Tips For Eventually Introducing New Dog To Anxious Current Dog

[Staycalm]

We recently lost our lovely old man Alfie to age and infirmity and I am starting the process to look for a new companion for our 5 year old Kelpie/Border collie Gracie. She was a stray and not well socialised, as she reacts with anxiety and barking with most other dogs. She took to Alfie with no trouble but he was the boss man at home here first.

Unfortunately, in the last 18 months poor Gracie didn't get many walks due to the two of them being pretty anxious about being separated, she is a pain on the lead and I had some heath issues that decreased motivation. I have now started her going for very short walks just in the street in front of our house to hopefully give her some calming experiences. Sadly a lot of dogs around here are not walked on leads and there are quite a lot of fence-rushers as well. However I will perservere.

What I would like is some feedback about what I need to know when introducing a new dog to Gracie. Is a puppy a better bet than an older rescue dog? Does the sex of the dog matter? If we go the rescue dog we would be looking at one about 4 years or younger and probably something bigger than the 10kg Alfie was but not as big as Gracie, as she seems to react more to large dogs. We also have cats so that might make a successful adoption a bit harder.

Am I being overly anxious? She's never attacked another dog but then I've not put her in that situation, although she and Alfie once chased someone's terrier out of the off lead park Very naughty dogs!

[denali]

We recently lost our lovely old man Alfie to age and infirmity and I am starting the process to look for a new companion for our 5 year old Kelpie/Border collie Gracie. She was a stray and not well socialised, as she reacts with anxiety and barking with most other dogs. She took to Alfie with no trouble but he was the boss man at home here first.

Unfortunately, in the last 18 months poor Gracie didn't get many walks due to the two of them being pretty anxious about being separated, she is a pain on the lead and I had some heath issues that decreased motivation. I have now started her going for very short walks just in the street in front of our house to hopefully give her some calming experiences. Sadly a lot of dogs around here are not walked on leads and there are quite a lot of fence-rushers as well. However I will perservere.

What I would like is some feedback about what I need to know when introducing a new dog to Gracie. Is a puppy a better bet than an older rescue dog? Does the sex of the dog matter? If we go the rescue dog we would be looking at one about 4 years or younger and probably something bigger than the 10kg Alfie was but not as big as Gracie, as she seems to react more to large dogs. We also have cats so that might make a successful adoption a bit harder.

Am I being overly anxious? She's never attacked another dog but then I've not put her in that situation, although she and Alfie once chased someone's terrier out of the off lead park Very naughty dogs!

Sorry for your loss of alfie.

I would say gender wise a male would likely be better. Female dogs can often not get along well with other female dogs.

Hopefully other with better advice will pop in soon.

[Ranga]

I agree with denali - a male would probably be better. As to adopting a rescue, most of them offer a trial period to see if the dog fits in with their new families :)

[tikira]

You are not being overly anxious. You know Gracie better than anyone else,so trust your instincts.

This same situation happened to us last year- We had lost our eldest dog, and wanted two dogs, badly.

We knew that our border Collie was going to be "stand offish" with a new addition, so we did several things

We took her out a lot before getting puppy.

We chose our puppy carefully, not too over confident, not submissive

He had spent 8 weeks around working dogs

Male, because we had a female already

We bought home scent marked blankets before he came home

We introduced them on neutral graound, ( she would not look at this intruder!)

We made sure puppy was safe, and could be isolated, and that Kira had a place of her own.

We had 3 weeks of ears back, lip lifting and avoidance tactics. We conbsidered our options to rehome the puppy if necessary!

We walked them together several times a day, she ignored him when having fun

We had her sniff him at every chance.

Treats were abundant when she even looked at him. Good things happened when Puppy was around!

We cut Kira lots of slack, she had become the only dog, and had to re-adjust to a crazy puppy annoying her.

Then one day a switch clicked, and she play bowed, and then full on played with him.....it has been nothing but love ever since.

We knew Kira would not hurt a puppy, but had to keep Jingo safe.

Think about Gracie, and plan, plan, plan. Do your homework which you are doing, and trust your instincts. I am sure you will all be fine, but having plans work best!

Good luck, and we all look forward to hearing how the journey for you all goes.

Cheers

Di