The Practical Dog Listener: The 30-Day Path to a Lifelong Understanding of Your Dog

As you allow the dogs to get to know each other, the key message here is ‘don’t panic’. If the dogs grumble or growl at each other, ignore it until they relax. Ultimately, dogs enjoy each other’s company. Given time and space, a friendship can emerge from the least likely pairing. Throughout this period, it is again important to show the qualities of leadership at all times. So everything should remain calm, and you should keep your head.

It is worth stating that you should adopt a sensible approach towards aggression between dogs here. I have seen people overreact completely to the sight of two dogs squaring up to each other and growling. In human terms, this is no more serious than one person telling another to get out of their sight. It is not the most pleasant situation, but neither is it an excuse for the sort of histrionics I have witnessed in my time. If your dogs do threaten each other, you should act decisively and immediately to remove the instigator. For this reason, I would recommend that the new dog wears a collar while it is being introduced to the pack: it is better to be safe than sorry.

Once a rapport is established, let the dogs move closer together. Eventually, they should come up close enough so that they can play together. This is the most natural thing in the world. Again, remain relaxed and let it happen naturally. The more time the new extended pack spends together in this way, the better. Eventually, however, they will have to head home. The dogs should be transported home together. If the established dog is being reluctant getting into a vehicle, you should put the new dog in first. If the situation becomes tense or confrontational during the journey, the new dog should be moved to another seat. Once at home, the dogs must remain on equal status, each of them on a lead. They should be released in the garden at the same time and, while you keep an eagle eye on them, they should then be left to get to know each other.

There is every chance, of course, that the dogs will not get on immediately. You will have to exercise common sense and flexibility here. I strongly recommend that you should make plans for segregating your dogs at home in the early days. Dogs are quick to assimilate themselves into environments: in most instances, I believe dogs can settle into a new home within forty-eight hours. Yet, given the potentially explosive situation that can arise when a dog is added to an established pack, I ask people to be overcautious. I have certainly found that providing both the newcomer and existing dogs with their own ‘bolt holes’ can prove an invaluable asset in the testing early days.

It is vital that your new dog is allowed to stake out its environment, so, if you are lucky enough to have the space, I recommend you build a separate area – a compound, if you will – in which the new dog can begin its life within the home. It should be given all the time it needs to assimilate to this space. At the same time, use the separate ‘neutral’ area for your existing dogs to continue to get to know the stranger now in their midst – always under close supervision by you. The length of time the extended pack spends together should be increased slowly as the new member is accepted.

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