Storm has her 2nd jab in Thursday so she will be allowed out next Thursday. So excited! My Mother in law has put the date in her diary as she is so keen for her dog to meet ours. She needs them to get on for obvious reasons. The problem is her dog is a bit temperamental! She likes some dogs but not all. Her training had been all over the place and she doesn't listen. We have been giving towel so that the dog is used to Storm's scent which she is apparently quite happy with. My concern is that storm might be put off dogs for life if this dog is her first meeting. She is not vicious but quite aggressive in a vocal way. Any thoughts/tips?
I'm no expert, and I'm sure more experienced forum members will give you great advice. But logic tells me that your pup's first experiences should be positive ones. Having said that, when we got Snowie, the first place we took him was to our local park where a doggy daycare was run for small dogs (pugs, yorkies, etc). They were very vocal and raced at the gate and barked like crazy at any newcomer. About 8 of them. Snowie immediately backed away, tail between his legs. Not knowing any better, I simply marched in all confident and told him to be brave (or something to that effect). Which he did. And he's been super confident ever since. Not sure if he already had a confident personality and it didn't matter what his first encounters with others would be. But now that I know better, I don't think I'd subject a pup to yappy bully dogs no matter the size.
Introduce them on neutral ground and see what happens. Be ready to intervene if it goes sideways and both handlers need to be relaxed throughout. The dogs will work it out themselves. They have rules they follow and communication skills they use to let each other know how they feel. Wouldn't hurt for you both to learn these signs in advance so you can abort if one of the dogs doesn't play by the rules. There is the potential for Storm to become fearful of other dogs as a result of a negative experience. Perhaps introduce Storm to several other dogs of all ages which you know are friendly beforehand so she knows not all dogs are " bad" if this meeting doesn't go well. There are some good articles out there on reading body language and how dogs communicate. We, as people, often forget dogs don't speak English. Especially mother in laws. Lol. They communicate non verbally using body language.
Good advice. Most important, don't let yourself or your mother in law give any signals that this is a stressful situation! Storm will be following your cues. Be very calm and very happy. Be ready to let the dogs sort it out for themselves. Do it in a neutral area if you can, with lots of space so they can back off if they want to, and be visible so she can come back to you for security if she is a bit overwhelmed. I'm sure they'll be fine! Let us know how it goes. ......
I'd say, postpone that meeting until she's had more positive meetings. When you do introduce them, do it in a neutral area with plenty of space so either of them feels confined. I'd also have the meeting about them interacting with you, their owners, rather than each other. If there's a potential for your mum's dog to be a bit antsy, best she doesn't have a puppy pestering her. Most dogs give puppies a "license" to misbehave, but some didn't get this memo.
Thanks guys that's really helpful as I probably would have been a bit fearful going into it and now I don't need to be. I guess she is also still at a size that I can pick her up if necessary. She has her puppy classes that evening so hopefully lots of nice puppies to meet x
I'd say it also depends on your dog's personality. Our pup's first encounter with another dog after leaving the breeder is our rescue mix, who is quite anxious, very barky, makes weird noises when overwhelmed, etc. It didn't phase my lab a bit, but he is a very confident pup.
I was lucky with Bailey's first doggy meeting - my best friend has two small dogs (bichon frise mixes) and we thought the more confident of the two, Willow, would be great with the puppy. However it was the more nervous of the two, Penelope that took to Bailey immediately, Willow just used to run and hide! We met on neutral ground and now, although Bailey towers over the two girls, they still put him in his place regularly! First time Bailey met my sisters dog again was on neutral ground and as there is only 10 weeks between them in age they fast became best buddies. In fact now when we get about half a mile away from where my sister lives Bailey sits up in the car and starts sniffing like mad! Riley, my sisters dog does the same when they come to us. They adore each other. Bailey has had two negative experience with dogs, one a dog who's owner proudly told us how dominant his boy was - as Bailey was only on his third or fourth walk in a strange park I told the owner to put his "dominant" dog on a lead if he could not recall him safely (Bailey was on a lead at the time) and if his dog went for mine again I would go for him (the owner) as my OH would deal with the dog! Rightly or wrongly a large, not very well controlled Giant Poodle was not going to dominate my tiny puppy! The other was a terrier (girl) who was rather old and as her owner said is just generally a grumpy bitch (their words not mine!) - she just stood at a distance barking bless her - although she did let me fuss her while her owner was fussing Bailey! A lot of it is down to owners and how they react I think, if all parties are relaxed the dogs are too. Good luck with socialising your pup, it is great to watch them play
