# Looking for advice/tips on bringing new dog to our home that has a dog..Asap.



## tds73 (Aug 26, 2012)

Long story short... Today at 3 we are picking up a 1 year old female GSD (sort of a rescue, we are getting her from individuals that can no longer have her, not a shelter). 
We currently have a 3 year old male GSD at home. We want to do our best to make the meet and new life go as good as possible for both dogs right out of the gate as to not screw anything up if we can help it.
We met her last night, she needs training but is gentle and maybe even a little skittish. We met her at a dog park and she seemed to do good with the couple other dogs there until one snipped at her, then she went on the defensive, but not bad.
We are not as worried about how our buy will react, he loves dogs and just wants to play. We have had other dogs in our house and he is fine with that, just gets all wound up and excited and plays.
Our worries are more with her, and trying to make it as smooth and not scary for her as we can.

One more bit of information, either one are fixed.

At this point we are planning on my wife taking the new girl and me taking our buy to a neutral area and slowly bring the 2 together in short sessions, walking them apart from each other and letting them meet at times and sniff, etc. Trying to wear them out a little before bringing to the house.
Then having our boy in the house first and let him "invite " her in. 
taking things slow and as relaxed as possible.
We would really appreciate any tips/advice anyone could give us to help us make sure we do this right. Or if anyone has a site or forum post we should look at. This was a fast moving decision and we have not had a lot of time for research. Thanks in advance.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Meeting in a neutral area is an excellent first step!Keep them separated most of the time with baby gates and leash them when you are all together relaxing watching tv or whatever so they get acclimated to being calm together in the same room.Short supervised playtimes.Try your best to avoid any resource guarding situations over food,toys,beds,or even one dog trying to block access to you and hubby.
As she gets settled in and feels comfortable in her new home over the next few weeks you can gradually allow more freedom.This is the way I do it anyway
I still use baby gates on occasion when my youngster is in play mode and the older two plainly are not.Then he gets an activity to occupy him,maybe something to chew or playtime with me.Congrats on your new addition and we need pictures!!


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## tds73 (Aug 26, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. 
Also, you reminded me that I needed to get a pic of Heiko on my profile. Hope it works.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

dogma13 said:


> Meeting in a neutral area is an excellent first step!Keep them separated most of the time with baby gates and leash them when you are all together relaxing watching tv or whatever so they get acclimated to being calm together in the same room.Short supervised playtimes.Try your best to avoid any resource guarding situations over food,toys,beds,or even one dog trying to block access to you and hubby.
> As she gets settled in and feels comfortable in her new home over the next few weeks you can gradually allow more freedom.This is the way I do it anyway
> I still use baby gates on occasion when my youngster is in play mode and the older two plainly are not.Then he gets an activity to occupy him,maybe something to chew or playtime with me.Congrats on your new addition and we need pictures!!


This pretty much is exactly how I introduced my new pup to my 7 year old female who was an only child for 3 years after Pyrate went to the bridge. The pup and Raina are getting along greater than I could have even imagined and I believe it was because I did not rush it. I took 2 weeks before letting them loose off leash together in the back yard and made sure there were no toys, treats, or otherwise valued items to argue over. They play together every evening now with no problems but I don't leave them together for extended times throughout the day. That way they don't have a chance to get on each other's nerves and they each have their own space. I also play with them both separately and together.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Look up "two week shutdown" on the BDBH site. I think it will help you.


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## tds73 (Aug 26, 2012)

Thanks for the input.
Keep it coming please, we will check back often.
Leaving now to go get her.


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## tds73 (Aug 26, 2012)

Quick update. Been busy. 
Things are going awesome, don't think we could ask for better.
Sticking with suggestions and things we have read and taking it slow.Both dogs are doing well, especially the new one. Hope and pray everything continues this way and works out good.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

wasn't here for the initial request but glad there was an update!! Yay for them getting along  Thank you for rescuing that girl! :hugs:


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Excellent!


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## tds73 (Aug 26, 2012)

wyoung2153 said:


> wasn't here for the initial request but glad there was an update!! Yay for them getting along  Thank you for rescuing that girl! :hugs:


It is our pleasure.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

You got good advice. That is how we introduced and handled our younger dog when we adopted. I would suggest not taking her to dog parks again. I had a terrible experience with a female GSD at a dog park, similar to what you described. It sounds like it's too stressful for her and you don't want her to learn to be fearful of strange dogs.

We were concerned when we got the most recent dog, but after they met, we realized it wasn't nearly as difficult as we thought it would be. They almost got into a fight over a toy the first night, but we moved them into a different room where they worked it out and became the best of friends.


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