How To Begin: When introducing puppy to the older dog, it’s important to have each dog on their separate leash. There should be at least two adults helping with the introductions. Each adult should be in charge of one dog, and holding onto the leads. The leads should be held loosely. Let the dogs sniff one another. If the adult dog allows puppy to sniff her back side, face, mouth etc., do not interfere. The adult dog will then sniff puppy, don’t worry if it appears the older dog is sniffing the puppy with a bit of “roughness.” The puppy might fall over while the older dog is sniffing puppy; this is okay. Once the initial introductions are done, if the older dog wants to leave the room let her leave! Don’t hold her back, she’s saying, “I need to rest.” Many humans have social anxiety when meeting new people; It can be the same for the dog(s).
Don’t: Please don’t allow the puppy to jump on the older dog. This can result in a small argument.
How Long Should I Do This Exercise: I would conduct this exercise, 3 x’s a day for at least 3 days. At some point you can leave the leash off of the adult dog. However, puppy should continue to stay on lead. Please, take care not to allow puppy to jump, bite and get overly excited with the adult dog. Especially if the older dog is experiencing health issues, and pain. Let her dictate how she desires to interact with the puppy.
Things To Watch And Listen For: If you hear the adult dog growl. This isn’t always a bad thing she can be warning the puppy to back off. If she nips puppy and puppy cries out it’s safe for you to move in and take puppy out of the space. I’ve experienced this many times, and there are things that only dogs can teach other dogs.
Observation: As humans we won’t ever understand everything there is to know, regarding the mind of the dog but we can learn by watching their interactions with one another, and also listening to our heart, by knowing when it’s time to intervene.
Happy Tails 🐾
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