Introducing a new pet to your Tribe- Part 1: New Dog

It is almost summer, and this is a popular time for people to introduce new pets into the household. The next couple of posts will help you ease your new member into the family, and hopefully set you up for a happy pet tribe! We will start with introducing a new dog to the family, and then in my next post I will focus on cat introductions.

Introducing a new dog or puppy to a household with other dogs

It is so exciting, bringing home a new puppy or dog! If you already have a dog or two (or more), here is some advice on how to introduce the new one to the family. There are a lot of ways this can play out, but I will pass on a few tips that have worked well for me and my Tribe.

Depending on the situation, you may have already introduced the new dog to the group before you adopted them. You might skip this step, though, if you are getting a puppy and know your current ones are fine with other dogs.

Pre-adoption dog meetings can be helpful if there are any questions about how the dogs might get along, but they are not always needed. I have introduced plenty of dogs into my household without any advanced meetings.

I like to start the greeting process off my property, if possible.

It is easier for dogs to get to know one another when your current pack doesn’t feel like they need to protect their property. You can even start on the sidewalk in front of your house. If that doesn’t work, then start in a yard or outside the house itself.

It is best if all dogs are initially on a leash. It is also easiest to introduce the dogs one at a time. If you have more than one dog in the household and you don’t have an extra person around to hold the other leash, then keep the new one on a leash and do the introductions in a fenced yard.

Greeting- Phase 1

Stand back, hold the leash(es) loose and let the two dogs sniff. Watch their reactions. Look at the body language of each dog. Give them plenty of time. Talk to them, and once they are done with the initial sniff, pet the new one to show your dog that you approve.

Watch for warning signs. A dog that is threatened by this situation will be stiff, holding their ears and tail upright. Their eyes will be wide open (wall-eyed), and they may lift their lip or growl. The fur on their neck and back might also stand up. If you see these signs, back the dogs and give them a few minutes apart. Try again.

If you have a person working with each dog, then you can use treats to reward each dogs appropriate behavior. If you are doing this introduction by yourself, though, I would avoid using food rewards until you are confident that neither dog will be aggressive over the treats.

Once both dogs loosen up and start to show signs they want to play, then go ahead and move to a fenced area (if you are not already in one) and unclip the leash(es).

Let them have fun for a few minutes.

You will know that things are going well when both dog’s muscles are loose, with their ears and tail hanging normally. Once they start to play bow (doing the downward dog yoga pose) at each other then you are golden.

If you only have a single dog to introduce, then it is time to move inside and start the second part of the greeting phase.

If there are other dogs to introduce to the new dog, then swap out your current dog and bring out the next one.

You want to introduce each dog separately first, and then do the group introduction. It can be very intimidating for a new dog to be greeted by a pack of strange dogs. Your dogs have a developed social hierarchy that they have already established; your new dog will have to work out their place in this pack.

When I worked in a doggy daycare, I called this kind of introduction the “Circle of Noses.”

Even very socialized dogs can react badly to being sniffed by a bunch of other dogs all at once! Dogs in a pack can also act differently to situations than they would alone. That is why I recommend doing the initial introductions individually, to avoid pack-behavior problems.

Once each of your dogs have been introduced to the new dog individually, and everything is going well, you can do the group introduction. Stay in the fenced area and add a dog to the mix. Let the new group sniff and play for awhile. Then bring out another dog and let them mingle. Soon, all the dogs should be playing in the yard together!

Greetings-Phase 2

When everyone is introduced and getting along in the yard, it is time to head indoors. Bring the new dog into the house, on a leash, while leaving the others in the yard. Let the new dog explore and sniff around. Give praise and treats!

Then bring in a dog from the yard and do another sniff-and-greet meeting inside. Just like the outside greetings, do these one at a time. Once everyone has been greeted indoors individually, you can start adding the outside group into the mix.

Soon everyone will be relaxing and hanging out together!

Early days tips

It might take your new dog several weeks to really relax and find their place in the pack. You want to keep an eye on toys, food and other things that might cause friction between the dogs.

Try and follow a set routine for a few days or weeks, if you can, so the new dog learns how the family works. Dogs tend to do best when they have a predictable routine, and it makes it much easier for a new dog to settle in.

You might want to use a pheromone product like Adaptil (either the collars or a plug in) for the first month, to ease the situation.

I very much recommend using pheromone products for the introduction period. They are not that expensive and I find that they can help a great deal in reducing stress. I prefer using the Adaptil collars over using the plug in, so that the collars’ effect follows the dog. A plug in has a much more limited area of effect.

Start training the new dog right away.

If you don’t let dogs on the couch, start teaching this to the new dog from day 1. If you use kennels, then begin kennel training. I find it works well to feed all of my dogs in their kennels. This reduces their stress and prevents any fights from breaking out. And it teaches your dogs that good things happen in their kennel!

I always find the first week after introducing a new dog to my Tribe is chaotic and stressful for me! Things settle down fast after that, so don’t worry too much.

If you are running into serious problems with fights, aggression or other problematic behavior, then you may need additional help. If you adopted your new dog from a rescue or humane society, give them a call and see what kind of assistance they can offer. You can also talk to your vet or a behaviorist in your area.

I hope these tips help you with introducing your new family member! Let me know if you have any other questions, and I will do my best to help.

For more tips and information on reading dog body language, click here.