[pawpower]

Hi all,


We are so thrilled to be getting our second GSD on 3/1. He will be 11 weeks old. My husband and I are trying to figure out the best way to introduce him to our zoo. He said sniff through the door. I said "I'll wait and see what the forum peeps say."


In our house, we have: 6 year old Newfie/Lab (Pepper), 3 year GSD (Shadow) who came into our household as a puppy, and 3 cats. The younger two came in as kittens in June 2017, and we did the 4 month introductions....and everyone is happy. We did training for Shadow but we slacked off a little on it and he has a bit of a goofy not-so-polished posture, but has great recall. This time, the training is going to be on point for our GSD puppy from day ONE.



What has worked for you, for anyone who has had another GSD or multiple dogs when introducing your GSD to your family?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Shane'sDad]

What has always worked for me is this...we have a fenced back yard--that's where my existing dogs are when we get home with the new pup or young dog....I walk the pup around outside of--but close to the fence and let my dogs see me with the new pup--if they bark or are getting overly excited I say "NO" and put them in a sit & stay and I continue interacting with the new pup---I then open the gate and walk inside carrying the new pup- -- then sit in the grass and let my dogs do the typical butt sniffing (meet and greet) while keeping the new pup close to me----eventually I let the new pup roam a few feet pee/poop if he/she will---this has always worked for me because my dogs respect me as leader and without words I'm telling them the new pup is mine and they accept it into the "pack"--needless to say for the first few days I'm always around watching the older dogs body language when they interact with the pup--I have to be comfortable with what I see before I turn my back--so to speek


This may work for you if and only if you or your husband are seen by the Newfie and the GSD as their leader and you have their respect 100%.

 

[Kari01]

I would suggest taking your dogs out for a nice long walk somewhere neutral, and part way through the walk having your husband join you with the new puppy to finish the walk. Then all heading home together, as a new pack That's how I would do it. I don't know your dogs, but with certain dogs this really helps reduce that initial territorial aggression over the home area. It's also a really good way to start bonding with the puppy straight away and making them feel at ease, because the walk helps keeps everyone focused on other things. I'm not sure about cats though, sorry!