Introducing puppy to my other dog

[JulieR]

Hi,  I will be bringing my new Cocker Spaniel girl  puppy home in 2 weeks time, has any one got any tips for introducing her to my other dog.

He is  a 12 years young Minature Schnauzer, he is used to other dogs staying in our house as I often look after family dogs for holidays etc, he generally gets on with other dogs including my sons 5 year old cocker but he can be a bit vocal,  he is still quite lively for his age and even a dodgy hip doesn’t slow him down.

The puppy will be about 13 weeks when I get her, she’s coming from a lovely breeder who has made sure she is well socialised with other dogs, plus she lives in the home and has been travelled in a car etc.  I am hoping all will go well just wondered how other people have done this, any tips appreciated.

Thanks  Jules

[vixen]

When I introduced 8 weeks old Ned to 11 month old Maisie, I took her with us to collect him.  This may not be recommended for everyone but it was forced by necessity.  Ned was over 3 hours drive away and there was no one to look after Maisie for what could be over 7 hours (there and back with  stops).  So we just all went together.  We didn’t take her into the breeder’s property though but she had  a good long walk with my daughter whilst I collected him.  She had a sniff of Ned when he was put in the car and when we had toilet breaks.  Then when we got home, we all went into the garden.  Maisie had always been the spoilt only child and for the first few days she was wondering when he would go home     At the beginning we made sure that Maisie still had one to one time with us when Ned was crated and asleep.  WHen he was old enough to venture out, we carried him for a while but when he got too heavy we decided to take them both out separately.  This worked well as they had different exercise requirements and both needed time alone with us.  When you have two dogs, I feel it is important to separate them occasionally just so they are not totally reliant on each other.  Often my daughter will take one dog home for the weekend and I get to enjoy the other one    It was only when Ned was about 8 months old that I started taking them out together.  Yes, it was a lot of work but it worked for us.  Good luck with your puppy and post photos.

[Mudmagnets]

I did much the same when I picked up Rupert - approx six hour round trip and living on our own I could not leave Minstrel that long - especially as he's getting old (loo needs etc).

To make sure Rupert has time alone with me (whether he wants it or not  ) & Minstrel has some breaks from him, I started him with Puppy training classes once a week and homework training during the week. Fingers crossed it is going well.

[PennyB]

I made sure Hattie was happy in her crate with a pen attached which was placed in the middle of where my other dogs are mostly. She was in and out of there all day (I didn't wait until she was tired either). I tended to let her be with the other dogs at 1st out in the yard (as I had 4 other dogs it was easier that way and less daunting for everyone). As suggested ensure a pup is safe and not annoying the other dogs - mine hated her but I needed her to learn how to be with the others just as much as they needed to tolerate her so was little and often.

I bought a pack you can carry pups in - so she was out on walks with them after a few days being with us - I carried in that for 5 weeks so she was raring to go when she could be put on ground
I bought this off ebay and it meant Hattie could go to the pub, walks, local cafe and on train until her vax stage was complete. A tip if you get one like this is to cross the straps over at the back (it has clips at bottom so you can just swap the straps over and keep it like that then just push your head through them to carry pup) & put a harness on them then attach clip inside pack to ensure they are safe. She then went everywhere the others went too


Jasper will only tolerate her and isn't really best mates with her but it takes a lot for him to tell her off and she does push it a lot. She's actually best mates with my oldest dog who she sometimes play fights with (Stella kept telling her off in early days to go away from her but she just got to like her)

[JulieR]

Thank you some good ideas there, she’s not too far away from us so Im thinking we will walk our old boy so he’s had his exercise for the day, then pick her up and introduce them outside in the garden for the first meeting, he is used to other dogs and was fine with a friends puppy, I think for a start we will walk them separately so they both have time on their own with us, I do like the back pack so will look at getting one of those ideal for holidays and days out.

[PennyB]

Re the pack its very useful  for socialising as its vital you do stuff if you can as carrying them on walks with your dog is ideal. I walked 3 of mine and carried Hattie on dog walks every day. She got used to coming out and about as you will often need to wait about 4/5 weeks for them to be able to go down on ground. Socialising pups is as vital as vax. I didn't bother with it once she was old enough to go down and passed it on to another new owner. As I said I took her to pubs, cafes, shops and all over the place. By the time you get to holidays they are probably too big and wriggly