Like any pet, small dogs also require cordial relationship with his housemates for the general safety of all parties involved. Whether your little pooch is a puppy or already an adult, there’s no use in pretending that he doesn’t share his home with other pets be it a cat, a rodent, or another canine.
Bringing in the New Member of the Pack
The golden rule when it comes to introducing a new dog member into a household which already has dogs in it is to do the addition as slowly but steadily as possible. The worst mistake a dog parent can make is to simply bring in the new pooch into the house without proper introduction. You don’t want for your other pets to see the new one as an intruder on their territory. Otherwise, you will only wind up with a problematical pack that fights relentlessly and competes over everything. This is definitely not fun to deal with so consider the guideline below:
- Ask for assistance from a relative or a friend who is already well-known by your current dogs.
- Meet up on a neutral territory – somewhere you do not walk your present pets on a regular basis and your small dog is not familiar with.
- Begin the process with a long walk to drain each of your pooch’s energy and to allow them to be accustomed to one another in a place that none of them “owns”.
- Lead the walk with your new pooch while your relative/friend who is assisting you follows behind with the existing ones. After some time, drop back and allow the current pets of yours to sniff the new one’s rear. Don’t let them meet face-to-face though as that can possibly lead to fights.
- Resume the walk with the existing dogs leading the walk this time, and let your small dog sniff the original pets.
- Gradually bring the entire pack together with you, humans, in between the dogs. If your pooches are calm and are walking together without incident, then it’s time to bring them home.
- Allow the original dogs enter your home first with you before the new member. This way, you let the existing ones kind of “invite” your small dog into their territory.
- What to do after the first day? Once your dogs have finally become a pack, let them set up the chain of command among themselves, of course with you and the other humans in the household as the pack leaders.
The way you socialize your little furball will affect his demeanor. Bear in mind that positive exposure towards many animals and various environments will make small dogs more secure and more likely to be friendly with other pets. While each dog will hang out differently with other dogs based on their breed’s traits and own experiences, know that once you fully understand your pooch’s body language, you will never have to worry how he’s feeling during an introduction. If your dogs at home have relaxed muscles and wag their whole body (some may even pant or grin, perk their ears and tail) after the introduction, then you can say you didn’t do a terrible job in adding the new member to the pack.
