Adopting a new dog to your home could bring more joy and fun to you and your family. At the same time, we have to make sure that your present dominant dog is showing a welcoming attitude to share the home with your new doggie.
Initial interactions between resident dogs and new dogs could be unpredictable. Due to this, such introductions should be planned with great care and alertness. As they both going to live inside the same house. Each step of their interaction plays a vital role in maintaining a good relationship between them.
There are huge deciding factors during introduction like species, temperament, age of the dogs, etc.
Prerequisites for Introducing a New Dog
Before introducing your new dog or puppy to your home, keep anything your resident dog may look for around there. This includes food bowls, bones, beds, and toys. Ensure that the new dog has a different living area with his own essential things. This helps to prevent the fight between the dogs for toys or treats during the initial days at home.
Be patient till the end of the training activity. If you feel your previous dog is very aggressive by nature, get help from any third-party organizations. These organizations look after dog care and behavior.
Make sure to feed your dogs on time and keep them in a fun-loving environment. This helps to prevent an unnecessary clash between them.
Brush and groom your dogs and keep them clean and tidy so that your pooch could get a nice impression from other dogs quickly.
How to introduce dogs to each other?
Following are some of the best ways to introduce dogs to each other step by step.
1. Find an open place to make introductions
Find an open area with adequate space for the dogs to roam around on leash so they can become acquainted with each other easily. If such places are not accessible, a large garage or basement is sufficient.
Set aside whatever may cause a fight between the dogs in that open area like dog toys, bones, beds, and empty food bowls. An old bone may all of a sudden become a precious one for your old dog if your new dog looks into it. This will be the suitable place where the new dogs should be introduced.
2. Go for a short walk with dogs on leash
Once you find the neutral spot, keep your dogs away from each other and take them for a walk on a leash in that area. It doesn’t make any difference if the new dog is going in front or back.
You can change positions once in a while but don’t make the dogs reach close together. This allows the dogs to get comfortable with one another without high risk or strain. Don’t punish if your dogs are not behaving well. It will increase the distance between them until the dogs calm down. Afterward gradually begins to reduce the distance between them. Make sure to adulate your dog and promise them that the other dog isn’t a danger.
3. Watch for positive dog body language
Since the introduction between the dogs begins on the leash, keep a close eye on them. They may show positive signs, that will help you to find how they react to your training.
Sometimes dogs express themselves in tail-wagging languages. Make sure they interact with each other without tense postures, hard stares, or a tucked tail.
Look for signs that one dog is attempting to move away, which are regularly missed by the dog owners. If the dog is coming over to you then don’t push them towards the other dog immediately, because he is coming over to you due to fear and distress. Give them some time and slowly engage them in the introduction training process.
Permit the dogs to explore potty spots. Since pee sniffing is one of the manners in which dogs get information about different dogs. Dog handlers should stay silent and keep their hold on the dog chain as loose as possible.
If they show rough social practices towards each other, slowly reduce the distance between them while walking. Try not to permit the dogs to come nearer to each other face to face, since head-on is a distressing and unnatural way for dogs to meet.
4. Allow the dogs to interact off-leash
If you feel great and confident about the way your dogs are interacting with each other, get back to an enclosed place, drop the chains, and allow your dogs to interact.
Give the dogs a couple of moments to sniff each other while commending their new associations. Then urge the dogs to keep moving with you for a final, brief walk together.
Now, the dogs may keep sniffing to know about one another, or they may start playing.
5. Acquainting a new dog with your home
Rather than bringing the dogs inside your home immediately, you should have an assistant take your resident dog for a walk. At that point allow your new dog to look at his new living space.
When he’s looked at everything, carry him to an open space of your home, away from the front entrance.
Once done, you can tell your partner to bring your resident dog inside.
Humans getting too involved can make them frustrated which can make them tense and ruin the association.
6. Giving dogs verbal feedback
Generally, dogs in this situation react well to verbal input from people. If the dogs are getting excessively tensed around one another, try saying something like “It’s OK, folks, chill out”. This can assist them to keep their cool and frees them from fear about other dogs.
A cheerful tone like “Good dogs! Well done!” can empower dogs to a great extent. Only credit these words if they shake off their tension and draw in with each other.
When they get excessively excited and can’t offer themselves a break, or when it turns out to be a fight between them. We should step in and genuinely separate them.
7. Keep a close eye on body gestures
AKC has mentioned some of the common signs that your dog might show during the introduction process.
Here are some broad signs to find out about where the co-operation is going:
- Dogs stiffen up their bodies and stare at each other’s eyes with their hair up and their teeth uncovered. They most likely won’t turn out to be quick companions! especially, if they jump at each other and attempt to fight. Separate them and don’t attempt further introduction without a certified trainer.
- Be careful about nose-to-nose greetings. This sort of hello is extremely unpleasant for some dogs, especially the dogs wh feel destabilized by eye to eye interaction.
- If the dogs practice strange behavior like stiffening or staring, try to get the dogs to calm down. If that doesn’t work, you can pick up their leaches and walk them around until they shake off and relax up, and then try once more.
- If the dogs rush up into each other with or without the hair raised at their shoulders and the tail and take part in the noisy, rambunctious play, stay alert. This sort of play can frequently raise to battling if the dogs don’t have a clue how to quiet themselves down.
- If the dogs attempt to play by pawing or play-bowing with their legs loosened up before them, they might try to be close friends. Permit them to become acquainted with one another, and offer a treat for every decent collaboration.
8. Daily care after introducing a new dog
a. Monitor them during mealtimes
Continuously isolate your new dog and resident dog while eating. You can either put their dishes in different rooms or use a dog door to isolate them.
If one dog completes first, don’t permit him to roam around until the other dog eats. It is better that you should keep them separated until the two dogs have licked their dishes clean.
b. Give each dog their own bed
A few dogs are possessive of their resting spaces, so ensure that the two dogs are acting around their beds. Regardless of whether a bed is large enough for the two dogs to share, it’s a smart idea to get a different bed for your new dog.
c. Introduce toys slowly
Provide them with one or two toys after the initial introduction instead of drawing out the whole toy chest immediately. Continuously direct your dogs when they are evaluating another toy.
Search for perky co-operations without indications of guarding, such as remaining over the toy or lashing out at the other dog if he gets excessively near it.
d. Separate the dogs when you’re away
Alone time is a significant part of becoming more acquainted. Whether you’re going out for the day or going for a shower, always separate your dogs when you can’t watch them. This way it protects them, yet it additionally gives them some time to relax to be away from each other.
It is always wise to supervise them together and separate them in the long haul when nobody is home. This will keep everybody safe.
e. Have patience
It will need a long time before your new dog and resident dog get along well. Have tolerance with them as they become acclimated to siblinghood.
Recognize positive associations between your dogs and appreciate watching the lifelong relationship blossom.
Working With a Dog Adoption Company or Breeders
Many dogs are “dog selective.” They love to live along with some dogs but not with all breeds of dogs.
Some dogs are simply “leash reactive,” which means they bark and be aggressive with other dogs or humans while he is on leash. However, they might be kind and calm with other dogs while he is off-leash.
Some breeds of reactive dogs are kind towards new puppies but not with adult dogs. This can make getting back another dog somewhat simpler.
An aggressive dog like attack dogs may not respond to your training at any stage of the procedure mentioned above. Then kindly reach out to the officially trained dog Adoption trainers or agencies.
AVMA has mentioned some of the parameters to consider before selecting a dog for adoption. Tell them what your dog looks like, what works for your dog, and what you’re searching for in another dog.
A decent dog trainer can actually assist you with a plan and track down the activities of the other dog to succeed in this training.
You may look for a specific dog as a top priority or are yet looking. Before adopting a dog make sure to get some information about the qualities and experiences of the dog in detail. This can help your current dog to acquaint quickly with your new doggie.
Credit: Photos by Camilo Fierro, Lucrezia Carnelos and Gulyas Bianka on unsplash.
