Introducing a new puppy - doesn't always go smoothly!

There have been a few posts about introducing puppies to existing dogs recently. It's something I had a bit of a struggle with, so I wrote a post on my blog about it, with a little video of some of the controlled interactions we had. Ending in a little game of bitey-face we had between Shadow and Squidge this morning!


https://thislittledoggy.com/2017/02/27/let-me-introduce/

 

Hurrah!

Great to see their bond beginning to grow.

 

So glad they're making progress.

It made me a bit sad reading that thinking Luna would be sad wanting to play but I know she will have been getting plenty of time and love elsewhere

 

I think it's been a bonus in some ways, in that she's very calm around them. If she'd been able to be boisterous with them, it could have been a bit tiresome for me! She's had lots of play time with us, and with other doggies, though.

 

What beautiful dogs! And impressive patience with the introductions, I'm sure the hard work will pay off.

 

Lol I love the bitey face at the end when Luna puts her paw on Shadow while she was sniffing him 'would you hold still brother, you smell good'

 

I wonder if it's been particularly tricky because Willow and Shadow are so much of a team?

 

Maybe, but I'm not sure. It's one of the reasons I've done most of the introductions individually (as well as it being far easier to manage), but W&S are very different personalities. Willow is generally not interested in other dogs, so I thought she might get cross at a rude puppy. But it never got that far with her, she just took an instant dislike to Luna. Luna, for her credit, has excellent doggy body language and totally respects the older dogs. Shadow loves the ladies, and is very playful, so I thought he'd be over the moon, but he's very jealous of any attention Luna gets from me. It does seem to me that it's more their bond with me that's the problem, than their bond with each other. Which is why I've done a lot of double tummy rubs, puppy on one side and adult on the other. This is how the games of bitey-face are generally initiated, although Willow has started them a couple of times away from me, which I love.

 

Love the bitey face at the end, she is being very gentle and calm There is a thoughtfulness about her I really love.
I do wonder if the dynamic will change again as her hormones change heading towards her first season? The dynamic has changed with our three, and she was noticeably more assured at gundog training on Sunday.

 

Great to see your patience is paying off.

Makes me realize how easy I've had it introducing Ash to Lucan. We did keep them separate with a child gate between them for a week, then gradually allowed more and more supervised interactions. 10 days in Lucan decided he wanted to sleep in the kitchen with the pup and we haven't looked back since. They're now the best of friends playing tuggy with the toys, lots of play fighting/chasey games and then sleeping cuddled up in the same bed.

 

I'm sure that will make a big difference. I really want to cement her relationship with Willow before then, because that's where that could go wrong!

 

Hopefully her first season won't happen until after the middle of May!

 

Don't! It's a bit of a worry... she'll be six and a half months then....

 

I'm fascinated by the effort you put in - and I admire it.

But it's very different here. My supervisor arrived with our very first pup (Gypsy). Tatze was 15 months old and my supervisor said -" let her off the lead, they'll sort themselves out." They did, and so has every pup since. I've boarded older pups too and the same introductions have been made - indoors every time. The pups, invariably, jump all over Tatze.

I do have to protect Tatze from the worst excesses of each pup when they get to 16 weeks + but all has been well.

Zaba does NOT like small pups, but he lets them know and they are very cautious and respectful with him. Once they pass 16 weeks he tolerates them and even plays now and again. I liken him to a strict teacher who can let up but always go back to being strict again if the whippersnappers misbehave


...

 

I wish I could have done that, but the way W&S acted towards Luna was excessive and would have ended up with her being hurt. We weren't talking "strict teacher", more like "crazed chainsaw-wielding lunatics"! Now, if they tell her off, it's for good reason, and I'm fine with that, but at first, they just couldn't be trusted to behave appropriately.

 

They're all gorgeous dogs!!

But I have to confess to being a huge Shadow fan. There's something about his little face, everytime I see it I'm like

 

Did you see him in my snowy walk video, jumping for pine cones from the tree? He's a dick

Completely loveable, but a dick

 

My two fight over access to me and most of Burke's grumpiness toward Bessie is jealousy-related. Sigh. They get along great now but it did take months for him to warm up, and when she was small he just wasn't having any of it.

 

Shadow has recently decided he loves little (not so little) Luna. He puts up with her pestering him all the time to play, by hanging off his ears and lips. A few weeks ago, he'd have pinned her down for just having the audacity to look at him, but now he sits there until he can bear it no longer - and then, he just gives in and plays! He's such a pushover and teaching her than being an irritating git pays off
They're playing together now like I thought they would when I first brought her home. It's lovely to see, but I keep telling him he's wasted all this time being grumpy when he could have been playing with his new "toy"

 

Yay Shadow!