Introducing a New Dog

Smurfette

Maybe someone can help me , We have 2 dogs at home already (male westie and female labrador) and have been asked to re-home another westie(female).All three dogs are neutered.
I'm sure the labrador will take to the new dog but I'm worried about the westie,does anyone know of good ways to introduce a new dog to the others or have any experinces of terriers how they react ??

Thanks
Smurfette

Lafortezza

maybe try introducing them on some neutral ground, like the park or a friends back garden, do this a few times then see what happens when the dogs are brought together at your house?

Smurfette

Thanks for that Lafortazza, but the new dog has got to be moved from it's current location ASAP at the moment she is residing down the country and we are based in Dublin County so don't think thats really an option .

koneko

I've heard this mentioned before but maybe someone here has personally tried it.

Washing both dogs with the same (doggy) shampoo before introducing them, neutral/same smells and all that then. Does this work in practice?

Gillie

Even introduce them in your garden! Not the house.
I had the same situation with an 8 yr old Mongrel and I got a 9 wk old German Shepard. (Both Male) I brought the GSD into the back garden. Then I brought out the mongrel.

They've been fine ever since. So far so good!

Bringing the new dog straight into the house would not be good imo. Try the back garden. Let them sus each other out and just be on-hand in case anything happens!

Hope that helps.

By the way. The mongrel established that he was boss very early on (He's half Terrier half JR). They were playing and the mongrel pinned the GSD in a Playful but forceful manner to say "I'm Boss". GSD understood straight away!

Lafortezza

Originally posted by Gilly2003
The mongrel established that he was boss very early on (He's half Terrier half JR). They were playing and the mongrel pinned the GSD in a Playful but forceful manner to say "I'm Boss". GSD understood straight away!

My parents had 2 of them, bossy little shtes!

Smurfette

Thanks for that Gilly, The westie is definetly the boss in our house and the Labrador doesn't seem to mind this at all but as she is by nature not at all snappy or aggressive I was thinking the two westies may be harder to introduce as they tend to be more tempremental ! Its basically a case of not wanting to upset the apple cart but can't bare to think of the poor other dog needing a home !

Gillie

Bossy but Handsome!

Falkorre

One of the best tips I can offer is,......

Try to introduce them, even if only for an hour, in a field, the kinda place u would take them for their daily walks. Get somone else to casually come past u with the new dog on a lead, and let them sniff each other out an play while u "chat"......

If this seems to be going fine, bring the newbie str8 home with you, then they will see it as one long play-date and will prolly be fine!

Another trick, is just get somone to "visit" with the new doggie and "forget" to bring it home after 2 or three hours...... basically, if *U* dont make it a big deal, neither will they.

The VITAL thing, and this may sound cruel, but for the first week, the newbie must be more or less ignored while attention is lavished on your current doggies. This may sound harsh, but it makes the transition a positive experience for them and reduces insecurity which will cause the problems.

hope that helps, and if not, ill take the westie gladly!

B