How long before you felt confortable leaving your new pup with existing dog?

[ThespianTendencies]

It's very early days so I am not intending to leave the dogs together any time soon but I have a new bichon/poodle cross - she is tiny and very confident Also have a big 5 year old lab who is gentle yet a tad confused by his new arrival. I am wondering what signals you look for, or what sort of adjustment time you would recommend before going out and leaving them together. Also, how do you manage trips out like food shopping, school run, necessary outings etc. with two dogs who are relatively unnknown to each other. Thank you all.

It took our Labradoodle nearly 2 weeks to fully accept his little sister.

I left them alone in the utility from day one though and at first he kept his distance. Now 5 months on - the little one if anything bullies him - but they are the best of friends and play together all the time.

Ddog 1 was beside himself with joy when we brought home ddog 2. There's only a year between them and we really got the second as a companion for our dog loving first. I had planned seperate sleeping etc for atleast the first few weeks but on the second night they both whined and whined until I put them both in the he same crate and they've been inseparable ever since. He treats her like his pup and is soooo tolerant. If he hadn't been as gentle I probably would have crated the pup seperately for a good few weeks/months to be on the safe side. Suppose it depends on the dogs

I basically chucked mine together and let them get on with it.

I do trust dog1 to keep dog2 in check but not take it too far though.

So far so good.

I think becauase she is so tiny (and feisty) and he is quite mellow, that it will be OK in a short while but I will monitor and be cautious. He wags whne she comes near and is very gentle but one swipe and he would knock her flying!

These are my two - and exactly like you - tiny dog is the feisty one.

I have walked with a lady with a golden retriever and a chug (chihuahua x Pug) and here pair are the same - the chug rules.

Thank you all for your comments. Big dog (BD) tolerated Little Dog (LD) for a couple of hours today whilst LD charged around like she was on a cocktail of steroids and speed. She was very, very playful and he was not very receptive to her but he was very tolerant. I am telling her NO when she approches him if he has a favourite toy and giving him lots of attention and praise for being kind to our new arrival. I think in time it will be fine but I don't want any unncessary accidents towards LD because I take my eye off the ball too early.