One of the best parts of being a dog owner is, that you don’t have to ask someone else for love.
Your dog is enough for you. Dogs are usually considered friendly animals, but as same as humans, a few of them are reserved, and a few of them are over-enthusiastic.
When it comes to introducing our dog to a new one, whether while walking in the park, or bringing a new puppy home, we need to make sure that the introduction is friendly and smooth.
Before the first meeting of the dogs, everything should be prepared in a plane way, to maintain peace.
Steps To Prepare For The Interaction Of A New Puppy
You are excited to get a new puppy into your family, but do you think what will the older one feel at that moment? Is it the same enthusiasm as you? Or is it being a bit reserved? Understand their feelings.
After that prepare him slowly. Get an exercise pen for the new one, to give both of them separate places. Make a proper routine, too.
- Mealtime detection
Always take care of the meal of both the puppy and the dog. Give both of them their separate rooms or place their bowls apart from each other using a dog gate.
Don’t allow any of them to eat the other one's food after finishing their own. And pick up the bowl only when both of them licked it properly.
- Introduction of new toys
Introduce the dogs with toys, gradually. When they are playing with new toys, supervise them properly. The puppies don’t understand the rules of the adult dog as they are still babies and developing communication skills slowly.
So, try to look for ways to build a jolly relationship between them, without being partial or rude in others' eyes.
- Separate them when you are not home
To keep them safe, just separate the dogs when you are not around them. Also like humans, dogs also need some personal time. During this period of time, they have a chance to have some space for themself rather than one another.
To keep the dog's interaction positive, a long way, let them be with each other while people are around, and provide them with privacy when there's no one.
- Give them breaks during playtime
Playtime can be exhausting in the long run. Sometimes even dogs don’t understand when to stop if they are having fun.
It leads to the over-tiredness of a dog, which sometimes ends up in inappropriate behavior. That is the reason why a break is important. The dogs need to calm themselves and, once they are ready, they can start over again.
Steps To Prepare For The Interaction With A Stranger Dog
Whenever you go out with your dog for a walk, you mostly find another dog. You want them to interact but before that ask the other owner if the dog is comfortable with that or not. Some dogs are less interactive but more reactive, which can be a problem for both you and your dog.
If the other owner also approved the meeting, then only proceed with it.
- Check their body language
With body language, check if they are comfortable with each other or not. The interaction should be on a leash so that there is no chance of any kind of damage.
See if the dogs are happy and showing waggy body language, without being frozen in place. Check if they are giving each other light stares.
If you are not sure of anything happening at the time of interaction. Or you see your dog is not comfortable and running from the other dog. You need to stop there only. Afterwards, you can ask a trainer to help you, in further interactions.
- Take them for walks together
You can take both of them together for a walk so that they can interact in a better way.
Let them walk under your supervision in the same direction with quite a distance between them, so that they don’t harm each other.
Other than interaction benefits, walking is also good for their health. It helps dogs in maintaining stress, blood pressure and cardiac problems.
- Let the dogs interact off-leash
If you are sure about the dog's way of interaction at first, then only allow them to meet off-leash. Get them an enclosed area. Give them time to sniff each other, to know more, about the odor.
After that let them play, take them on a walk together and let them interact respectfully and calmly.
At last, all I can say is, be patient. Dogs too can take time to be comfortable, sometimes a day is enough, and sometimes it takes almost a month. Always watch for positive interactions between your dogs for a lifelong friendship.
Don’t make them interact with every dog you see while walking. Let them choose their own friends, and don’t force them to go with the ones they are not comfortable with.
If you are still facing any problems, and want tips to introduce your dog to another dog, you can invite a dog trainer for your dog. You can contact Another Home, a reliable pet care center and get your dogs groomed easily.
You may also read: Do's And Don't Of Grooming Dog At Home
