Introducing other dogs (puppies) to my B

[DRama]

Hi everyone. I have a situation and looking for some guidance. 2 of my kids will be moving back home with me. They will each be bringing a puppy with them. One is a French Bulldog, the other a Border Collie. Generally Rama does well when meeting other adult dogs. I have noticed that she is not fond of puppies from our daily visits to the dog park. She would growl and snip if the puppy came near her. Any suggestions on how I can make the addition of the 2 puppies to our home the least stressful as possible for Rama?

[eeeefarm]

Well, the basics. Introduce away from home on neutral turf. Probably better to bring one into the household at a time. Generally puppies (you didn't say how old) will have "puppy immunity" initially, I mean an adult generally won't attack a pup but may snark and put them in their place. Let her do this as long as it doesn't get serious, she needs to assert her place as "boss". And make sure you give her more attention than you do the pups! I expect you will get some good advice from others here but based on my experience it is easier to introduce a pup than an older dog.

[Zande]

Some dogs will accept puppies where they would not accept adult canines - Rama may accept them somewhere quiet. Basenjis usually love puppies.

In any case, make the first introduction off the premises, in some spot which is strange to the pups AND to Rama. Let them play there - not in a dog park, too many distractions and other dogs.

Ideally in the garden of a friend if you can find one and are allowed to in this covid age.

If no garden, it might be an idea to introduce one at a time, keep pup and Rama on leads on a quiet road, with two of you at first, then one of you takes both dogs and lets them gradually get to smelling the same blade of grass. Once this happens and you have apparent acceptance, be careful how you take them into your house. Let the resident Rama enter first. It is her home, she should be the welcoming committee.

Make sure Rama has a get-away hole where the puppies can't reach, for peace and quiet. A different room, a special bed or chair out of reach of the pups.

Support Rama if there is a bit of snarking. Pups must learn their place in the hierarchy.

Once you have one pup in place, do the same with the other one, but take both pups along.

One thought occurred to me. Regiment their feeding so they all feed together, preferably one person is in charge of feeding all three of them at the same time !

Good luck,

[tanza]

@drama - Also regarding feeding, yes to feeding them all at one time BUT they need to be separated "not" share a food bowl. I feed mine in crates, all have their own food to eat.... and you need to continue to treat Rama as "top dog" to you....

[DRama]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the help. Puppies will be joining us soon. I have also made it clear to my kids that Rama will be the top dog in the house and what to expect. I will try all your suggestions and hopefully it will be a smooth transition.

[elbrant]

@drama I know your dog's name is "Rama", but I think "Drama" would make the perfect Basenji girl name! :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:

[DRama]

@elbrant lol, her official name is Drama Rama.

[Azneff1]

We have a similar issue - Looking for help with aggression towards our new puppy - we have 2 Bs (one F, 1 M) - the male is a BRAT rescue and now 3yrs old and has become aggressive towards the Frenchie pup (14wks) - at first he was interested and tried to play with him but lately he has attacked him unprovoked - from non-interaction across a room to attack the pup. We do feed them separately and they sleep separately -

[Zande]

@azneff1 Sounds to me as though the 3 year old Rescue Basenji is losing confidence. Are you spending too much time training the pup so he is feeling left out ?

Puppies do take a great deal of time if you are going to train them properly but the longer term resident deserves quality time of his own.

You should perhaps consider making more fuss of the older boy, for example giving him something special to play with (or eat !) - a special bone perhaps which is only his and which he gets if he lets you spend time with puppy. You have to work at restoring his confidence - and by making him feel as special as he undoubtedly is !

[elbrant]

I think the problem is that the B is trying to assert his dominance over the puppy.

I recommend bringing all of them together for daily walks. Dogs are extremely social, and dogs that walk together are more prone to accept each other socially. Go for as long as you can before your puppy becomes tired. Pick the pup up and head back home. Repeat daily. When you are serving their "dinner", call B1, and set the bowl down. Then B2, and set that bowl down. Then call the pup and set that bowl down. You should not have to feed everyone separately, but you should serve everyone their food in their own bowl. If you have them sleeping in crates, put the crates close to each other so you can reinforce that they are all one pack.

It's going to take some time before everyone is one big (mostly) happy family. But the key is that no one is separated from the rest. If you think the male is going to seriously injure the pup, consider using a muzzle until his behavior improves.

[tanza]

@elbrant - Disagree with your feeding solution, they should be fed at the same time and in a kennel and separate. Totally disagree that they should not be fed separate but in separate kennels so they can eat and enjoy their food not worrying about were the pups are. Kennels should be next to each other. And again I disagree with a muzzle on the adult, remember that adults will correct and instruct pups to the right behavior.

[elbrant]

@tanza said in Introducing other dogs (puppies) to my B:

Disagree... Totally disagree... And again I disagree...

We are only sharing our opinions. And you are as entitled to yours as much as I am entitled to mine. In the end, we each find a solution that works for us.

[Scagnetti]

@azneff1 Management is almost always the answer.

I wouldn't let the puppy have access to the adult dog, or vice versa. And if everyone's in the same room together, the puppy should be in a pen or a crate.

Some dogs genuinely dislike puppies, for others, aggression towards puppies is a territorial issue. This sounds to me like a territorial issue, but I really don't know your dog.

It's obviously past a point of introduction in a neutral space, but that would have been the place to start. Usually walking them on different sides of the road where they can't get to one another but can see each other, is usually the way to go, i.e. one person has the adult dog on a leash on one side of the road, and another person has the puppy on a leash on the other side of the road.

Also, be careful about crating them next to each other if your adult dog has crate issues, i.e. spinning, screaming, crate aggression/guarding, etc. because the puppy can quickly learn bad habits or it could scare them. This is true with any behavioral problem by the way, I just mention it because others brought up crates.

Best of luck.

[eeeefarm]

I've usually found that puppies have an immunity of sorts while they are small, but there are always exceptions. Sounds like this is one of those times. I wouldn't worry if it was just a matter of the pup annoying the adult dog and being put in his place, but an unprovoked attack from across the room is something else. Of course, it would help if you were aware of the trigger......with dogs, body language can be everything from friendly to insulting, and perhaps the pup crossed an invisible line, but that is speculation. The pup is male, your adults are a male and a female. I wouldn't be surprised if there was trouble down the road as your young male matures, but at this stage it seems unusual. Obviously you need to closely supervise if they are together. Your own status is important here. Without knowing how your dogs relate to you it is difficult to advise, but if you are observant you may pick up warning signs and get ahead of any problem by giving your adult dog a command incompatible with going after the pup, e.g. "sit" or "down". Probably best to do your training with the pup away from your other dogs, and make sure to give your male lots of extra time and affection, as well as sharpening up obedience work to assist with control.

[Zande]

When I had eight Basenjis, leading up to that number and when age depleted the pack - they were always fed at the same time. Each dog had his space on our (large) kitchen floor. The bowls were put down in the same order and from the same hand and in the same place for each dog. I would never recommend splitting them at feed times, just establish a routine and keep to it, every single meal. Donner's was the first bowl down, from the right hand. Tuppy's at the same time from the left hand. Then grab the next two bowls, Deedles from the right, Ziggy from the left, etc. There was never any aggro.

I would never muzzle a Basenji, especially not in these circumstances - keep him apart from the puppy, ok, muzzling him in its presence will make him feel he is being punished and only aggravate the resentment.

On the (very rare) occasions there was a fight, we made sure the dogs were never out of sight of each other. Crates were side by side - open wire crates - so the dogs could see and smell each other all the time. The same, incidentally, when one of the pack was sick and needed crating. In a corner, maybe, but still able to see and be seen by all the others.

You are going to have to achieve a balance and stick to whatever routine works.

Good luck -

[eeeefarm]

On feeding, when I had multiple dogs I always did the same as Zande, all dogs fed at the same time, although not always the same place. When the weather was nice I sometimes fed outside. But wherever, I sat and supervised until everyone was finished. I had one who would try to poach if not watched, but she knew better than to make a move with me sitting there. Never had a serious fight with any of mine, and never a disagreement over food, but a breeder I know had to permanently separate two bitches who hated each other and would fight instantly if they had the opportunity....the cause of their dislike had nothing to do with food and everything to do with one bitch interfering with the other one's pups.