I have been on this forum since before I got murphy a year and a half ago. He was our first dogand was our only pet. We now have Harry the cat and Ezra our romanian wierdo foster dog. We pick up our black lab bitch Maisie in 2 weeks and Im starting to worry about how different it will be with her compared to when murohy was a puppy. She will be crate trained and I suppose the usual stuff will be the same, house training and all the socialising but I have a few questions.. How do I go about introducing Maisie to the other animals when she first comes home? Should I give her time to settle first or just plonk her down in the kitchen and let the other dogs say hi? Her crate is going to be in the living room as that is where the other dogs sleep and I thought it would help her settle better? But If I cant be watching her I will put her behind the babygate inthe kitchen to protect my carpets! Should i put the crate i the kitchen with her when shes left in there so she has the option to go in. But if i keep moving her crate will it confuse her? Obviously we will be carrying her round for 5 weeks for socialisation. Sometimes Murphy and maybe Ezra will be with us and other times not, my sister pointed out that if she only gets taken out and socialised with murphy then when shes older she might be nervous without him. Is that true? I guess it makes sense. Murphy is quite happy in any situation, would his ease and confidence also rub off on her? Likewise Ezra is extremely nervous and anxious so would that rub off on her? I know to do separate training sessions for murphy and maisie (ez isnt really trainable), and Im conscious of giving murphy lots of attention still so he doesnt feel left out, so we are starting agility next week and then me and maisie will have puppy classes together. Anyway thats my thoughts so far that I can think of now, theres bound to be more in the back of my brain! Are there any other tips around this subject? Thanks in advance guys x
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs When I brought Tatze home Gavin (Cavalier) was 15, so I made sure he was out of the house for a few hours so that the pup could get used to all the new sights and smells. Gavin was then introduced to her (he couldn't play as his bones were too old, but he let her know, no problem) I did the same with Gypsy when she came - Tatze went to my friend's for the morning so that Gypsy could have a good sniff round. Of course, we had to separate them a lot at first or they played too much (Tatze was only 15 months) When the next pup comes (July time) I will do the same again as I think it works well
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs I introduced my Lab puppy to my old German Shorthaired Pointer and Lab in the garden. The pup, on seeing the older dogs, screamed and wee'd and then everything was relatively fine. I put the cage in the utility room where the other dogs slept at night so that he had company and in the daytime when he initially slept a lot, he could have the peace and quiet of that room on his own.
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs I introduced Poppy and Bones in the garden, then she just followed him into the house no problem... He slept on the couch, and her puppy pen was right next to the couch - I think this gave her a feeling of safety and companionship, as she slept through the night. My guess is you will have little or no trouble with Maisie and Murphy. The cat will probably just avoid her at first. But you may have to arrange things so Ezra has a place he can escape to - older dogs can sometimes find puppies a bit of a trial... Good luck, can't wait to hear how it goes!
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs Thank you So I'm going to plan it so that murphy and ez arnt there to start with so she can have a good sniff and explore and then introduce them in the garden. I'm not worried about Harry, I think he will be really intrigued by her like he was ez but I won't be so worried as I don't think she would hurt him and he's quick . I am worried about Ez though as he's been quite grumbly and growly at murphy over the last few days but I'm speaking to the vet tomorrow so will investigate that but that's another story for the other thread about him. I will never be leaving them unattended so that she can't annoy him and so that I can manage it. As murphy is only 19/20 months ish I think I will have to separate them a lot like Tatze and Gypsy so they don't play too much! Do you think housetraining might be easier as she will follow murphy outside and copy him? I'm really excited today for some reason!!!
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs Yes, housetraining should be easier It's very exciting indeed!!!
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs I'm already thinking about my plan of attack for when we eventually get another puppy! Rather than crating like we did for Penny I think I will buy one of those big metal puppy pens and set that up in the kitchen to house the pup when we are out of the house. Penny's bed will then move either to the hallway or living room (I'm thinking hallway as I can set it up so that she and the new pup could see and smell each other through the baby gate in the doorway). I would also have a section where puppy can go for some 'time out' but that Penny can still see it. It's also equally important that the existing dogs have a quiet space they can retreat to and not be bothered by puppy if they want their own space for a while - especially if Ezra is feeling a bit grumpy; he might appreciate being able to take himself off for some peace and quiet!
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs Following so I can get all your ideas we get our new pup in Early April. It's super exciting.
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs As for attitudes rubbing off, other people will have more experience, but my limited experience is this. The pups' mum, Ruby, was very scared of storms. There were several in the period the pups were still with her, so I was worried that her nervousness would have rubbed off on them. It didn't - they're both completely unfazed with the very loud storms we have here. On the other side, Shadow is a lot more jumpy of certain things (lorries, people going past on skis and snowboard when we're walking on snow). Willow isn't bothered in the slightest. Neither one's behaviour rubs off on the other.
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs Oh that's interesting Fiona! That can be one less thing for me to worry about then with Ezra and the pup
Re: Bringing home puppy to house with other dogs Can you believe how life has changed in 18 months for you Frankie! Mad hey! You are really thinking this through to be properly prepared and you know you will get loads of help from the Forum ( obviously not from me with my lack of experience ..but you know I'll always be a cheerleader ;D) x
