How to introduce a new dog into multi-dog house?

[Josette]

okay - so bad weather made me spend time on Internet and I eventually ended up on Petfinder.com

So I saw a dog I'm very interested in and trying to figure out how to go about meeting him. We currently have a large elderly male Pom mix age 15-16. We adopted a large chihuahua 3 years ago who is now age 4 - high energy. Little guy Sparky worships my DH. He was at a local rescue where we took our Pom to meet him and test for compatible. Now I'm considering getting another large Chihuahua mix to play with Sparky who can have too much energy for our old guy - he wants to sleep and is very laid back. Sparky can be feisty with some dogs especially large dogs - - maybe fear aggression from size. We do daily walks at local park and there are some dogs he adores and gets along very well - - yet others where I have to hold him back as we pass on walkway. Yes - just observing the body language in many situations Sparky or the other dog will give off aggression.

So Sparky came to our home where elder dog already lived and he moved right in - - best of manners with old guy. Now I'm wondering if I bring in a new strange dog how he might react. I'm starting to wonder if he might feel the new dog is an intruder. He will bark very aggressive if someone walks past house with a dog. Maybe this is a bad idea..... I would love to add another rescue to our home but am wondering how to go about it. Any advise if this is feasible or will it cause trouble. I would feel terrible bringing in a 3rd dog and have to return it. I should stay away from that site.......

[Josette]

This is the guy I am interested in.

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34294245

[Sunshine2Me]

Jimmy's pretty adorable!!! When my DD brought her two dogs at Christmastime, we did introductions via a baby gate. I separated the dogs and they met "over the fence." When I didn't see any aggression on anyone's part, I took the gate down and supervised. It went well. I think the baby gate works well. You could also try introducing in a neutral location. That may be helpful as well.

[PNG_Pony]

I've rehabbed about 7 dog-aggressive dogs here in PNG (people have large GSD-type guard dogs that never get socialized, so when the family leaves for a year to go to their home country, often the dog ends up at my house where he gets a year of diet, training and socialization and then goes back to the family when they return). I have a permanent little Shih-Tzu/Maltese that lives at the house who is very well socialized and thinks he's a huge dog, but we always have to introduce him very carefully to our new resident.

I'm not sure how well this would work with dealing with the shelter, but here's what we do--
We take the two dogs on a walk, far away from both their houses. The dogs are not allowed to sniff, greet each other, or make any sort of indication toward the other dog. Normally I get to hold onto the big GSD, and sometimes this means the walk starts out with two dogs over 20m from each other because big dog can't handle it (and we do a ton of rapid-fire obedience within distance of the other dog. If the dog knows clicker, I might use that, otherwise it's traditional training at this stage since I only have just met the critter). Slowly they get to come together, until they are walking side-by-side in complete politeness and fully ignoring the other dog. Only then, are they allowed to greet eachother and most of the time it's really ho-hum (this usually happens in under 4 walks--sometimes even in the first walk). At that point, we bring them to our yard (I would do the baby-gate option here if you had it, but we don't) and little dog gets let off leash. If Big dog is still calm and polite, then Big dog gets to drag a long leash behind him and everyone is still supervised. Pending the behavior, we slowly increase their time together and shorten the dragging leash. After a few days (at the very very most), they can play together unsupervised. We do step in at any sign of aggression or possessiveness from either dog and remind them this is MY yard and MY house and they get to play nice. It works really well, and I've never had to return a dog

[Josette]

Thanks PNG - what you described is what I researched and it makes complete sense especially if one dog may be alpha with territory. DH admitted it may not be a good idea as the right time to add another dog to our situation. Our work schedules may not allow us to dedicate the time for a successful merge. I'll check back if Jimmy is still available after being shown at the pet fair. Hoping someone adopts him.....

[Code3]

Jimmy is adorable. We added a third dog. The older dog is thrilled that the two young dogs play and leave him alone. Introductions were a matter of just bringing the young guy home and hanging out in the yard but our two original dogs are used to other dogs visiting and we've fostered. They've never had a problem with another dog and the new guy is a mellow golden.

[Josette]

Sparky is a weird little dude when we walk at the local park. I don't know why he acts so aggressive with some dogs and not others. I've had him pulling and hanging from the leash trying to go after the other dog in fight mode. I watch his posture and try to intercept this reaction as he can be quite reactive. Yet there are some "beta" type King Charles Spaniels, Shihtzu and another Chihuhua who he adores. They come across as very friendly and he responds the same - - goes out of his way to greet them.

We live on a quiet street and sometimes walk the our dogs here. So I also wonder if Sparky thinks the street is also our property - his territory. If a neighbor walks their dog he gets very upset and if he ever got loose I know he would go after them. I've watched so many Caesar shows and he certainly has some of the issues shown. I realize the owner may sometimes be the problem but sometimes I wonder if he thinks he is protecting me???

[demi]

That little guy you found, Josette, will be hard to resist. But he is cute enough that surely, if not you, someone, will give him a loving home....

When we found Shasta, our now 16 yr old Rat terrier, she was about 18 months old. She was on the side of the road, shivering in the rain. I had my 18 month old sassy, possessive, female Boston Terrier in the car with me and she wanted a piece of Shasta from the moment I put her in the car. Poor little Shasta was a quirky mess. We knew she'd be a hard dog to place so we kept her. I had to frequently scold Moxie, the BT, and warn her to leave Shasta alone but it eventually worked out just fine. I also gave Moxie first place. She slept on the bed. She went in the car, she went out to the barn, etc. Shasta was just happy to have a home and she had, and still has her own special things.

When Shasta and Moxie were 5, we found a Chihuahua/ Jack Russell (DH says he's half Rat but vet agreed with me on JR). A yappy, agressive male. Both girls wanted to kill him. But because he was the littlest, and terribly cute, he got protective custody on my lap!I had to tell everyone NO! quite a bit at first but eventually they all got along. Even to the point of sleeping curled up together.

We also have a 60 lb Boxer/ Rhodesian RB rescue that we couldnt say no to. His 95 year old "dad" died and his 90 yr old "mom" had to go in a nursing home. They were friends of ours and we knew Buddy was a passive guy. Still, for the first six months, we kept him gated in the family room anytime we had to leave them unsupervised.

All that being said!! I don't want to go through acclimating dogs to each other again. I don't even want multiple dogs anymore. My heart breaks when I see the ASPCA commercials on TV, and sometimes, late at night, when I can't sleep, I look at Boston Terrier Rescue sites, but...No...not now. No, I tell myself...NO. Leave it!

[fergusnc]

Personally, I don't know that I would seek out a new dog if I had a 15-16 year old dog in the mix. But i have seen people have dogs "fall into their laps" that were perfect for the family.....gave the youngster a wrestling buddy, gave the old dog a snuggle buddy, etc....so family took it in. Have also seen people get a new dog, and seen sad things. Made old dog feel put out and/or have stress related health concerns. New dog and/or new dog plus younger/original dog attack old dog...possibly due to sensing illness along with new dynamic in the family.

I do have three dogs, and 2 cats... but was up to three cats I n the past. All added to existing animals over the years, all rescues with varying degrees of sad stories, some horrific. I have never added a dog/cat when an existing dog/cat was older than maybe 8 I'd guess...just how the planets aligned. All my dogs came to me on their own or through a foster need that just fit in perfect with the pack at the time. That said, two years ago we added a very old, very sick beagle that we pulled from the pound to try to give him some quality time in his remaining time. He was a doll baby and we named him Rudy. Heart Worm positive, start of a cough, an eye infection, who knows what else. he was at the vet three times in five days, with the last trip being to put him down. We had hoped to give him some easy, spoiled months or a year, but the cough turned out to be congestive heart failure from the heartworms, not something we could fix like respiratory infection as we'd hoped.
We were so very careful with him around our other dogs due to the fear that they knew how sick he was. Our rescued (believed to be) bait dog was actually afraid of him...we wonder if he knew Rudy was dying before we did. Our big "medical alert dog" loved him and was so gentle and quiet with him when they had some on-leash potty trips together. And our third dog was just curious. Rudy stayed in a huge crate unless he was beside us on the couch, so that he could rest and feel safe. All that to say, if Rudy had stayed with us longer, we would have been so incredibly careful with him forever. We don't ever leave dogs loose together when we leave anyway, but we were extra on guard with Rudy.

It's good that you are thinking about this from lots of angles and really examining the personality traits of the two pups you already have.

[Josette]

fergusnc - thanks for another voice of reason. I get pulled into all the rescues needing a home especially if a few really suit for their temperament. I've decided to step back at this time as probably a bad idea now. Now being snowed in all dogs are confined indoors except for a potty break on the cleared driveway path. Everyone has some cabin fever issue as our daily park routine is not an option. If circumstances change in the future I will certainly get another rescue.