems healthy. It establishes a record, confirms what the shelter started, and gives you a baseline weight.
What if the rescue did not give me much information?
Common, especially with strays. Write down what you observe instead, dated. Within a month you will have a better record than most owners of dogs they raised from puppies.
Next up: what to ask at that first vet appointment →
Pet Dossier organises information you provide. It does not give veterinary advice and does not replace your veterinarian. For anything medical, ask your vet.