Introducing Dogs

When dog introductions are done right, you can go on a peaceful walk together. We first have the dogs meet in a neutral area where there is no territorial issues and on lead. Watch each dogs body language. The body language will tell you how it is going and if a fight is coming. Let the dogs sniff each other and give them verbal praise. Once they have sniffed each other I like to take them on a walk. This will give them a chance of being next to each other while doing something like walking. In the picture above, this was our female Bauer and our male Ronnie's first time meeting. Through out the walk they licked each others face. After a short walk, we bring the dogs into an enclosed area and let go of the leads but leave them hooked to their collars. Usually they will run around and sniff each other more. They may become vocal with each other. This interaction needs to be managed and watched closely but not hovering over the dogs. We continue to watch each dogs body posture and give verbal praise. If the dogs start to play rough, watch closely as this can escalate into a fight if they do not calm themselves down. At first, every interaction needs to be supervised until you know how the dogs are going to interact with each other. One thing to remember is some dogs just do not get along with other dogs. Some dogs may get along with female dogs but not male dogs and vice versa. If the dogs are intact, that too can also play a role in how they act during this introduction. The key is to watch the body language and posture as it will give you the signs.