1) Routine.
It will help the dog to adjust if you set up a routine so the dog learns to expect food, walks, training and play at about the same time every day. It is also important to decide right from the beginning what the dog will be allowed to do and not do. For example, if the dog has been used to getting up on furniture and you do not wish this, it should gently be removed every time it gets up and told "No".
2) Feeding.
If food has always been available, change to one or two meals a day so these become something the dog looks forward to and welcomes you as the food giver. Save part of the day's ration as rewards.
3) Exercise.
Walks on a leash are dull and time consuming; instead consider a series of low jumps in the garden, a stick or rags hanging by a rope from a tree branch or runs in wild areas with the dog trailing a 30 foot nylon rope so it can easily be caught.
4) Training.
Training is of extreme importance, firstly to distract the dog from its grief and secondly to establish a new and firm bond to you, the caregiver.
The time involved can be very short, say 5 or 10 minutes twice a day. Make the dog work for treats (old cheddar cheese works well for most dogs) and generous praise. There will be certain commands the dog already knows but the training will only be of interest to both of you if you build on this. For example, a dog who knows how to sit could be taught to climb on a kitchen step stool and sit when told to be a statue. A dog that retrieves could be asked to jump a few low obstacles on the way to the ball and back. A dog that plays hide and seek for food could be taught to lift the lid to find it in a saucepan.
Besides these nonsense commands also include the basic sit, down, stay and come, especially working to get immediate obedience to the recall, first in the house, then yard, then on walks. Always give the dog one clear command: "ROVER, COME", and crouch down. Have a nylon rope in your hand before you call and if the dog does not respond, pull it to you hand over hand, tell it to sit and then reward with praise and treats. At first never call the dog if you think it might disobey you but go and fetch it. Out-of-doors at first you might have to tie the end of the line round your waist. Call the dog when it is no longer paying attention to you and do not reward if the dog pretends it heard you call and rushes to your side. When you are getting an immediate response you can let the rope trail but stay close to the end of it. Once the dog can be trusted to come when called he can have the fun of running free in wild places which will help him overcome his unhappiness.
Every time a dog obeys you and is rewarded for doing so, he is acknowledging you as his leader, someone he can trust, someone that will make decisions for him just as the leader of a pack of wolves (or dogs) decides whether the pack will attack or flee from anything strange. With this leadership role the dog will accept that if you are relaxed in new surroundings and in meeting new people or animals, he can be relaxed as well. Now the comfort you offer the dog will have a meaning that it did not have before and might never have if you do not assume this important position in the dog's life.
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