Adding to the Pack - When you get Home

So you’ve just adopted and brought home a new dog to live and be buddies with the dog or dogs you already have.

Congratulations on your new addition and thank you for giving a dog in need a home and a new chance at a great life.

So now what? Are there things you can do to help the bonding process with your dogs? Yes there is!

 

 

The first few weeks are crucial and can set the tone for the relationship. You want to create positive experiences for the dogs. They didn’t choose each other but that doesn’t mean they can’t become great buddies and playmates.

 

The more positive experiences they have together, the better! You can walk them, take them on outings and treat them together.

 

On the other side, it’s equally important that all dogs are also given individual time as well.

 

When you first get home:

 

• Go for a walk around the neighborhood before going inside to establish a pack mentality
• Introduce the backyard
• Walk into house on leash and introduce each room on leash

The first few weeks:

• Keep toys and bones put away (high value items can trigger a fight while relationships are new)
• Supervise feeding time
• Do not leave your new and resident dogs alone when you aren’t home or cannot supervise
• Have a crate for the new dog if necessary
• Keep the routines of your residents dogs
• Give equal attention to all dogs
• Spend time with all of your dogs individually
• Interrupt squabbles or growls
• Keep play times under control
• Praise good behavior
• Allow down time for less energetic dogs

Rules


The rules are up to you. It’s your house and your dogs. But I’m a firm believer that we have to be our dog’s leaders. We bring dogs into our homes and provide food, water, exercise, play time, training, shelter, health care and love. In return our dogs give us companionship, unconditional love and loyalty. They need and want structure and rules. It’s up to us to provide and enforce them. Remember being a leader doesn't mean being mean and aggressive. The best leaders are calm, fair and assertive.


Effie Arrives Home

 

 

When we arrived home with our new adopted dog Effie and our two resident dogs, we leashed them all up and headed straight out around the neighborhood for a walk. It was pretty crazy as Effie was very excited and had no leash skills. Though challenging, we managed to get around and even ran into a few neighbours who were surprised but eager to meet her.

 

 

After our walk, we brought all three dogs into our back yard to interact and play. Effie did a lot of smelling! Finally it was time to go into the house. We brought Effie on leash and introduced her to each room. We set up a crate in the living room and the bedroom.  It was time for us to eat and for her to rest. We had all had a long day! She whined at first but eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep. We were not far behind her….

 

 

Stay tuned for “Adding to Your Pack - Fights”

 

 

 

 

 

Adding to the Pack - Introductions

Who should you bring with you to meet a potential new family member? In a word, everyone!

It’s very important to bring any dogs you have with you to meet a new dog. That way everyone can meet on neutral territory. And you will get a good idea if things are going to work out or not.

 

 

I don’t expect dogs to be best friends the minute they meet, but I would like to see some potential there. That being said I think it’s a good idea to be prepared to walk away if things just don’t work out. Like us not all dogs get along and they shouldn’t be forced to. In the end you have to trust your instincts.

 

The very first time the dogs meet, it’s a good idea to just start walking them in the same direction instead of having them meet face to face. Doing this provides them with the feeling of belonging to a pack. You can allow them to sniff each other and walk at the same time. 

 

If the shelter permits, let the dogs off leash. Often we hold the leashes with tension and that can influence the dog’s behavior toward each other. You want to encourage the first meeting to go well and the way you feel about it can help or hurt.

 

To recap:

• Bring all your dogs to meet your new potential adoptee
• Walk in the same direction first to create a pack mentality
• Encourage the dogs by using a light happy tone
• Allow the dogs to interact off-leash
• Observe the dogs body language
• Use your knowledge and trust your instincts
• Have a separate area in your car for the new dog

Effie Meets Judique and Bear

 

When we brought our two dogs to meet our new potential dog, we did all of the above. As we walked together, Effie sniffed Bear gently and growled at Judique. Not the start I was hoping for. We continued walking for awhile and then let the dogs sniff each other more. Effie’s butt was presented to each of my dogs and then we walked back towards the outdoor dog run. We had to let them interact off leash. We took our dogs off leash first and then Effie. It was very different for her and Judique off leash. They started playing almost instantly running around at top speeds. Bear interacted a little but sniffed around by himself and the girls let him be and played. That was exactly what we were looking for. We stayed outside for quite awhile watching them. I was very surprised that all the other dogs outside in their runs were not distracting them.  Both feeling good about the meeting, we decided to adopt Effie. We took our dogs back to our car to proceed to the adoption process. We made sure to have a separate area for Effie to sit. We had put a crate in the back of car for her to sit and the other two dogs were in the open space. Judique was not happy to have Effie in the car at first but eventually they all calmed down for the ride home.

 

 

And so our adventure began.

 

 

Stay tuned for “Adding to Your Pack – When you get Home”