# Introducing your adult dog to a puppy



## Mike Schoonbrood

I pretty much know how I'm going to handle my dogs when the pup is here, but the initial introduction is one that I'm a little unsure of... i.e. when the pup comes home from the airport... if I walk into the bedroom with Cujo in the crate and I have a puppy next to me, I'm pretty sure he's gonna go apeshit barking at the pup, n that's not a reaction I want to have... I remember reading somewhere that you should introduce the dogs somewhere away from the home - - does this go for initial introduction too? Should I put my dog away in a different room, sneak my puppy into the bedroom and put her in her crate, then let the older dog come in and investigate while she's in her new crate? Should I take Cujo to the airport with me and let them meet by the airport? I get my pup tomorrow, so trying to make sure I get the initial introduction right... I know Cujo will be fine with her, but if you catch him by surprise and suddenly walk into the house with a puppy while he's in his crate, that's just asking for him to go crazy.


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## Julia Tompson

I think I read somewhere that you should introduce them at first with both dogs in their creates and then let the established dog out to investigate while the new dog stays in the create. We did this for probably 3 weeks because Marsha arrived in heat so there was NO CONTACT. Normally I think they suggest only a week or two.

After 3 weeks we tried to introduce them on leash, but still had problems. The male Ozzy (a small dominant Sheba) immediately tried to attack Marsha, a lg. GSD. She was fine... He was an ass. He has always had little big dog syndrome. 

Since that didn't go so well, we leashed Ozzy to the coach and let Marsha check him out while on a drag leash. If we had done it the other way Ozzy would have just gone after her. Since she had more manners we gave her more leeway. That seemed to work pretty well. She would casually check him out and over time they did the butt sniffing and now they get along great. It took time but both my dogs were adults. I suspect Cujo will have better manners with a puppy. 

I think you need to be cautious but every dog is different so there is no absolute correct way to do it. The only thing I would be super concerned with is that Lyka is still in the imprinting stage... so you want every encounter she has with another dog to be a positive experience. One mess up could scare her for life. 

Ozzy was attacked as a puppy and I think that is why he is dog aggressive to this day. 

PS... I soon realized the real problem with Ozzy was a ranking issue. We had to do a lot of work to drill it into his little head that he was not the pack leader. He is a much better dog today.


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## Mike Schoonbrood

Julia Tompson said:


> I think I read somewhere that you should introduce them at first with both dogs in their creates


I guess my question is -- how does one do this? At some point, Cujo's going to be startled about this new dog in his house, n either it's gonna be a \"look its a doggy!! I wanna investigate and play!\" reaction, or he's gonna mistake the lil black thing for a cat n go absolutely psycho till he figures out that it's not a cat. Now, I know that even if he does go psycho at a distance, bringing him up close to investigate will change his demeanor entirely to a friendly investigative one... but I'm concerned about how the pup will react to having this big dog come into the room n bark at her like crazy... I'd like to put them together, as in, the VERY VERY FIRST interaction, without my older dog going nuts. And who knows, maybe he won't, but if I come home after being gone for a few hours and the first thing he sees is a lil pup walk into his room, it's gonna startle him n he's gonna react to it.


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## Julia Tompson

As you know, I'm no expert so take this with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone with more experience with chime in. 

If you can bring the pup to a friends house and then bring Cujo over I think that is a great idea because Cujo wouldnt know initially that this is your new dog and maybe they could do a little crate bonding during the drive home.

If you cant do that then maybe you could leave Lyka outside in a sort of hidden or out of sight location and bring Cujo outside on a drag lead and do a little playing and gradually lead him to where Lyka is so he can sniff the crate and check her out. Maybe keeping his attention more on you or something he enjoys so he isn't totally obsessing over the new puppy. 

I am so anxious to hear how it goes.


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## Al Curbow

Here's what worked twice for me Mike, leave the pup in the crate in the garage or driveway etc. and let the older dog ( off leash) go up to the crate and sniff around then distract cujo with the ball or a toy etc. Then, move it inside, same deal ( pup in crate), make cujo think puppy = good, then slowly introduce them with cujo on leash in secured surroundings, then take your time and move it in the house. Before you know it your house will be an asylum  , he shouldn't try to really hurt the puppy but just be careful, and ENJOY and good luck, lol,
AL


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## Mike Schoonbrood

Oooooh you're a genius why didn't I think of that LOL I wasn't thinking that the puppy could be crated outside, ahhh!!


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## Connie Sutherland

Al Curbow said:


> Here's what worked twice for me Mike, leave the pup in the crate in the garage or driveway etc. and let the older dog ( off leash) go up to the crate and sniff around then distract cujo with the ball or a toy etc. Then, move it inside, same deal ( pup in crate), make cujo think puppy = good, then slowly introduce them with cujo on leash in secured surroundings, then take your time and move it in the house. Before you know it your house will be an asylum  , he shouldn't try to really hurt the puppy but just be careful, and ENJOY and good luck, lol,
> AL


This also supports a book I read (and can't remember now  ) and which I've used twice to facilitate intros between old dog and new dog, which makes the meeting on neutral ground. Al's idea sounds even better.


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## Mike Schoonbrood

And I even figured out where I'm supposed to be picking her up LOL, I've been playing phone tag all morning trying to figure out where the pick up location is for a puppy. Apparently it takes about an hour to get the pup off the plane and over to the warehouse, so 630 ish in the evening I should have her.


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## Bob Scott

I prefer to introduce them on neutral ground. That helps keep the present dog from getting territoral, wheras, he may feel no need for aggression off his own property. I do like the idea of the pup bieng crated. Better safe then sorry if you not familiar with your dog's reactions to a strange dog.


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## Selena van Leeuwen

I´ve learned neutral ground. You can do both can´t you? First neutral ground, than the crate thing..sounds as a very good method to me!


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## Connie Sutherland

Selena van Leeuwen said:


> I´ve learned neutral ground. You can do both can´t you? First neutral ground, than the crate thing..sounds as a very good method to me!


I guess I was assuming that to Cujo the garage was neutral......and maybe that's not correct.


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## Bob Scott

Depending on the dog, neutral territory could mean blocks away from the house. If a dominant, territorial dog is commonly taken for walks, he may very well consider the whole area he walks in as his territory. It depends a lot on the dog.


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## Al Curbow

Well, i've talked a lot to mike via email and his adult and my older male sound very similar in temperment and it doesn't sound like there should be any problems. I can't take credit for the intro solution using the garage, that's how Will R told me to do it, but i think he was more concerned with my older dogs not getting hurt, LOL,
AL


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## Bob Scott

:lol: Sounds like he has a fun pup comming!


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## Mike Schoonbrood

I'm not too worried about any territorial issues or so, but picture this situation:

2 year old dog in crate for 2+ hours, bored, wants out, hears daddy's car pull up, hears door open, gets up and sits in his crate waiting for the same thing that always happens, daddy walking into the room.... but nope, suddenly daddy walks in with a puppy on a leash! Startled 2 year old goes crazy in the crate barking at the puppy.

So the alternative is put Cujo somewhere else, sneak puppy into the room and put in her own crate, then let Cujo come in... but same as before, dog is startled at the unexpected presence of a new dog so, about 70% chance he's gonna go crazy barking.

However, Al's way of putting the pup on the driveway in the crate n bringing Cujo out to where it's not unusual for there to be other dogs, then letting him sniff the dog that \"just happens to be there\" is a great way to make him realize \"hey this pup exists\", then moving the pup to the bedroom won't be a big deal because he's already seen the pup so he won't go crazy barking, he'll just wanna go sniff the pup.

Cujo's a very social dog friendly dog as long as the other dog doesn't have a penis :lol: :lol: The only thing I am trying to avoid is the very first interaction to be one that involved barking and hysteria, since my dog will already be worked up as it is from being stuck in a crate for multiple hours. I have no doubt that Cujo will be fine with the new addition, I just want the very first interaction to be as positive as possible, not a barking dog scratching to get out of his crate :lol: Al's way sounds very appropriate for the type of dog he is, so I'll go with that. Not too concerned about territorialism, he's territorial, but not aggressively so, he marks his spot and barks at people who walk by the house if he feels like it, but he's not balls to the wall \"get the f**k outta my house!\" kinda dog.


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## Mike Schoonbrood

Bob Scott said:


> :lol: Sounds like he has a fun pup comming!


The breeder told me she's turning into a real lil bitch in the non-literal sense LOL wants to put her teeth into everything, should be interesting, I'll wear a puppy leg sleeve around the house for a few months n just drag her around like that, who needs a leash right.


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## Bob Scott

Sounds like you've got a good handle on it Mike. With getting a bitch, that should makke things even easier. Do you plan on a lot of free running between the two. That's not necessarily the best for human bonding with a new pup. She will choose another dog before you. After 5-6 months, it's not such a big deal, IMHO.


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## Mike Schoonbrood

Initially I was thinking total seperation till the pups 6-8 months old, but I know I won't be able to hold out for that long, I'd like for them to get a few minutes of run time a day in the back yard together or something, but I also don't want to screw up my pups focus on me by having her bond too tightly to Cujo... so how much interaction between them do you think is appropriate and not detrimental to her bonding with me?


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## Selena van Leeuwen

Are they both pets aswell as sportingdog and living in the house too Mike? Or is one or both kenneled?

This is a personal choice from us, also because we´ve few dogs in house and the temprements of the dogs, they are only allowed to have contact through the kennelfence till puppy is big enough for the rough games and running around. Our relaxed GSD is playing with the puppy´s since a month or so (started when they were about 7.5 mo.)


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## Mike Schoonbrood

Cujo is always in the same room as me, and only in his crate (kooi?) when I'm not home. I don't trust him to be unsupervised yet, he likes to walk around the house with things in his mouth that he's not allowed to have :lol: Especially shoes 

I don't know yet how much freedom I'll give my puppy, it depends on her personality, but my dogs will both be treated like pets with probably more freedom than most people give their strict sport/working dogs. Dog training is not my entire life, so I don't believe it should be my dogs entire life either, which means that when the pup is older she needs to be friends with my GSD, I don't want to seperate them in a kennel for the rest of their life, but I also don't want my pup to focus only on my GSD.

It's hard to explain, basically -- I'll make it up as I go along, I can't decide a puppy's life before I know the puppy's personality


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## Selena van Leeuwen

that´s why i asked it, let them meet and play if you are with them in the room. Spent some time with each dog separtly, crate the other. Untill you*re certain about the behaviour of both.

Crate is kooi i think, we use the vari kennels like the ones the airlines uses for transporting.


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## Mike Schoonbrood

I use Precision wire crates in the house, and a vari-kennel for the truck when I go to training so he doesn't destroy the inside of the truck when he's not working :lol:

The wire crates I use are 70cm Wide x 122cm Long x 84cm Tall from \"Precision Pet\".


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## Connie Sutherland

Can you arrange it that Cujo still sees you come in alone and go 
through the greeting and whatever his normal routine is when 
you come home *before* the intro?


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## Patrick Murray

I'm going to venture to say that there is not one way to do it. I'm sure it depends a lot on the existing dog. If the existing dog is very sociable and balanced then it might not matter too much how the introduction is done. Conversely, if the dog is dog-aggressive and unruly then you probably need to be more careful. 

In reading this thread I think there is too much tip toeing around the issue. In other words, Mike, YOU are the leader of the pack and of the house and YOU decide who comes in and how they will be treated, not your dog. 

In fairness to the existing dog I wouldn't introduce the new pup moments after releasing the dog who has been crated for many hours. I would likely put the pup in its crate and let it nap a while; that's what they do anyway. And then I'd take my dog and run the snot out of him. 

Upon returning home I'd get the pup out, let it relieve itself, feed it and spend a few minutes with it and let it relieve itself again. 

And THEN I would put an ecollar or a prong (with leash) on my dog and put him in a down in my, let's say, family room. I would then go and get the pup and carry it into the room. If the dog moved from its place or showed any hostility I would give the dog a hard correction. Why? Because the dog does not decide who can come in, YOU do and the dog is not respecting your authority when it becomes aggressive at another dog, human, etc. that YOU have brought into the home. And if this is occuring then it points out an underlying issue that in itself should be addressed. 

Anyway, after having the dog see me with the pup in the living room for a bit, even watching me playing with the pup in the living room, I would then put up the pup and immediately come back, release the dog and reward him with play. I would repeat this a number of times until the dog can show that it is balanced in the presence of the pup. 

I would then take the two of them for short walks together. Again, the dog AND the pup must be neutral to one another. If they are not, then they are corrected. The pup is obviously \"corrected\" in a different manner than the dog. Once the dog and pup are executing the walks perfectly I would then work on joint obedience exercises together. 

I'm not of the philosophy, at least in this topic, that we must cater to the dog's sensitivities and not upset it. That's politically correct, Petsmart type thinking bullshit, IMHO. :wink: My attitude is that I AM THE BOSS and what I say, goes, period. The dog will do as I say when I say, case closed. If the dog doesn't like...too bad. But if the correct relationship and balance exists in the handler/dog relationship then the dog WILL NOT have an issue with you brining in another dog, human, cat, etc. 

Good luck!


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## Greg Long

While i do agree with the \"Im the boss attitude\", I would not introduce the pup right away.I would keep them apart until the pup is comfortable in it's new home and a bond is started.Later you can work them together and be the boss all you want.


Greg


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## Patrick Murray

I agree with you Greg...who says the pup and dog have to be introduced on day one? Let the pup settle in and get a bit acclimated first, if that's possible. In some situations it may not be.


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## Julia Tompson

I totally agree that there is no exclusive way to introduce dogs... and the handler should use their own judgment and a level of caution that is comfortable to them... But in the big scheme of life... taking it slow for a few days may have huge benefits for the puppy who has just been separated from her mom and siblings and spent maybe a day on a plane. That's pretty stressful. 

I have been reading a lot about puppy imprinting and how every experience is supper important at this stage of the game. One bad experience could have a life long effect on the puppy and her ability to work at the level Mike wants her to work. 

Mike strikes me very level headed. I am sure everything will be fine and if it isnt well then we will all learn something from it. 

I am reading a really informative book about this subject right now. It's amazing how much a puppy is shaped by its experiences during the first 16 weeks. They say this is the critical window of opportunity and it can make or break a dog (since I am not an expert I have to at least consider the advice of someone who knows more then me :wink

I do know that my male dog was attacked in his own yard as a puppy and he has been dog aggressive ever since. He is a 30 lb Seba Inu that thinks he is 10 feet tall and bullet proof. After we got Marsha... and we introduced them very slowly... he became aggressive towards me and my children. I came very very close to putting him down... but decided since I help create the problem... I owed it him to him to help fix it. 

I will never trust him alone with my kids... but he has made a lot of progress.


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## Connie Sutherland

Patrick Murray said:


> I agree with you Greg...who says the pup and dog have to be introduced on day one? Let the pup settle in and get a bit acclimated first, if that's possible. In some situations it may not be.


Hey, good point! I never even thought of that.


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## Connie Sutherland

Connie Sutherland said:


> Patrick Murray said:
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with you Greg...who says the pup and dog have to be introduced on day one? Let the pup settle in and get a bit acclimated first, if that's possible. In some situations it may not be.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey, good point! I never even thought of that.
Click to expand...

Mike mentioned that the crates are in the same room, so in this particular case it might not be applicable, but I appreciate that new idea (new to me!).


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## Connie Sutherland

Patrick Murray said:


> ..... But if the correct relationship and balance exists in the handler/dog relationship then the dog WILL NOT have an issue with you brining in another dog, human, cat, etc. ...Good luck!


Yep, that's the bottom line.


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## Patrick Murray

Connie Sutherland said:


> Patrick Murray said:
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with you Greg...who says the pup and dog have to be introduced on day one? Let the pup settle in and get a bit acclimated first, if that's possible. In some situations it may not be.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey, good point! I never even thought of that.
Click to expand...

Me neither...it just came to me like an epiphany. :lol: We can learn a lot from each other here. But I'm not a pro so I put the \"amateur working dog enthusiast\" in my signature so that nobody takes my word as gospel, it's just my opinion, for whatever that's worth. :roll:


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## Stacia Porter

*Intros*

I wanted to say that we didn't do a very good job of introducing our puppy to our older dog! I have an 8 year old beagle/basset/chow mix rescue dog. When we adopted her we had a 10 yo sheltie. She never had any issues before so we thought she'd accept the puppy no problems. We tried to intro in crates like everyone suggets. The puppy was crated from day 1 while she still had run of hte house. They only met through crate bars or between baby gates for the first month or more. My beagle never showed any signs of disliking the puppy. The first time they actually met it was while he was leash. We got teeth from the older girl!

It's never gotten any better and \"puppy\" is 12 months old now. She growls at him if he gets within 2 feet of her. He got too close when he was about 6 months old and she split his lip open! Nothing we've done has made this better. Psychologically, my beagle does NOT like the shepherd. We think it might be b/c she was attacked while tied out at her first home and lost part of one ear; her attacker must have looked something like Achilles! She's fine with all other types of dogs, even great danes!

So while I have no constructive advice on this topic, I just wanted to share to my experience so hopefully you don't end up with a dog who won't tolerate the younger one. Thankfully my two have agreed to stay away from one another...


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