Introducing New Puppy To Your Older Dog.

[Dave73]

Is it a good idea to bring such a young pup to the park when it is frequented by so many other dogs?

When we brought our pup home, my older boy was outside and I just put the pup down on the back lawn for the older boy to sniff. Perhaps we were very lucky, but they hit it off from the word go and are still the best of buddies.

According to my vet yes it was fine its only a park, yes I know inoculations and all the rest of it but seriously she was there for all of 5 mins. Something I have learnt dogs and pups especially are way more hardy than we think...

[grumpette]

We have always just let them interact with each other out the back under close supervision.

This is Baylee with Dee a few days after Dee came to stay permanently.

[grumpette]

Some more play photos with Dee aged 4 months old and Baylee aged 6 1/2 years old

[twodoggies2001]

Is it a good idea to bring such a young pup to the park when it is frequented by so many other dogs?

When we brought our pup home, my older boy was outside and I just put the pup down on the back lawn for the older boy to sniff. Perhaps we were very lucky, but they hit it off from the word go and are still the best of buddies.

According to my vet yes it was fine its only a park, yes I know inoculations and all the rest of it but seriously she was there for all of 5 mins. Something I have learnt dogs and pups especially are way more hardy than we think...

Cross contamination doesn't need long but I guess if your vet said it was OK then it must be so.

[grumpette]

Baylee was taught to be gentle, but she was allowed to tell Dee off if she bit too hard or was annoying. Both had their own crates where they could go when they wanted some time out. Each was trained separately in obedience, sometimes walked together and sometimes walked apart.

[Bjelkier]

I do the same as most others. Get pup home and put them in with the big kids. I've never had a puppy hurt the entire time.

[tesslc]

When we got Tully Ted was 2 1/2. Tully was 6 mths so I was too worried about her being bowled over but did think Ted might play too rough - especially as he had grown up with a ridgeback and wolf hound. He was fine - he instinctively knew he had to be gentle with her. I sat outside with them for a couple of hours and my OH was on annual leave so they spent 2 weeks together day and night supervised.

I made sure Ted had some time away - usually cuddling with on the couch.

If you are worried about Wilbur's reaction put him on a lead to start with and stand by a door or gate so you can easily separate them if need be. Unfortunately sometimes puppies don't understand the big dog wants space so you need to be able to keep the pup away if need be.

[Simply Grand]

Here a couple of phone pics of Quinn with Sneezy on her first or second day here:

ETA Grumpette, love little Dee peeking around the tree :laugh:

Edited September 6, 2014 by Simply Grand

[grumpette]

Here a couple of phone pics of Quinn with Sneezy on her first or second day here:

ETA Grumpette, love little Dee peeking around the tree :laugh:

There is something special about Aussies and their personalities. They are not as serious as BCs, but have that same wonderful working ability.

SG they loved to play chasey, it was their game every morning.

[The Spotted Devil]

Zig and Em's first proper meeting is my avatar. The first time they met it was much later at night than I had planned and poor Em had a fit of puppy hysterics when she saw this strange dog staring at her. Zig was besotted from the beginning.

[Dave73]

Is it a good idea to bring such a young pup to the park when it is frequented by so many other dogs?

When we brought our pup home, my older boy was outside and I just put the pup down on the back lawn for the older boy to sniff. Perhaps we were very lucky, but they hit it off from the word go and are still the best of buddies.

According to my vet yes it was fine its only a park, yes I know inoculations and all the rest of it but seriously she was there for all of 5 mins. Something I have learnt dogs and pups especially are way more hardy than we think...

Cross contamination doesn't need long but I guess if your vet said it was OK then it must be so.

Well Ive had dogs for over 35 yrs and have taken all new pups to parks or puppy preschool never had a issue, obviously I don't let them go near other dogs I don't know or near droppings or off leash dog parks. Im involved in dog clubs and never met someone who has had a pup get sick from visiting a park... Im sure it has happened but.

[Simply Grand]

Riley was hilarious when I brought Quinn home, he was soooo excited and he kept looking from her to me with wide eyes like he was saying " oh my god you got me a puppy!!" :laugh:

[suziwong66]

thank you all very very much for sharing your experiences; it's given me more to think about how I want to introduce the two

To clarify - Wilbur was bought as a family pet with thoughts of perhaps doing obedience or Rally-O at some point, so he's well trained; well and truly above average. We spent the first two years at a training club and when that no longer suited me (for various reasons), we left and now train independently. He's an incredibly over friendly labby with both people and other dogs and during the first year of training at club we were encouraged to let the dogs socialise together and with other people; it was a disaster for him as he's found it difficult to self regulate ever since - he seemed to think that he had permission to be social with anyone/dog at any time.

His socialisation and neutralisation is constant and vast; i take him out to the city, pet stores, florists, bbq store (anywhere we are welcomed) several time a week so that he can continue to learn to be calm and confident in any situation. He can now walk past a dog that is calm with no problems, but if a dog is barking when very close or lunges too close into our space, (like when sitting at an outdoor cafe and passing dog lunges into where we're sitting to get to him) when we're out he will break from behaviour and find it difficult to disengage when recalled. I've spent the past two years (after realising that letting him socialise with other dogs at training wasn't helping us) diligently training him to try and ignore other people and dogs when we're out. Generally when we're out, if approached, i ask people to ignore him. By doing this over time it's given me the opportunity to lessen the value of other people and mark and reward him ignoring people.

With an enormous amount of consistent neutralisation work he's made progress in leaps and bounds in terms of self regulating. My idea of having the pup in the ex pen with miss21 distracting her while i try and distract him from the pup and keep him focussed on me was born out of getting the most out of the experience as possible. I thought that i may be able to use it as an opportunity to extend his training in self-regulation. I don't want him pulling on the leash from excitement...and I am anticipating that he will be very excited as he's still an over friendly dog. Having a puppy in his backyard might be asking just that bit too much of him to self regulate and keep calm. He is not an out of control dog in need of a behaviourist or trainer - but due to his exuberant labby nature will more than likely get super excited about having a puppy in his backyard.

I don't frequent dog parks; i'm not a fan. Lots of people and dogs get a lot out of them and that's fabulous but I am not one of those people.

I don't believe that we need to consult a behaviourist or a trainer - my aim is to introduce Wilbur to the new puppy with as little stress as possible to the puppy and as little excitement as possible for Wilbur. Reading many of your experiences has given me confidence that, while he may be initially very excitable he'll possibly settle fairly quickly.

Wilbur was crate trained using SG's Crate Games and i'll be doing the same with this puppy. Wilbur had to earn his freedom in the house and so will the pup. I hand feed for the first six months and evacuate on lead to teach evacuation on command. They will not be left alone unsupervised in the back yard for quite a while; that too is learned and earned. For the first month or two pup will sleep (as Wilbur did) in the travel crate beside my bed and then will graduate to a larger crate in the lounge room. Wilbur has full access in the house and sleeps in his bed next to ours. His crate is outside and he willingly sleeps in it if he's outside during the day at all. I spent a lot of time and effort in making sure there were/are lots of enrichment toys and experiences in our back yard - both interactive and unsupervised for Wilbur; this puppy will have the same: stuffed frozen kongs, tug play, digging play in sand filled clam shell, supervised water play in water filled clam, lots of recalling games, crate games etc.

I am somewhat confident i'll raise another fabulous four legged family member that fits in well, isn't overly destructive and is trained and socialised well above the average - I'm not a new dog owner or first time puppy owner...I am new to introducing a second puppy to an over-friendly (well trained) dog and am using the time before pup comes home, to carefully consider how i will do this, so that the new pup's introduction is as seamless as possible AND Wilbur's experience is as calm as possible.

Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences; you've given me some more insight into how I might proceed to best advantage Wilbur and the new pup.

[twodoggies2001]

Is it a good idea to bring such a young pup to the park when it is frequented by so many other dogs?

When we brought our pup home, my older boy was outside and I just put the pup down on the back lawn for the older boy to sniff. Perhaps we were very lucky, but they hit it off from the word go and are still the best of buddies.

According to my vet yes it was fine its only a park, yes I know inoculations and all the rest of it but seriously she was there for all of 5 mins. Something I have learnt dogs and pups especially are way more hardy than we think...

Cross contamination doesn't need long but I guess if your vet said it was OK then it must be so.

Well Ive had dogs for over 35 yrs and have taken all new pups to parks or puppy preschool never had a issue, obviously I don't let them go near other dogs I don't know or near droppings or off leash dog parks. Im involved in dog clubs and never met someone who has had a pup get sick from visiting a park... Im sure it has happened but.

I appreciate what you say and I'm not trying to be argumentative, but why is it that breeders and vets alike say not to take puppies into public places as in parks or streets until around 2 weeks after they have had their shots? That's what I have always been told, not just by one vet, but two or three that I have had dealings with.

[Ranga]

Suziwong it sounds as though you only needed reassurance and not advice :)

[*kirty*]

Suziwong, I would let him be excited. Getting a baby sister IS exciting! But he will get over the initial craziness. I'd just let him go mental and settle in his own time. :)

[HazyWal]

Riley was hilarious when I brought Quinn home, he was soooo excited and he kept looking from her to me with wide eyes like he was saying " oh my god you got me a puppy!!" :laugh:

Bless :laugh:

[raineth]

I just brought big dog out into the front yard (so he was off his territory a bit) and squatted with pup resting in my lap (as pup wasn't used to having a collar on etc) and let big dog sniff him. Then we went inside and let pup down on the floor and it was all fine.

The other thing I did was have a pen set up so pup couldn't annoy big dog all the time.

[hankdog]

I think a pen for escape is a good idea. I have a freaked out dog and it's postulated that since he was the younger of a pair that landed in the pound it's possible that his older mate constantly tried to play with him and since he had no flight option he had learned that fight was a good idea since a puppy. I've been told by a few behaviourists this is a common problem with second dogs.

Goid luck, would love to know how it goes.

[huski]

If you are worried about him being overly excited with the puppy I would control greetings and keep them separated unless under supervision. I personally wouldn't introduce an over excited dog to my puppy - I would only have them together when he is calm. You don't want to reinforce any silly behaviour from Wilbur by allowing him to greet when he is too excited, but you also don't want your pup to learn the same bad habits and that other dogs are super fun and exciting, because that is what created the problem with Wilbur.

Having a pen set up is a great idea, it gives you somewhere to put the puppy when you can't give her your full attention.

What you are doing with Wilbur now is desensitizing him to other dogs and people, his value for them had already been set so it is too late for neutralisation. But your new pup is a 'clean slate' you can start with from the beginning, and set the value for new experiences and people, other dogs etc to the level you want.

Edited September 8, 2014 by huski