Introducing puppy to an older dog

[Crazymummyto4]

We bring our Labrador puppy home next week. We currently have a 7 year old Bichon Frise. Those of you with more than one dog, do you have any tips for introducing the puppy to your older dog?

Make sure the older dog has a quiet place to hide away from the puppy.
Introduce them outside if you can, ideally away from your house but appreciate this is not always possible for new pups.
‘Favour’ dog 1 by which I mean ensure he knows his important place in your life.
Adaptil collars or plug ins can help.
Really important to limit the amount of chewing/ hanging on ears/ annoyances from puppy to older dog.

We put dpuppy down on her lead for quick removal if necessary!
And to meet our huge rotty, she met dpuppy through the bars of a baby gate!! All good!

be ready to intervene if you need to - but TBH, I've had lots of dogs, pups and rescue, and never had an issue introducing a new pup. If your older dog is basically a nice, friendly, well socialised, dog, then I wouldn't expect problems. Meet in your garden if possible, if not then don't panic, the house it will have to be, under supervision. Do you ever have visiting dogs? Does your older dog accept visiting dogs OK?

Even my "old boys" have been very sweet with pups - my current oldie, who can be a bit of a grumpy old man, just came to life when I got the first pup and showed that he could play after all. Fingers crossed you get a similar result.

We've done this a few times now. Top tip? Find some neutral ground.

Last time, we used the garden of a dog-free friend and made the intro slow and careful. All went well and the puppy and the other dogs settled together very quickly.

What do you do about the older dog’s toys ?

Not a boast but my 4 ddogs each have their own toys and actually know that!!
A few weeks ago one ddog dropped a toy of dpuppy's on her bed.. Blew my mind tbh!!

Another vote in favour of meeting on a walk on neutral ground....and then just walk happily home!

No, don't walk home with an unvaccinated puppy unless you are carrying it!

Parvo is a real and present risk. I met a puppy last summer who later died of it - it's carried by foxes as well as dogs, and in a rural garden you will get them passing through.