Adopting a dog is a rollercoaster of emotions. Whenever I’ve brought a new dog home, it’s always a mix of joy and dread. I look at the dog and always think “Oh boy, this is going to be interesting.” Of course, the first dog I owned was a Shiba Inu. My retiring service dog is a husky x cattle dog x German shepherd. His apprentice is another well mixed husky mutt. I brought her home this past July. My version of “interesting” may be someone else’s definition of “crazy”. Our household has three dogs and three cats thriving successfully with each other. The secret to success?
Slow is fast.
The slower you go introducing your new dog to your resident dogs and cats, the greater your long term success will be. While you don’t want to go so slowly that you build frustration, you certainly don’t want to just bring your new dog into your home and let it off leash.
- Do:
- Crate train (especially important for your dog to know how to handle crates in case of an emergency)
- Supervise your new dog and your resident dogs whenever they’re interacting
- Feed separately
- Tether train
- Obedience train–lots of good treats!
- Be patient
- Don’t:
- Leave your dogs unsupervised together–they’re strangers, let them get to know each other first!
- Let your dog have free access to your whole house unsupervised–that’s how you end up with puddles on the carpet from house training accidents and chewed up drywall.
- Lose your temper. It’s okay to put the dog in their crate or an x-pen and walk away until you’re feeling able to handle the dog if you’re upset!
It’s important to remember that your dog isn’t trying to be the boss or ‘alpha’. Your dog is trying to figure out what the expectations are in this new home they’re in. You, your home, and your rules are all different than what they’ve known. Dogs don’t speak our languages and don’t have our priorities. Imagine being dropped somewhere where you don’t know the rules, the language, or the cultural expectations. You find a really neat object, so you pick it up in your hand. Suddenly, the very nice people start yelling at you and yank it out of your hand. Okay, not the end of the world. But now you need to use the bathroom. You see what looks like a bathroom, so you go and try to use it. Suddenly, they’re screaming at you again–how were you supposed to know that the toilet shaped bowl was something important to them?
That’s an extreme over-simplification, but it’s how our dogs see the world. They don’t know that they can’t pee on the rug, or pick up the TV remote to chew. Nothing in their instincts tells them those are inappropriate behaviors. It’s up to us to teach them. Above all else, be patient with your new dog. Dogs want to live a life free of fear and full of joy, just like we do.
It’s also important to remember that it’s always okay to ask for help. The earlier a training plan can be put into place the higher the chances of success.
Project Pawsible 
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