Many dog owners make the mistake of assuming their dog will get along with another dog. Whether you’re introducing a new family member or a temporary guest, or YOUR dog will be the guest in another dog’s home, it’s wise to be patient and set things up for success.
When dogs get off on the wrong paw, it can be challenging to help their relationship recover.
Introduce the Dogs on Neutral Ground
Arrange an on-leash meeting on neutral ground. That means not in your house or yard, and with plenty of space around. A park is a great choice.
You’ll need a handler for each dog to facilitate the introduction. Keep the leashes loose and let the dogs approach each other calmly. If one or both dogs is unable to approach calmly, skip the face-to-face greeting and so straight to parallel walking.
After a two-second greet-and-sniff, call the dogs away from each other in a cheerful voice. Praise and treat the dogs for coming away when called.
Now take a short “parallel walk” with both dogs. If the dogs are a little stiff with each other or one is more excited than the other to greet again, begin the walk at a generous distance from each other – on opposite sides of a street, for example.
As the dogs relax, gradually move closer until they can walk side by side. Keep moving and encourage the dogs to engage with the environment more than each other until they relax in each other’s presence.
For more clarity on how your parallel walk should go, check out this tutorial on YouTube.
Moving the Introduction into Your Yard
If possible, allow playtime in your yard next. For safety, have the dogs drag their leashes until you are sure they are getting along well.
Watch carefully to make sure one dog isn’t forcing themselves on the other. Being overly friendly and unable to take no for an answer may seem harmless, but the calmer dog may feel forced to escalate and this can lead to a fight or lingering bad feelings.
Should a fight break out, use noise (your voice, clanging or banging pans) to stop it. If that doesn’t work, use the leashes to separate the dogs. NEVER reach in between two fighting dogs – they won’t mean to bite you, but they likely will.
Taking the Dogs Inside
The first time the dogs are inside the house together, keep them on leash and keep the introduction brief, around 5 minutes.
After this brief meeting, confine the new-comer or guest to a comfortable space like a spare room, crate, or a dog-proofed, enclosed area where he can start to get used to this new situation away from the attention of other pets.
Over the next day or two, repeat the brief introductions. Keep them to 5-10 minutes and keep the dogs on leash. If a squabble breaks out, leashes make it easy to pull the dogs apart.
Make the time the dogs spend together as pleasant for them as possible. Reward friendly and playful behavior with treats, praise, and toys – as long as there’s no resource guarding present. Continue to take walks together, or trips to fun places, like the park.
Don’t be tempted to jump ahead if the early introductions go well. Gradually work your way to longer and longer periods of dog-dog time. Keep their interactions structured and closely supervised.
Every now and then, confine other pets and allow the newcomer or guest to explore the house by himself.
Final Tips on Dog Introductions
A thoughtful approach to dog introductions will help prevent your dogs from making a bad first impression. Starting the new relationship with positive, safe experiences and relaxed, structured interaction will pave the way for a stable friendship to form.
Keep in mind, NEVER punish or chide your dogs for acting grouchy or fearful with each other; that can make things worse. Just calmly separate them and try again later.
If you’ve been working on introducing the dogs for two weeks or more and things are still not warming up, contact us for help. We’d love to work through this problem with you in private training.