Bringing A Second Dog Home
Introducing A Puppy Or Second Dog Into An Established Household
- Do the introduction gradually over days or weeks if possible. If you can, take a towel or toy and rub the new puppy with it then bring the puppy’s scent home and put it somewhere that your resident pet will frequent and be able to smell it. Do this days or weeks in advance. This will also work if you take something that has the scent of your existing pet on it and put it in the carrier you bring your new puppy home in.
- Always introduce dogs for the first time on neutral territory.
- Introduce them OUTSIDE at a park and not in the house or in the front yard!
- Prior to the introduction, walk the new dog on the leash outside. Then bring out the resident dog on leash.
- Make sure you are relaxed, so you don’t telegraph anxiety through the leash.
- Make the meeting fun with a walk and some treats (timed to reward good, relaxed behavior).
- Don’t allow the dogs to greet face to face initially. Walk alongside for a period of time first.
- Introduce the dogs gradually, making sure both remain calm.
- If both dogs do not remain calm, suspend the introduction and resume the walk.
- Be careful to reward only good behavior.
- “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
- Limit the areas of the house where the pup can go initially. Use a pen or confine the pup to one or two rooms or areas until he gets comfortable with his new surroundings. Then you can gradually add more rooms if desired.
- Bathe the pup and dry him with your dog’s towel or a towel you rub over your dog first. When the pup smells like the others, they will be more receptive to him.
- Acknowledge hierarchy by treating your established dog as the alpha. Greet, pet, feed and play with the established dog before the puppy.
- Praise the established dog and give him affection and treats as reward for those times when he is behaving well around the pup.
- Always feed and greet the alpha dog first if you know which dog is alpha! Feeding is easy. You don’t have to wait until the alpha dog is done eating to feed the second dog. Just give him his food first and then feed the second dog.
- Since puppies MUST eat every eight hours because they are growing so quickly, you should also switch to feeding your adult dog three times a day. If you feed the puppy at times and NOT your adult dog your adult dog might resent it.
- Greeting is MUCH more challenging! Always greet the alpha dog first by name and don’t allow any other dogs to “nose their way in” while you are greeting. But you can;t push them away or pull them away to keep them from nosing their way in! You have to claim the space and get them to back up on their own. See my video on claiming a space for more on this technique.
- Consider allowing the established dog to growl at the new puppy sometimes. If you don’t feel that the puppy is in danger of being hurt, allow him to set his own limits with the puppy. They will often work things out themselves. Be careful not to let this become a habit. Make sure the established dog knows that he has limits and that it is not okay to constantly harass the pup and the same goes for the puppy harassing the older dog — set and enforce limits.
- Correct the puppy if they are annoying the older dog and not taking heed to his warnings. Do NOT pull or push the puppy away if this happens as most dog owners do. Instead you have to “chase the puppy away and say “leave it”. Otherwise it becomes a game. See my video on claiming a space.
- Take them on lots of walks together to help them form a pack.
