Tips for introducing second dog

[Snooglepup]

We are bringing home a working cocker spaniel puppy on Sunday. We already have a 3 year old of the same breed.

I'm ready in terms of all the practical suff. But does anyone have any things they'd recommend that worked well for you in terms of how to manage a dog and a puppy in the short term to help them both to adjust to their new arrangements?

Thanks!

We separated them when the pups got too much for the older dog. I don’t mean separate rooms although our other dogs could go to other parts of the house and I would keep puppy with me.

Start training early on and make sure they know “leave”

Don’t intervene too much unless you see things getting nasty. Play can sound aggressive at times but you’ll know if it’s starting to turn. Let your other dog set the rules so your pup learns the boundaries.

Thank you. I'm planning to keep Dpup to one room and crate train, whereas Ddog will have run of downstairs as now. I'm a bit worried about one being in a crate and the other not at night, but the books I've read suggest it should be ok.

I've got 2 cockers too. One is 9 and the other is 9 months. The pup treats the older dog as his mum and rarely leaves her side. She's just grown used to it 😂

Good luck x

Definitely crate train. We introduced a pup a few months ago and he is the greediest thing imaginable. Our 2 year old dog will just walk off and let the pup eat his food so we put the pup in the crate when big dog is eating.

Our pup is in the crate overnight too while olde4 dog sleeps in the sofa. They seem quite happy with it.

We introduced them on neutral ground - took puppy to my mums from breeders and then took older dog there. Older dog did not stop sniffing the puppy for 48 hours.

Make sure you spend time training them separately too.

Puppy will not let older dog out of his sight. He adores him.

Thanks both, that's reassuring. I know there's no guarantee they will get on but older dog is very sociable and loves playing with other dogs, so I hope he will be ok. Definitely going to crate train. I can't find anywhere neutral to introduce them though, so I think it will have to be at home. Puppy is a three hour drive away so I'm picking her up and DH is staying home with Ddog. Didn't think it was a good idea to have them both in the car for three hours.

Getting very excited now!

My 10 year old dog isn’t tolerant of other dogs at all and hates puppies but we recently got a new puppy. Well, he’s nearly 6 months old now... anyway they get on great now but to start with I had to be really careful. They were separated by a baby gate to start with - in fact I had to barricade it with cardboard because she’d snap at him even if he poked his nose through - and he had a crate too.

Very slow introductions, lots of treats for being calm in each other’s presence and don’t have an official “meet date” in mind.

Even when they have met, play it by ear.
Nothing of value (toys/food) lying around to potentially cause conflict.

I was completely prepared to have to keep mine separated forever but luckily it’s worked out fine 😁

I have just started my own thread on the problems I'm having with our new cocker spaniel puppy and our older dog ( 6 yr old cockapoo). It is awful at the moment and i'm at my wits end. YoureAnAtsehole- you have given me hope that things can work out between mine Thankyou.

I'm a bit IT illiterate so don't know how to link but if you google " Mutty Professor video introducing a new dog" she literally walks you through it. She is a behaviourist in my area who uses force free methods and is very holistic in approach , lots of practical advice.

Thanks. Puppy came home today. She is a joy. Ddog doesn't seem to like her much yet. I'm being careful and trying to treat him when he is calm around her. He hasn't seemed to want to play with her and generally seems a bit jealous of her being around us. It could have been better, could have been worse I guess. And it is early days.