No dog arrives without a behavior problem. If the temperament is sound, the first weeks are workable, and the transition can stick. Expect a tighter schedule, a mess or two in the house, and something of yours in the teeth. Expect to like the dog anyway. Most of what comes up early is ordinary, and most of it can be fixed.

A rescue dog is ready to bond, and usually bonds fast and hard. Leaving is the hard part. Teach it that you come back. Be casual about departures and arrivals. From the first day, step outside and close the door for a few seconds, often, so leaving and returning are normal. Ignore the dog for about 20 minutes before a real departure, then get up and go. Leave a radio or television on. If you are calm about leaving, the dog has a better chance of being calm too.

Structure helps more than sympathy. The week you want to over-pamper is the week to set clear limits, a schedule, and a rule for what pleases you and what does not. Do not let the dog run every interaction. Ask for a sit through the day. It is a shared language, and a confident handler makes a calmer dog.

Accidents in the first days are normal, even in a house-trained dog. Do not panic, and do not punish. On arrival, keep the dog on a leash while it sniffs the house, then take it straight outside to the place you want it to use. Clean messes with an odor neutralizer. Be there when it goes in the right place, and reward that. Dogs learn the spot by repetition.

On walks, use the six-foot rule. Leave at least six feet between your dog and any dog you meet. It lowers the chance of a fight and cuts down disease. Many owners will steer their dog in for a nose-to-nose greeting. That greeting is stressful for a lot of dogs, which usually meet at an angle, and it is a bad idea with a rescue whose history you do not fully know.

Cross the street, or take a wide arc around an oncoming walker. Most people read that as a no. If you cannot, say plainly that you are walking a rescue and the dogs should not meet. Say it louder if the other dog is off leash or on a retractable. Keep your dog at your side, not at the end of the line, and use your body as a block. If you cannot avoid the pass, stay calm, walk between the two dogs, and move through. Talk to your dog and use a treat so the attention stays on you.

Do not use a retractable leash. You cannot control the dog on one, and the line tangles and breaks.