Last year, I wrote about welcoming a foster pet into your family…
Well, turns out I adopted that foster dog! (Can you blame me?! Do you see that face?!?) Cooper joined my other two pups, Emmett and Lucas, a year ago. He’s been a great addition, but had I known we were going to officially adopt him, I might have arranged their introductions a little differently.
Here’s the thing: Dogs, just like people, can feel jealous. They experience that same sometimes-combative sense of displacement that an older sibling can feel upon arrival of a new baby. The trick is in orchestrating that first meeting – and the subsequent days and weeks – to make sure that new and existing pups feel welcome, happy, and comfortable!
But where to start? Here are 6 steps on how to introduce a new adopted dog to your existing dogs!
1. Start before you adopt!
If possible, arrange an introduction with your potential pup and your existing dogs. While it’s ideal to get a sense of how they’ll get along before you sign the adoption papers, there’s one big, huge caveat. Not all dogs in shelters behave the way they will once they’re home. They’re stressed. Most don’t get a lot of time or attention. Many don’t have much in the way of formal training or maybe even healthcare. Introduce them to make sure there aren’t huge problems, but know that you can work with and overcome many challenges.
2. Meet-and-greet on neutral ground.
Yay! Congratulations! You’re bringing home your brand new adopted dog! As exciting as it is to rush home, don’t go there first. Instead, have a family member or friend walk your existing dog to a neutral location – say, an unfamiliar park or hiking trail. Meet them there with your new adoption. No one will feel threatened, like their territory is being hijacked. Dole out tons of treats equally and give lots of praise and pats. But, again, you know your dog better than anyone else. Lucas, for instance, HATES unfamiliar places, so I would never have introduced him to Cooper anywhere other than home. That’s an oddity, I know. Emmett does much better in a Green Zone.
3. Maintain whatever “normal” is for your family.
So they’ve met. That’s huge. Next up is bringing your new pup home. Even though you know how much your life has changed, it’s critical to maintain normalcy for existing pets. Keep the feeding and walking routines the same. Did you play fetch every night after dinner? Play fetch after dinner! Even if it means your new pup has some crate time or spends time with a different family member, keep your dog’s routines the same while slowwwwlllly integrating the new dog into those routines. Set aside extra special time to shower your pet with attention – and squeeze in one-on-one time with your new pet, too. It’ll be a busy few weeks until things start to fall into place, but don’t allow resentment or jealously to build in the early days.
4. Build those bonds.
This goes for the you/existing pup, you/new-pup, and all pups combos. You need to spend time playing, training, and snuggling with each dog individually and together. You need to arrange (and supervise!) daily play and walks with all your pups together. While I hate to put a timetable on this, experience has shown that it takes lots and lots and lots of time (almost a year for the Emmett/Lucas introduction; three to six solid months for the Emmett/Lucas/and-now-Cooper combo) for real bonds to form.
5. Watch the “hot” zones.
Feed them separately until you know they can eat side-by-side. Dedicate separate water bowls until you know they can sip in solidarity. Monitor play time until you know they can share toys nicely. It may not be perfect every moment of every day, but it can be fun and full of love.
6. Give some wiggle room.
Okay. This may not be advice you hear everywhere, but I say you have to allow a little growling or corrections. This goes doubly if you’re bringing a baby into your house. Your existing dog (Ahem, Emmett.) may not want to share his bed at night. And that’s okay. If you allow him to try to correct the unwanted advance, it may nip the behavior faster than if you step in every time. Of course, you don’t want full blown fights to erupt. But, really, it’s okay to let them work it out amongst themselves.
Bringing home a new dog is an exciting, happy time! With a little planning, time, and attention, it will be as seamless as it is fun!
What other recommendations do you have for introducing a new adopted dog to your existing dog?
How are they getting along now? Check out some follow-up advice on adding a third dog to your herd, along with some of the accommodations we’ve made for Cooper’s particular brand of dog-ness!
These are some of the cutest pictures ever. SO CUTE. Really helpful tips in the post too.
Aw! Thanks, Karen! 🙂
What a beautiful doggy family!!! These tips are so down to earth and helpful. And THANK YOU for being a part of Pet ‘Net!
Thank YOU for allowing us to participate and for organizing a fun event that supports animal adoption! I can’t wait to go check out all the other blog posts!
Excellent advice! I think we were twin (dawgies) separated at birth, LOL! The photos illustrate the tips so well, too. Thanks for posting, this will help new pet owners enormously. (and yep, I voted!)
Thanks, Amy! I’m going to go check out pics of Coop’s twin-separated-at-birth!!
Hooray — great advice! Love the posts that help folks make an easy transition to bringing home another animal…
Aw! Thanks, Leslie! It’s hard to remember when you’re super excited to welcome a new pet into your home, but the transition is all about patience!
A lot of people don’t realize just how important that initial introduction is. Thanks for posting all these great tips!
Great post Maggie! And it’s easy to see why you were a foster failure; those pictures are priceless.
Thanks, Edie! He sure was a cute little bugger!
What a great blog post! Our editorial assistant is sure to follow this advice, as he just took in yet another pup (a small, tiny 9-week-old cutie-pie mutt named Dublin!).
Thanks for participating in our 4th annual Pet ‘Net event!
Oh, how exciting! Hope it helps!
Great post! Our oldest pup, Zeus, had a hard time adjusting when we brought Zeus home. For the first 5 years of his life he was our only “child” and he had our undivided time and attention and he was not definitely not happy when Rocky joined our family. We did most of the things on your list, but we could have definitely done some things differently, like making sure we still had plenty of one-on-one time with Zeus.
Just like Emmett, Zeus would share his bed with Rocky as long as Rocky was not touching him and there were certain toys that were off limits. It took Zeus almost a year to completely bond with Rocky, but they are best buddies now. Inseparable!
BTW, I love the picture of your 3 boys sitting together. Adorable!!! It makes me want to adopt a third pup! 🙂
You’re absolutely right – the adjustment period is tough, but once they’re buds, they become inseparable!!
Hey Maggie! Such a beautiful story. Loved the pictures. I will definitely use this advice when I adopt my next dog. 🙂
Did you get a chance to read my Pet’Net blog post? It’s under Jeff Corwin Connect. http://www.ecomii.com/blogs/jeff-corwin-citizen-blog/2011/11/15/proud-spirit-dogs/
Hey, Lavanya! Sorry I missed your comment… somehow got zapped by my spam filter! I’m heading over to your Pet ‘Net post right now! Thank you so much for stopping by, and let me know when/if you decide to adopt your next dog! 🙂 I LOVE adoption stories!
This is a great post and just what I was looking for. I am strongly considering fostering right now and my two biggest concerns are making sure Honey is happy and finding the time to devote to a foster dog as well as Honey.
If you have any tips on the second issue, I’d be eternally thankful.
Just voted for your post. Good luck!
Fun, Pamela!! Honey will be a fabulous role model!
As far as the time issue, I found two things made the biggest difference. First, taking the dogs on individual walks as well as together walks. It definitely takes more time, but it gives that one-on-one bonding time – in addition to time to work on individual behavioral issues! To make it work, we just shortened the walks, so, for instance, all 3 would get individual 15-minute walks, then a group 15-minute walk. It’s the same hour we would have been spending, just broken up for more individual attention.
The second thing is that I try to spend 5 to 10 minutes with each dog and the clicker in the evenings. Obviously that can’t happen every night, but whenever I can squeeze it in, it’s so worthwhile.
Please keep me posted on whether you decide to get a foster! So exciting!!
I love that picture of your boys on the chaise! It was quite an experience when we added Buster to our family – Ty was NOT happy at all. But with time and patience they’ve become good friends. I just had to show Ty that I’m more determined than him. 🙂
Thanks, Amy! I remember you telling me all about the adjustments you guys went through… you certainly exercised a ton of patience! It is all about determination!!
I’m so glad it worked out for you to adopt little Cooper. Good tips for introducing all the dogs. I think people just need to know that it’s not always going to go smoothly. And if the dogs don’t get along right away, that doesn’t mean they can’t live together. Or if they get into a small fight, that doesn’t mean they can never be trusted. There will be some adjusting for everyone. Patience is key.
Yes, Lindsay! The small fight thing is something I struggled with. Obviously you want them to get along, but it’s not going to be smooth sailing all the time. I certainly got into the occasional fight with my brother and sister! 🙂
I LOVE this article. I just fostered my first puppy, and it was so hard to let her go, but we know she’s making another home as happy as she made ours! Our dog, Khloe, LOVED her, but was a little unsure the first couple days. I will keep all these in mind for our next foster!
I would love to know if you know what kind of dog Emmett is! My Khloe looks IDENTICAL! We have no idea what she is, but she’s the best dog anyone could ever ask for!
That’s so sweet, Megan! Congrats on finding your first foster a forever home!
The best we can tell is that Emmett is a Staffordshire bull terrier/Plott mix. Hope that helps!
I love this…so much! Your photos are precious! You made my day! I have five Bichons and yes…we’ve definitely had jealousy issues. My husband and I started taking them on trips (alone time) with each of them in the car to run an errand and I think it makes them feel special! What a boring world this would be without our beloved pets!
That is a FANTASTIC idea!! I think I might try one-on-one errand time with these guys! Thanks for sharing!
Great post with really solid advice, especially the bit about letting them “work it out” — growling is a normal canine behavior and dogs need to be able to communicate with each other. I really appreciated the photos you provided… adorable and so much better than stock photos! Cooper is really stinkin’ cute, too!
We just adopted a Pit Bull/Lab mix, Chloe. She’s lived in the shelter her entire life. She’s very submissive, it seems. However, my dachsund kept barking at her and tried to take a toy from her. The new dog, Chloe, attacked the dachsund. She didn’t hurt her, and when I screamed, Chloe stopped. But it was very upsetting. What can I do to make sure that my dachsund is safe, but also that Chloe isn’t provoked?
Resource guarding is really common. It’s something my guys struggle with, particularly between Lucas and Cooper with a highly-coveted toy. Sometimes dogs will work it out among themselves after a few skirmishes. If it doesn’t seem to be getting better on its own, remember that it takes time and consistency to get rid of this as a problem. Allow each dog to have his her her own “turn” with a toy, then offer the toy to the other dog after a few minutes for a turn. Take away toys that cause problems – for example, my guys only have problems over stuffed squeaky toys, so I take them away when I’m not around or when play escalates too much. Good luck!
HI, I really love all your great advice. we have two dogs a male 1 yr old red nose pit biull and a female American Staffordshire they both love other dogs, however we just adopted a 3 yr old red nose pit bull female from a kill shelter in NY. A rescue group pulled her a day prior to killing her did a home visit (without the new dog) and days later we recieved her. She doesnt seem to like dogs at all, she grould and shows her teeth very aggressively and she will attack if take off leash or uncrated. So we are crating and rotaing so she may have time to adjust in the new environment. This is our third day and we are now able to have her in the crate in the main room so that she can get to see our other dogs more, she did snap when our dogs were near however after an hour or so, she has gotton much better, relaxed looking around and pretty calm. any advice would be helpful. I dont think a walk out doors would be possible at this point yet. thanks!
Renee
I love your post, I wish I would have come across this sooner. We just became foster parents over the weekend and of course my whole family fell in love with the two that I brought home. My border collie mix on the other hand has other thoughts. She wasn’t so sure about them at first. It took about a day and a half for her to stop barking at them. She now takes on a motherly instinct towards them but she still isn’t herself all the way. I told all my kids to make sure they give Sasha the same love and playtime as before so she doesn’t feel leftout but she still won’t eat. Today I was able to get her to eat half a banana, which is one of her favorite foods. She is drinking lots so I am hoping she will start eating better and be her old self soon.
It sounds like you’re doing all the right things! Giving her time to adjust is definitely key, and all that extra attention from your kids won’t hurt either! 🙂
Hi,
I need help. I have two adult dogs – about six years old – a cairn terrier and a beagle. My daughter just rescued a 4 month old puppy – a lab/shepherd mix. The adult dogs are both males, the puppy is a female. The terrier gets along great with the lab/shepherd. At first, my beagle barked incessantly at her. We kept them separated with gates. We’ve tried walking them together in neutral places. They walked alongside each other. We thought all was well then the beagle bit the puppy in the ear hard and drew blood. We had to pull him away. Now we are still keeping them separate at home. The beagle will still snarl at the puppy. What can I do? Its been a week. Will the beagle ever accept her? Should we wait till she gets bigger so she can defend herself.
Hi, John:
I’m sorry that you’re in this stressful situation. I have a few suggestions, but I want to start out by saying that a week isn’t much time at all. You’ll probably have to give them a lot more time and patience. In our case, for example, Lucas hasn’t been able to be in the same room as our cat off leash, and we’ve been working on it for 7 weeks!
A few thoughts: Walking together is a great idea, but not side by side. Walk on opposite sides of the street from each other. After doing that for a while, walk with the dogs on the outside (so dog on the left, then person, then person, then dog on the right), then SLOWLY – over the span of many walks – bring them closer together. Next, definitely keep the gates up when you’re not there and actively working with them, just for safety. I would caution you to leave them up until the puppy is grown, though, because I’m afraid that they would just develop a ton of pent-up frustration over that time – and the shepherd is going to get much bigger than your other two, so you want them to get along so no one gets hurt. Plus, that separation just isn’t realistic. What happens if one day someone doesn’t latch the gate?
Here’s what I would suggest: Teach the beagle a “look at” cue. If you need to start them on opposite sides of the gate, then definitely do that for safety. Otherwise, put them both on leash. Have your daughter sit with her puppy and give the puppy nice, gentle rubs to keep her calm. With your beagle, stand at a good distance, and every single time he looks at the shepherd, either click (if you clicker train) or say YES! or GOOD! Then give him a very yummy treat. Every single time he looks at her you want to say “look at!” then use your praise word “good!” and give a treat. When he’s good at a great distance (warning: this isn’t one or two repetitions… this could be days and weeks of repetitions), move a couple feet closer. Repeat, repeat, repeat while slowly decreasing the distance. The goal here is to get your beagle to realize that looking at the shepherd makes good things happen! Cheese! Or meat! Or whatever you choose to use!
Be patient with this! In the meantime, teach the beagle (without the shepherd around) a solid “leave it.” (Here’s a video: http://drsophiayin.com/resources/video_full/leave-it_demo1). That way, as you get closer to the shepherd over time, if your dog starts to fixate or move toward her in an unfriendly manner, you can use “leave it.”
I know this is getting super long, but… in summary, parallel walks (NOT right next to each other) for a long while, playing “look at” to reward your beagle for calmly gazing at the shepherd, and teaching “leave it.” Over time (probably a LONG time), these behaviors can really help their interactions.
Finally, I would encourage you to consult a local positive trainer if there’s one in your area. You might be able to have someone come out to your house for one session who can watch you run through the above exercises and help you refine your training.
Good luck. Stay patient! Keep us posted!
Maggie
Thank you for the wonderful advice! I have two toy poodles, Mocha (11yrs) and Cocoa (8yrs). I am thinking about adding a third little lady now that I have purchased my house. I found a cute toy mix online named Lizzy at the local no-kill shelter and started doing research to see how other dog parents handled the transition.
It’s great to know with a lot of love, support (and patience) it can work!
Thanks for the kind words, Freddie, and I’m so glad I could help in some small way! It sounds like you have a really positive attitude, which will go a long way! Best of luck to you… Please let us know how it goes with Lizzy!
i’m adopting a rescue small dog but my small dog does not like her.My dog drools alot and she looks mad.What can I do cuz I want this other dog.thanks
i’m adopting a rescue small dog but my small dog does not like her.My dog drools alot and she looks mad.What can I do cuz I want this other dog.thanks
Great post! Been reading a lot caring for my new dog. Thanks for sharing your tips here!
I have a 15 year old Pekingese. I had another 15 yr old Pekingese that passed a year ago. I just had a 14 year old chihuahua mix pass away last month. He was left alone. Didn’t eat much. Seemed to age overnight. He has never been super friendly with other dogs. Just ours. We have a 4 yr old daughter who is an only child and full of energy. My husband came across a 1 1/2 year old boston terrier/ English bulldog mix that needed a home. She’s spayed and trained. We weren’t looking for a dog but decided it would be good for our daughter and we have always been dog people and a dog family. We brought her home. Did all of the complete wrong introductions. It has been three weeks of hell. The new dog loves everyone, is not aggressive. We have taken her on walks to the dog park etc. our older dog HATES her. Since he has been about 12 we haven’t taken him on many walk because his back and joints are bad. The older one has bit and snapped at the new dog. She doesn’t do anything. She could literally snap him in half. He has bitten us when we step in and he literally growls for hours and hours straight. Even if the new dog isn’t around. We don’t know what to do. We love them both. The older one walks around and looks for the new one and wags his tail until she actually comes to him. Is it hopeless? Did we ruin our chances of being a pack family? Please help???
Hi, Stacie: So sorry to hear what you’re going through. My first suggestion before anything else is to take your older pup to the vet to make sure he isn’t in pain or has an underlying medical condition that might be making him grouchy or frightened (for example, if his eyesight is waning, he might not perceive the puppy clearly). Once you’ve done that, I definitely suggest a dog-appeasing-pheremone (DAP) plug-in to start calming everyone down. Then, start again with introductions! Take the two on a walk together – walk the pup first to burn off some energy, then have the older dog meet you outside and go a block (or even less if he’s tired) with them being able to sniff each other from behind – not face-to-face. In the house, keep them separated by gates if need be, but work on short, positive interactions every day using LOTS of yummy rewards! Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Your dog is so cute! Ironicly he looks a bit like my own dog.
Your new dog is so cute! He looks so much like my dog.
Your dog must be very cute, too! 🙂
I have a ten year old Australian terrier who has been our only dog since we adopted him at four months. He is still active and we are considering a puppy of the same breed so that he can have a friend and help model the pup. We love the male personality and want a male puppy, but have been warned that even neutered males may become aggressive with each other as the puppy ages. Would you suggest we adopt a female instead of a male for this reason?
Really, it comes down to a matter of personality, Suzie. All three of mine are neutered males. Work with your breeder or shelter to really get to know the personalities of the puppies you’re considering!
Did either of your house trained dogs develop bad habits when a new dog was introduced?
this is a great list of tips. thanks for sharing it
Love the advice! I first bought a female Chihuahua when she was about three months old from a very highly professional Chihuahua breeder. When she was 16mths we bought a Yorkshire terrier puppy which was another female. It was total hell for the first few months as my Chihuahua got very possessive of me and wouldn’t let the pup near me:[. But they have bonded wonderfully and now my Chihuahua is 2 and my Yorkshire terrier is 14mths I’m considering getting a small rescue dog about a year old but don’t want my Chi to get all worked up again! Any advice would be great thanks!
Great article with a lot of great advice! I have a 3 – 4 yr old red nose female. I don’t know much about her past, but she’s been with me for a year after spending 2 years in the shelter and foster homes. I have a fenced yard and people walk by all the time with different dogs. She usually does the bow like she want’s to play, but sometimes they can walk by and she just lays there uninterested. However, I don’t know what her reaction would be if they came on “her” side of the fence or in the house. I have a friend who’s pit just had puppies, and I was thinking of getting one. My question is, with her being spayed should I still get a male? I intend to have the puppy fixed as soon as it’s old enough. I know if I do this in I’m in for a lot of work and I’m up for it. I just want to do everything correctly. I don’t want to cause unnecessary stress on her or the new addition. I plan to crate the puppy when I am at work so neither of them get hurt. With it only being 8 weeks the leash intro may not be feasable since it won’t know how to act on a leash. Should I just put the crate in my floor and let them do the sniffing thing? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
Great advice. I’ve just adopted a rescue dog aged 20 months from Cyprus. I have a 12 year old dog who lost his companion last August, closely followed by the death of my husband, so I ended up doing this crazy thing.
Luna is a lot bigger than I realised, and seems even bigger now she has relaxed after being here for one week so far. She is making great improvements. Day 3 I found she was frightened of men, so that needs work.
But the problem is she is jealous of the old dog getting attention, and she is very boisterous and bouncy and as I said bigger than him, weighs about 5lbs more and has tried to join in with his gentle game by jumping on his back from the sofa. Since then he seems to be in fear of her in some situations, he doesn’t want to go up or down stairs when he needs to go out to back to bed. He doesn’t want to get up to go out for a walk sometimes, he’s worried about getting pushed and jolted by her and is scared if she tries to play with him. He plays with dogs we meet out on our walks, even one that is a lot bigger than him. Luna has mad 5 minutes, racing up and down stairs or up and down the garden, doesn’t help Sooty who can’t remember he did the same at 10 months when he first arrived. I love Luna and she is very affectionate, bit too jump uppy which again needs training out of, but a lovely girl and I really don’t want to give up yet and let her go to another home – but I don’t want Sooty to be living a nightmare for his remaining years. There have been a few incidents of Luna going for Sooty over food where he picked up some food off the floor, she didn’t actually hurt him, and once when they were sitting either side of me while I ate she suddenly went to growl in his face. Help!
Thank you for sharing this. I have a 6 year old dog we adopted almost 2 years ago and we are seriously considering adopting another dog but have been worried about how my current dog will react- she is the jealous type that will most likely pout for weeks. Buy I really want to help another dog and am thinking about rescuing an older dog… this article makes it seem possible !
I have an 8 yr old yorkie. About a year ago I lost his mom in death. After three months we adopted a puppy also a yorkie. He looked depressed and wouldn’t eat so we figure maybe a companion would do the trick. Well it’s been almost a year and he doesn’t like her. I wish I would have done more research on adding another dog. He plays with her a little but lately he’s been acting up. Today he kind of bit my husband on the lips, no blood or anything but my husband got worried that Brutus is very jealous of Lucy the puppy. I don’t want to stress Brutus out and I want him to like her and be happy. I’m so sad?