Introducing two reactive dogs to each other

[hididdlyho]

Sadly MIL passed away recently, leaving her much loved German Shepherd without a home. Friends and relatives are currently alternating staying with her to make sure she's being taken care of whilst we work out what to do next. The sticking point is MIL was absolutely adamant DH is to have her dog should anything happen to her. However, we already have a rescue greyhound who is a few years older than her.

Both dogs tend to be vocal around other dogs, although our hound has calmed down a lot over the past couple of years and has started showing some interest in interacting with certain dogs he recognises around our village. German Shepherd was socialised well as a pup, but started getting very vocal and lunging at other dogs in recent weeks, we believe guarding behaviour and wanting to protect MIL from some unknown perceived threat. So far the GS has been fine when DH and others have taken her on walks and not reacting to other dogs, which is promising.

We did try to introduce the two around 8 years ago when the GS was just a pup and we'd just got our hound. Unfortunately it didn't go well as MIL was waiting with the pup to meet us right from getting out of the car. Our dog felt scared and threatened by a little pup playfully jumping up at him and just barked and barked at her. Unfortunately that made MIL consider him an aggressive dog and she didn't want to try re-introducing them.

I realise every dog is different and we'll have to take introductions slowly and if they just don't get on we won't try to force it. I absolutely want to do the best for both dogs and don't want either of them to get hurt or be unhappy. I'm just not familiar with typical GS's behaviour, from what I've seen a lot of their personailty traits seem to be very different from your average greyhound. Other than meeting on neutral ground and taking things slow, does anyone have any tips on introducing them? I'm not at all hopeful they will get on well enough for the GS to come live with us, but have promised DH we can try.

Neutral garden - large hose

I would ask on dog training advice and support if you’re on FB. How soon do you have to do this? Start by walking past on opposite sides of the road???

Meet on neutral territory. No other advice sorry, but as the owner of reactive dogs I can say that their favourite types of dogs are actually other gobby reactive dogs. They seem to recognise a fellow grumpy dog and respect them for it.

Given how important it is I would personally get a well regarded behaviourist who focuses on positive reinforcement in to help you. I'd take the time to do it very slowly. Lots of scent swapping in advance etc.

Neutral territory, parallel walking (see youtube) over a few days and muzzles as an extra precaution (will need training in advance)

Meet on neutral territory. No other advice sorry, but as the owner of reactive dogs I can say that their favourite types of dogs are actually other gobby reactive dogs. They seem to recognise a fellow grumpy dog and respect them for it. That's reassuring, even though I know there's know guarantee these two will get along with each other. I've purposefully kept our dog away from socialising with others as I just automatically assumed he would never get on with any other dog.

I was saying to DH earlier to take one of our dog's toys over to MIL's dog tomorrow and bring one of her's back for him to have a sniff of so I'm glad that's not a crazy idea. Our dog is due at the vets on Monday, so I'll see if they can recommend a behaviourist to help with the situation. He's also muzzled trained, so it just means getting one fitted for the GS and trying to get her used to it.

I'm not sure what timescale we're working to. So far GS seems to be coping ok with being in the house and people checking in on her regularly, but obviously that's not an ideal situation for too much longer. I think we probably need to get the initial meet in over the next few days to get an idea how likely it is they will ever accept each other. If they don't, it's going to take some time to find her a good home I expect, as we don't want to just hand her off to a rescue and not know where she ends up, if at all possible.

A qualified behaviourist will be good to be able to read the dogs body language while your both busy handling the dogs and advise how best to proceed. A lot of dogs are more fearful than truly aggressive so there is hope.

My reactive dog would bark and lunge to get to other dogs if they were too close (i.e across the road) but he was actually just under socialised and fearful of other dogs so trying to scare them away. He had always lived happily with other dogs and eventually our dog walker helped by using their dog as a stooge and then he graduated to walking with others she'd handpicked, he seemed to love all the little oodlefluffs. Stranger dogs he'd still act the shouty dickhead.

I have no advice other than what PPs have said, but if it's any comfort my rescue Lurcher is very reactive to other dogs but tolerates my ex-MIL's Shih Tzu and my friend's Spaniel for long periods. He hated the Shih Tzu at first, when the Shih Tzu was a bouncy puppy, but eventually they got used to each other through scent on clothing when we visited each other, and eventually through a careful introduction with mine muzzled. The Shih Tzu actually tried to nip my poor boy until he delivered an enormous growly bark and he packed it in.
Ditto with my friend's Spaniel - he didn't try to bite but pestered until Lurcherboy told him off.
Reactive dogs can get along with patience and the right introductions.

In your situation, crate training might also help so they can each have their own space to hide if they need to.

I have a male GS who was reactive with other dogs. It took a long time for him to get over it, we worked on lots of positive reinforcement. One thing though - he's always been fine with female dogs, even grumpy ones. He respects their space and leaves them alone. So I would say you're probably in a better position with dogs of opposite sex than you would be with two of the same.

I agree with the advice to allow them to meet in a neutral place and the key thing is to allow them plenty of space to do their thing and express their body language. Also agree that muzzles are a good idea initially until you're sure theyre OK.

Good luck, I really feel for you. And your dedication is admirable

A qualified behaviourist will be good to be able to read the dogs body language while your both busy handling the dogs and advise how best to proceed. A lot of dogs are more fearful than truly aggressive so there is hope.

That's actually a really good case for using a behaviourist. DH has had the tendency to be a bit of an expert when it comes to dogs, as he's had them all his life and our greyhound is my first dog. We've discussed the importance of getting things right this time, so I think he'll be more open to the idea. I know my own dogs triggers and thought processes very well, but haven't spent enough time out of the house with MIL's dog to really know how she is with other dogs. I have no concerns with her around people and she's very gentle with my young nephew.

I do think she has a more aggressive streak than our dog which concerns me. Our dog is 100% fear aggressive and would mouth off if another dog got too close. After years of distraction training with treats, it's now rare for him to bark and much more often he will whine if a dog barks at him. We've been very strict with boundaries from day one as we have other pets (reptiles) in the house, so he's learnt not to get too close to their enclosures or bark at them. MIL's dog has killed small furries on walks, so does have that prey drive that goes beyond just chasing another animal. That's concerning and should she get as far as coming into our house, we're going to have to put a secure lock on the door to our pet room and never let her in there.

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to reply. It's been really helpful to hear about situations in which reactive dogs have managed to get along. I'm also starting to feel slightly less guilty if things don't work out as we hope. Of course I would love it if there's a happy ending, but I realise it's a big ask to expect both dogs to suddenly get along in a relatively short space of time.