Page 25 - Chow Life - 2025 01 Spring

“The good news is that even old dogs can learn they are adopted into carefully screened forever
new tricks,” she adds. “With older dogs that have homes. ICARE also works with nine dog rescues
had little socialization, you want to in Illinois to place dogs with their foster
start with shorter, more frequent families to help build socialization
sessions. You do not want to skills and prepare them for
stress the dog or create a adoption.
negative experience.”
“New breeders join
Miller’s beliefs about ICARE all the time,”
the importance of Miller says. “We
dog socialization place a high
and the role standard for
it plays in the dogs we
helping to take in. They
rehome retired must be bathed
adult breeder and groomed
dogs led to and current
his founding on veterinary
the Illinois care and
Companion vaccinations. We
Animal Rehoming want them to be
Ethically (ICARE) leash trained and
program in 2022. able to go to a new
place without being
“Our concept was fearful.”
based on the need for
responsible rehoming of Catching up on socialization
adult breeder dogs and “ skills with adult dogs requires
providing the best taking baby steps, Miller says.
match with the Socializing the “You want to start by taking
right home for the them for a short 5-minute
right dog,” Miller walk, and then the next time,
says. dogs in your walk them in a different

“Some dogs are kennel should direction. You can always tell
when the mental stimulation
in the breeder’s is too much.
facility their start when they
whole life, and “Some dogs take two weeks
when they go to to a month to overcome their
a new place, they are puppies fears, and others may take six
cower in fear,” he weeks or more. Once they are
says. “One of our “ confident, you can take them all
first efforts has been to over and continue to expose them to
educate breeders about new experiences.”
socializing their kennel dogs
starting as puppies. A calm, socialized adult female dog contributes
immensely to the health and well-being of her
” The long-term goal of ICARE is to have a facility puppies. “Puppies’ socialization journey begins in
with full-time staff, Miller says. Currently, ICARE utero,” Dr. Valuksa says. “Exposure of the dam to
places retired breeder dogs that are socialized into stressors negatively impacts the immune system
one of the organization’s two foster homes until status, neuroendocrine development and social

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