The Art of Introducing Dogs (2 page)

Now that you have had a really quick snap shot of exotic species introductions, let’s move onto the world of domestic dogs. This book was created with the knowledge and experience I have gained over the years, successfully introducing a variety of carnivore species. My introductions of domestic dogs follow more or less the same procedure with the exception that we as trainers or guardians have far greater control over the choice of dog to be introduced—a luxury that keepers rarely have. Choose carefully for your dog’s sake and take the introduction slowly - my two greatest pieces of advice as you embark on your journey.

It is also important to note, that not every dog will want to live with or mix with other dogs. There are also dogs that definitely shouldn’t live with other dogs, based on their past history or experiences. You will learn about some of the things to watch out for as you read on.

While dogs are a social species, early learning, environment and genetics play a big role in who your dog will become as an adult. Some dogs and breeds, despite adequate puppy socialisation will prefer to live a life with humans rather than other dogs once they are mature. If you own one of these dogs, then listen to what your dog is telling you. They are happy living life with you. Adding another dog will not enhance their life; it could well make their life worse. Think also about the poor dog you are bringing into that home, where its ‘friend’ is less than inviting. When I come across this situation, I try to get the people to imagine that they have just been brought into a home where the only other human is less than thrilled to share their living space. Imagine being constantly yelled at, threatened or hit by that person. You can’t escape, you are locked in the house and yard with the person. What a terrible and stressful way to live. Think how hard it is to deal with a bad boss or unpleasant work colleague—that is stressful enough. Imagine if you had to live all day every day like that. Our dogs don’t get a choice about who they live with or even if they want to live with someone else. So we have a great responsibility to them and their future happiness when we make the decision to add another dog into the family. Adding another dog should make their life better and not worse, a very easy formula to apply and base decisions on.

Finally, remember that there are no failures, only lessons to learn and knowledge to gain, and if in doubt, seek help from those more experienced than you.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the people who edited all the first drafts of this book when I originally wrote it in 2010. Each gave me support and encouragement to publish — Sue Bailey, Karin Bridge and Jennifer Frede. Without you, this project would have remained the longest unprinted article in history……so I thank each of you profusely. Thanks also to Ricarda Engelhardt for your gorgeous illustrations and your many, many wonderful years of friendship.

Once the last draft of this book was complete, I sat on it for close to two years after I gave up on finding someone to publish it. The subject matter was too narrow for most publishers to take on. My motivation to publish became renewed when Sarah Kalnajs asked me for a copy of my book — which I had to sadly tell her, was never published. It was only a week or so later that I suddenly lost my beautiful Siberian boy ‘Mekari’ to cancer. Those two events were the kick start I needed to get back out there and get my book finished and published. So thankyou Sarah for giving me that initial kick. Life is too short to procrastinate.

So here finally, is my book. Special thanks must go to Joanne Zerzvadse and Jacki King my trusted proof readers who went through the final manuscript with a fine tooth comb. Thankyou both for being so supportive and encouraging, throughout the multiple drafts of this book. My thanks must also go to my family and friends for their support and love all these years. My passion for animals and specifically dogs has been with me for as long as I can remember. Thanks Dad for putting up with me bringing home every stray dog I found in the street— although I never quite understood why you weren’t as happy as me to welcome them into our family. Not being allowed to have a dog at home while growing up, I worked with animals to satisfy my passion. I now share my home and life with a gorgeous little Blue Merle Shetland Sheepdog ‘Finley’ and my new Siberian Husky girl ‘Sekara’. This book is dedicated to my beautiful male Siberian Husky ‘Mekari’ who taught me so much about behaviour, training and love. ‘Mekari’ was my soul dog. He has since passed away but will remain in my heart and is the light that keeps me striving to share my words and thoughts with others that also share their lives with dogs.

Chapter 1
Getting started - important considerations

Introducing Dogs

This book has been written for those that want to learn about or perform introductions between dogs. You will find this book a valuable resource if you are a professional dog trainer, dog walker, run doggy play groups or work at a doggy day care, boarding kennel or shelter. You don’t need to be a dog professional to benefit though. Nearly everyone who is involved with dogs, from professionals to enthusiasts to pet owners, will have a need to perform dog to dog introductions at least once, but more likely many times in your dog’s life or as part of your dog business. It is recommended that you read the entire book before embarking on any introduction. There is handy and important information scattered throughout the book which you will miss if you skip sections. Once you have read the entire book, you can of course go back and pick out the information you most require.

Luckily for us, dogs are social animals, and if well socialised, generally enjoy the company of people and other dogs. Introductions are so much easier if the dogs to be introduced have impeccable social skills learnt through good early and ongoing socialisation with other dogs. Some of the reasons that people introduce dogs to each other include — adding an additional dog to the household, adding a new dog into a doggy circle of friends, adding a new dog into a play, training or walking group. Whether you are adding a new dog into your clients or your own current social circle, or are assisting clients as part of your business, it makes sense to do a bit of research to make the introduction process as smooth as possible for everyone concerned. This book is primarily written to assist owners to integrate the new dog or puppy into their home with an existing dog. This is probably the more difficult type of introduction as it is long term and continuous, therefore much more attention has been devoted to this type of introduction. Introducing new dogs into play or social groups is far easier as the dogs are only together for short periods of time daily, weekly or even less frequently. Generally the longer the amount of time the dogs will be in close contact the more important it is to manage the introduction process and ensure compatibility among the dogs.

Are you and your dog ready for a newcomer?

So, you or your client have finally decided that it is time to introduce a new dog or puppy to the pack for either personal or professional reasons. The most important question to ask right now is whether you or your clients are ready to take on an additional dog. An extra dog requires much greater commitment, more veterinary visits and bills, more bathing, grooming, feeding, preventative health care and training. Going for walks will also take longer as each dog pulls you in a different direction to the scent of their choice. Gaining another dog also means a whole lot more love and potentially a wonderful friend and playmate for the existing dog.

If there are already one or more dogs living in the home, now is the time to really think about how introducing a new dog will affect the current dog/s, because it will affect them. For good or for bad, a new dog adds a whole new dynamic to the home. Hopefully, with some common sense and knowledge, introducing the new dog will go smoothly and will be the best thing that ever happened to you and your current dog/s.

Let’s have a look at some initial but important considerations.

Firstly, how old is the resident dog? The older the dog, potentially the less tolerant they will be of a newcomer—puppy or adult. Dogs over 5 years of age begin to slow down and play generally becomes less important to them. Therefore, a young or hyperactive puppy or dog could cause considerable stress for the older dog, particularly if the older dog has not had much contact with young or active dogs recently.

The sex and status of the resident dog and the newcomer is important. If you have an entire (un-desexed) male, introducing him to another entire male could end in tears. Likewise, introducing two un-desexed females. The best combinations are opposite sex introductions i.e. introducing a male to a female. Other combinations can and do work depending on the individuals.

Note how relaxed these dogs look for their on lead introduction. The leads are kept nice and loose. The boxer has a nice open and relaxed mouth.

Do you have the knowledge, assistance or facilities to do the introduction properly? If you have never done a successful introduction before, talk to someone who has and preferably someone who has done this several times so you get a rounded view. There are many good dog behavioural trainers who can work with you to plan and implement the introduction to get the best outcome. The resources section provides information on where to access qualified trainers.

It is important to be able to separate all the dogs during different phases of the introduction. Possible structures which can facilitate dog introductions include a house and yard, dog runs or the use of barriers within the home such as crates and baby gates.

Types of introductions

There are many types of introductions. The success of each depends upon a whole range of factors that are specific to your situation and are as individual as you and your dog/s. These factors can be attributed to the overall environment that you and your dog/s live in, the individual dogs themselves or external factors.

Adult to a puppy
Can be fairly easily accomplished provided the dog is not too old and intolerant of puppies. Factors affecting success include breed differences (if introducing different breeds or cross breeds together), size differences both now and when pup is an adult, socialisation history of your current dog and the bite inhibition of both puppy and dog.

Adult to a juvenile
Depends on the previous socialisation history of both dogs as either dog may have had some previous good or bad experiences with other dogs and therefore may be carrying some socialisation ‘baggage’. This term refers to all the experiences that the dog in question has had previously which have shaped or affected the way he will interact with any future dogs he meets.

Adult to an adult
As with a juvenile, socialisation history is a factor. Introducing two adult dogs can be a match made in heaven or an absolute disaster, depending on the socialisation histories of both dogs.

Juvenile to a puppy
Usually works well as both are still young and play is highly important in their lives. But beware as the juvenile can bully the pup or lead the pup astray. It is best to wait until juveniles are adults before adding a puppy into the mix. Get your juvenile trained to the level you always wanted before adding a major distraction like a puppy. The best time to introduce a new puppy is when your dog is 2-3 years of age. The 3 year old has a more stable temperament and should have foundation training under her belt so that she can help teach the new puppy the things you want the puppy to learn.

Male to male
Works best if both males were desexed around 6 months of age or prior to the onset of sexual maturity (NB small and toy breeds can have an earlier onset of sexual maturity than the larger breeds). An adult desexed male introduced to a male puppy can work really well. While un-desexed (i.e. intact or entire) males fight more often than un-desexed females, desexed males can co-exist peacefully, especially if they have an age difference of 12 months or more. For some dogs, the closer they are in age and size, the more rivalry they are likely to exhibit.