Introducing new puppy. Do's and don'ts?

kristian12

Hi we already have 2 dogs and are taking a puppy from a rescue at the weekend. My male can be a bit cantankerous but settles quite quickly with other dogs and my bitch is just a big softee. Apart from the obvious of introducing them on neutral ground and making sure they are not alone for a few weeks is there anything else i should be doing? I've always had dogs but never introduced 1 into the house where there is already a dog before.

Any advice would be great, Thanks

DBB

For me, one of the most important things is to introduce the pup on neutral ground (is pup vaccinated, or have you a place you can do this safely?), but then to try to keep them together as much as you possibly can, safely.
A common mistake is to keep separating the new pup from the resident dog(s), which means that you have to keep re-introducing them. And re-introductions are always a bit dicey and tense. So, if you can keep pup, safely, with your own two, so that pup becomes part of the furniture, and you can leave them altogether whilst you're out, then it'll all happen more smoothly and quickly.
So, how to do it safely? Pup should get used to a crate, or my preference, a puppy playpen, from Day 1. The playpen allows you to hit the ground running as you don;t have to do as much acclimatising with them as you do the crate.
Some nice advice about playpens are here if you scroll down through it, and you'll also need to register to log in, but this site is just perfect for new puppy owners anyway, so loads of good info for you there!
http://www.dogstardaily.com/taxonomy/term/53

kristian12

Thanks DBB i'll have a read of that.
We have been told it will have had its first jabs. We live on a lane so introducing them outside of the garden shouldn't be to hard.

My 2 are crate trained although we do now leave the crate open it doesn't bother them if shut and the plan was to crate train the pup and only really separate them at night (my 2 sleep together by choice as there is always another crate there unused) or when left alone in the house but as there is normally someone home during the day this will be rare.

I've never heard of the playpen that sounds interesting. I like the idea of the baby having a bit more room.

I am a little worried about feeding as i tend to leave their food down as the girl is a grazer so i'll have to try and get her used to eating so i can pick up the adult food.

ZiabR

kristian12 wrote: »

I am a little worried about feeding as i tend to leave their food down as the girl is a grazer so i'll have to try and get her used to eating so i can pick up the adult food.

Yes, dogs can be very protective of their food and especially when there is a new dog on the scene. My concern over feeding would be that the puppy just wants to eat and goes for your other dogs food. This has ended nastily for me in the past, so I fed them apart until they got used to each other.

Knine

I love the puppy play pens. They are fantastic for new puppies. I have 3 different sizes here. Be very careful with crates as small breed puppies can get feet or jaws caught in them. Don't put a collar on while in a puppy pen as there is a strangulation risk.

I feed all of my dogs separately as puppies & adults to prevent any fighting.

kristian12

logik wrote: »

Yes, dogs can be very protective of their food and especially when there is a new dog on the scene. My concern over feeding would be that the puppy just wants to eat and goes for your other dogs food. This has ended nastily for me in the past, so I fed them apart until they got used to each other.

Yes good point i will feed them in different rooms, my 2 aren't food protective at all and are fine when we've had visiting dogs but i'm aware that a puppy constantly in the house and maybe taking some of our attention away from them can cause jealousy issues.

Knine wrote: »

I love the puppy play pens. They are fantastic for new puppies. I have 3 different sizes here. Be very careful with crates as small breed puppies can get feet or jaws caught in them. Don't put a collar on while in a puppy pen as there is a strangulation risk.

I feed all of my dogs separately as puppies & adults to prevent any fighting.

Its a gsd elk hound cross so not really small. Is there not a chance of them toppling the playpen if they try to get out? Never gave the collar issue a thought thanks.

Knine

I usually wedge the playpen between strong objects to stop it moving. They come in lots of different sizes. You can also get stronger types although they are more expensive.

I use them rearing puppies. The pups much more readily accept going into a crate after using the playpen.

I had one puppy who could escape. She climbed like a monkey. The rest loved their puppy pen.

kristian12

Knine wrote: »

I usually wedge the playpen between strong objects to stop it moving. They come in lots of different sizes. You can also get stronger types although they are more expensive.

I use them rearing puppies. The pups much more readily accept going into a crate after using the playpen.

I had one puppy who could escape. She climbed like a monkey. The rest loved their puppy pen.

Haha i can just imagine the sight. I was hoping the crate training wouldn't be to bad and she'd kinda follow the other 2, but i'm really liking the playpen idea especially as it'll mean when they are walked she can play around with her toys if she wants.

DBB

kristian12 wrote: »

Yes good point i will feed them in different rooms, my 2 aren't food protective at all and are fine when we've had visiting dogs but i'm aware that a puppy constantly in the house and maybe taking some of our attention away from them can cause jealousy issues.

A good exercise that should be done with all pups is to teach them to enjoy having other dogs and humans approach them or be near them while they eat or chew bones or toys.
Humans should regularly walk up to pup at these times and place some particularly tasty goodies into the bowl whilst pup is eating.
Similarly, whilst pup is eating, put one of your adult dogs on lead and walk them past pup whilst he eats, again pouring a few nice goodies into the bowl. Don't forget to distract and praise the adult dog with a treat or two too!
A GSD x Elkhound sounds like an interesting mix! Looking forward to seeing photos.... Hint, hint :-)

kristian12

DBB wrote: »

A good exercise that should be done with all pups is to teach them to enjoy having other dogs and humans approach them or be near them while they eat or chew bones or toys.
Humans should regularly walk up to pup at these times and place some particularly tasty goodies into the bowl whilst pup is eating.
Similarly, whilst pup is eating, put one of your adult dogs on lead and walk them past pup whilst he eats, again pouring a few nice goodies into the bowl. Don't forget to distract and praise the adult dog with a treat or two too!
A GSD x Elkhound sounds like an interesting mix! Looking forward to seeing photos.... Hint, hint :-)

That's similar to how we got the other 2 not food protective except we sat by them when they were eating and touched them or put our hands to their bowl. Then progressing to taking their bowl always giving it straight back of course so they saw no harm in it. I have to ashamedly admit i never thought of adding nice bits to the bowl to make it even less threatening .

I also hadn't thought of walking one of the older dogs past so she saw no threat. So thanks for that tip.

There will be lots of pics taken, mommy and daddy handed in whilst mommy was pregnant. Mommy is the gsd and daddy the elk hound so won't be a small dog lol

tk123

A space away from the pup was the biggest thing for us when our pup arrived in July. My other dog loves to play with dogs off all ages but wanted nothing to do with the pup for a good week - especially after the pup tried to get milk from him lol! The pup is a devil for robbing anything he has both toys and food so I feed them separately so he doesn't starve lol!

kristian12

Here's the new baby

Tranceypoo

Oh my goodness, that pup was just made for squeezing!!