mooki Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi all Just wondering how you go about introducing a new puppy to a grown adult dog? We currently have a 3 and half year old male staffy. Tomorrow we will be adopting a 5 month old female staffy. They have both met before and unfortunately we didn't introduce them on neutral territory (they both met inside the house) so it took a few days for the 3 year old dog to get used to her. He looked miserable and I've learnt my lesson about never doing this in HIS territory again. Now she is coming to live with us permanently and we're not sure how to approach the first meeting. Should we introduce them together again but out the front of the house this time (so it's neutral territory)? I'm also concerned as the new puppy has previously been crate trained and we're not planning on doing that. At what age can we leave both dogs out in the backyard together? Should we keep them separated (one inside in a pen, one outside in the yard) until they're both used to each other? Sorry about all the questions. Any advice would be appreciated, I just want to do the right thing by both dogs! Mooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Why would you be concerned that she's crate trained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooki Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Why would you be concerned that she's crate trained? I'm concerned because I will be changing what she's used to. She has been crate trained since she was 9 weeks and I don't want to drastically change things if it will confuse her. I'm just trying to make it an easy transition for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 lucky you getting a crate trained pup ! It will be very handy to be able to keep her under control inside , and quiet when she's speyed, etc . The front yard is not 'neutral' territory .. it is part of your adult dog's turf..... meet at a nearby park .. and two of you walk the dogs around the streets for 20 mins or so on lead alongside each other .... That way they get to look and sniff and be with each other , but not able to get into trouble . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumof4girls Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Why would you be concerned that she's crate trained? I'm concerned because I will be changing what she's used to. She has been crate trained since she was 9 weeks and I don't want to drastically change things if it will confuse her. I'm just trying to make it an easy transition for her. I would say the fact she is crate trained a bonus and that would be a drastic change to stop that since she has been doing it since 9 weeks.. You could use it to seperate, you could use it to give her a break from your current dog, if she is used to sleeping in it then she would feel safe.. Why did you want to not use a crate at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tralee Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi mooki A crate trained newby. So get yourself a crate, it's a safe place for puppy and you may need it at times. You should definately introduce the puppies at a park. But only if both dogs are rested. It is not a good idea to bring a dog together with another one if it is tired and stressed from travelling to your place. I unfortunately did not foresee this problem with my new eight week pup. We arrived at about 10pm and the new pup practically barked down the street in protest. If you can get someone to help you to take the pup and meet with you and your staffy at the park as though it is a perfectly natural and chance meeting. It is not enough just to throw them together at a park. The less it appears to be staged the less concerned both dogs will be. You then adopt the puppy from the park and staffy gets to show off at home to the new house mate. And of course, you would not leave a new dog unsupervised. You should crate the puppy while you can't be watching it. Good Luck Px Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 With an adult male and a puppy female I wouldn't get too concerned about meeting on neutral territory etc. Assuming your male is a normal adult dog, he will go - oh, puppy, big deal. If she bothers him he will give her a smile :D If she pays no attention to his warning he will nip her. This is normal behaviour, let them sort it out. If she was an ADULT it would be a different story of course! It could be that you can never leave them alone in the backyard while you go out, they may never develop the type of relationship that allows this. It could also be that they'll be fine until she's 12-18 months old then they decide they don't like each other and need to re-establish a pack order. With a dog and a bitch you will usually be OK. Dogs will vary, you need to study them closely and when you feel the pup has learned not to bother the older dog when he says so and that he has learned not to pick on the pup just because he can then you could leave them alone for 5 minutes and see what happens. Personally I never leave two of mine alone when there's no one in the house - whenever we leave all our dogs are separated. Crate trained new comer would be a huge bonus in most cases. She can go in the crate while the adult dog gets special 'me time' which will help establish him as the continuing leader of your little pack as well as reassuring him that she hasn't come to take over his world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverStar-Aura Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 When I brought Kirah home at 8 weeks I wasn't really worried about Zeus not liking her, I was more stressed over the size difference. In the end, I set up a play pen in our garage (my car now lives outside) and placed a baby gate across the door so the two could see each other, but were separated when unsupervised. If our backyard didn't have a 1.5 metre high retaining wall I probably wouldn't have worried so much either but because Zeus is a boofhead, I'm sure he would've have knocked Kirah off during his uncontrollable zoomies!! At nearly 9 months Kirah still sleeps in her pen in the garage at night because we don't have any cover outside so if it rains, they'd only have their kennels to sleep in. Only problem with this is that Kirah has adopted my old dog Poochie's wooden box to sleep in so if I put that outside and it rained, it'd get soaked. We will be getting covering in the new year and she can move outside once it's up and as she's pretty easy going I'm not seeing it will be a problem moving her outside. She sleeps where her wooden box is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 www.leerburg.com has a lot of very good articles to read. As for crate training ... stick with it, get yourself a crate. It will be a lot easier in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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