How to Bring a New Dog Into a Home Already With Dogs

If you're a dog lover, then there's a good chance that at some point, you'll be bringing a new dog into a home in which there are already dogs. In essence, you're initiating a new dog into your "pack." This can be exciting, but it can also cause apprehension in your dogs if you're not careful. That's why you'll want to follow the tips in this article so that you'll be better prepared when you are going to introduce your new dog.

Things to Consider:

• The pack instinct in dogs is very, very strong. If you only have one dog already, you might feel tempted to believe that this dog somehow operates independent of these instincts, but if you continue to believe that, you're in for a rude awakening.
• The dogs already in your pack might be territorial. You've got to establish that this is your turf, and that if you choose to welcome a new dog into the pack, then that dog is new to the pack. This is one reason it's crucial not to coddle your dogs and treat them like friends; you don't want them believing they're in charge of the pack.
• If you're not the leader of your pack, one of the dogs will believe that it is. Keep this in mind.

How to Introduce the New Dog

It works better if you can establish a clear pack before you introduce a new dog - in general, the dogs you already own should be calm in your presence, non-aggressive towards other people, and should respect your boundaries, generally following your orders when it understands them.

Once you have this established, make heavy use of dog crates - you should already have some for your present dogs, even if they don't always use them. Bring the new dog in the dog crate and allow the dogs to get to know each other and smell each other before you let the new dog out. If any growling goes on, step right in and correct it. If you tolerate aggression, the dogs will feel fine with it. If you don't tolerate it, they'll understand that you're the pack leader.

Eventually, you can let your dog out if all of the dogs are acting calmly; it's a good idea to keep a leash on the new dog in case you need to correct it quickly. Remember to intervene if any aggression occurs, and to set the standards of behavior and enforce them yourself.

Photo Credits: TheGiantVermin

This post involves:

aggression, apprehension, boundaries, dog crate, dog crates, dog lover, dogs, good chance, instinct, instincts, presence, rude awakening, turf

... and focuses on:

Canines, Dog Training

Posted by Dog Training Pet on September 5, 2011 in Canines, Dog Training. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.