0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast , episode

0:02

159 , introducing

0:04

a new puppy to a current dog . This

0:11

podcast is designed to help you on your

0:14

journey of becoming best friends through love and

0:16

learning , as you train your own dog from

0:18

home , and I'm here to help you every

0:20

step of the way . This is the Puppy Training

0:22

Podcast and I'm your host , amy Jensen

0:24

. Hey everybody

0:26

, happy December . Are you ready for Christmas

0:29

at your house ? It's coming next week

0:31

, right ? Well , I guess . What is it ? Are

0:33

we several days away at this point ? Who knows , when you're

0:35

listening to this podcast , actually , maybe it's months

0:37

away , I don't know . Well , christmas is coming

0:39

quickly . My kids , I know , are super excited to be

0:41

out of school for a little while . That does start

0:43

next week for us , and this

0:45

brings up the topic of bringing a new

0:47

dog home . I

0:49

know what this is . A common thing for families

0:52

at this time of year is to introduce a new dog

0:54

into the family , which we are super excited

0:56

about . I really want to help you with that today , but

0:59

before we talk about that , let

1:01

me just chat about the next few weeks at your

1:03

house . Okay , whether you have a new puppy or

1:05

you are not bringing a new puppy home , you may have a

1:07

dog and you're just here listening on

1:09

how to train your current dog . The

1:12

next few weeks can be a little bit stressful for our animals

1:14

, so you may notice your dog acting

1:16

a little differently as holiday changes appear . Notice

1:19

things like changes in home decor . I mean

1:21

, really you guys . We bring an entire tree into

1:23

our house and decorate it . Have you all

1:25

seen the funny meme that's going around with the dog

1:27

questioning why are we allowed to bring

1:29

an entire tree into our home but they

1:32

can't bring in one little stick ? It's pretty funny and

1:35

true , right ? So other changes might

1:37

be the number of people entering and exiting your house in

1:39

the next few weeks , things being

1:41

dropped off , whether it's packages or neighborhood

1:43

gifts , more coming and going

1:46

from you and your family to events

1:48

and evening parties just things to

1:50

think about , be aware of and recognize . These

1:53

things may change how your dog behaves . Maybe

1:56

they act a little more anxious or nervous , maybe

1:59

they're excited or a little naughty , right , this

2:02

time of year can add stress to their day and make

2:04

sure that you're giving them downtime throughout

2:06

the day . Keep up on

2:08

that crate time or the pen time , basically

2:10

just to create a quiet place where they can

2:13

go , feel safe and get a good nap in , also

2:16

play some quiet music or turn on a fan

2:18

to help drown out other noises in the house that

2:21

may be adding to the chaos . So as

2:23

you tuck them away into a safe room

2:25

to have their naps , just add a little white

2:28

noise in the background . Sleep is a huge

2:30

factor , you guys , of good behavior . So make

2:32

sure your dog is getting enough , and

2:35

sometimes when we hit the holidays it tends

2:37

to go right . We're just busy , busy , busy , go

2:39

, go , go . And sometimes schedules

2:41

get off and the dogs

2:43

are a little bit stressed by it . So

2:45

trying to stick to your daily routine as much

2:48

as possible is really helpful for them . Keep

2:50

up on those go sniff adventures . If you

2:52

go on daily walks with your dog , keep up the

2:54

daily walks . If you're doing training sessions

2:57

hopefully you are Do those regularly

2:59

as well , even if they're a little bit shorter than normal

3:02

or maybe a little bit spread

3:04

out throughout the day . Totally great , right . We

3:06

actually like you to spread out your training sessions throughout the day

3:09

and not just doing one session . So

3:11

just keep up on those things . If

3:14

you can do the best , you can . Right , we get it . Life happens . But

3:17

I will say that keeping up on these routines

3:19

will help your dog relax and enjoy

3:21

the holidays better . So I think

3:23

it's a good idea . Dogs

3:25

just like to know what to expect and when to

3:27

expect it , so not messing with their routines

3:29

too terribly much is really helpful for

3:31

them . All right , speaking of the holidays

3:34

, as I mentioned , it is a common time to bring

3:36

a new dog into the family . Please make

3:38

sure that you've done your research and plan on this dog being

3:41

a member of your household for the next 10

3:43

to 15 years . It's really important

3:46

. So research the type of dog you're looking to get . Make

3:48

sure that it matches your lifestyle

3:51

and your energy levels right . There's

3:53

so many different factors from breed to breed , but

3:56

we here at BackstreetBella love adding dogs to families . We

3:58

love helping you guys be successful

4:01

in living with a canine . Happily , it is

4:03

what we do . So thank you for listening to

4:05

the podcast and if you need more help

4:07

, if you have questions , if you have this new puppy and

4:09

you don't quite know what to do and you're binging

4:12

on the podcast , that's great . But just so you

4:14

know , we have tons

4:16

more information , help , access

4:20

to trainers and things like

4:22

that that is available to you through our online program . So

4:24

if you haven't checked that out yet , jump online , go to BackstreetBellacom

4:27

and sign up for our program

4:30

. You won't find a better deal anywhere and

4:32

we really do help you for the life of your dog . Check

4:34

that out . Now

4:39

for the topic of the day . Let's say you are

4:41

bringing a new dog home and

4:44

you need to introduce it to your current

4:46

dog . How do you go about this

4:48

? It can be a little tricky . Now

4:50

, a while ago , we talked about introducing

4:53

your new dog to a household cat

4:55

. Today , let's focus more about

4:57

dog-dog interactions . Now

4:59

I recommend using a barrier

5:01

or gate . Anytime I'm introducing a

5:03

new puppy to any household pet

5:06

, in this case , your current dog . So

5:08

we like to do this within the confines of your home , but

5:10

we're going to use gates or exercise pens or

5:12

some barrier , with a little bit of strategic

5:15

planning and positive reinforcement , because

5:18

this method will help create a structured

5:20

environment and it will allow these

5:22

two dogs or three dogs or however many dogs

5:24

you have . It'll be a nice , controlled

5:26

environment where we can reduce the likelihood

5:28

of stress or conflicts between the dogs . So

5:31

begin by setting up a designated area for each

5:33

dog using gates and pens . They can

5:35

be at a crate , whatever the barrier you choose

5:37

to use . But we want to separate the dogs . We're

5:40

just going to say there's two dogs for the time being . This

5:43

provides a visual separation for your dogs

5:45

and it ensures that each dog has their

5:47

own space , which will reduce the risk

5:49

of any kind of territorial disputes . So

5:52

we're going to allow both dogs to become familiar

5:54

with their areas and then

5:57

we're going to watch their body language before

5:59

we initiate any direct interactions . So

6:01

start the introduction process with the dogs

6:03

on opposite sides of the barrier . Allow

6:07

them to see and smell each other without

6:09

direct contact so they can sniff each other through the

6:11

gate . That's great , but they're not able

6:13

to get to each other's bodies because of that barrier

6:15

. Now we're going to use positive reinforcement

6:18

meaning food rewards and praise to

6:20

reward good , calm , friendly behavior

6:23

. So if they're wagging their tails

6:25

and they're loose and noodley in their body

6:27

language , they seem

6:29

to be happy . I might just do a little

6:31

food scatter on the floor . Now , when you do food

6:33

scatters , dogs can be a

6:35

little bit territorial over their food . So recognize

6:38

as you reward them , reward them away

6:40

from one another . So whether you're luring them

6:42

away from one another or if you're just doing a little food

6:44

scatter behind them , or they turn away from

6:46

one another , go collect their little food scatter

6:48

and then come back and say hello to each other again

6:50

. This will help them , as they see each

6:52

other , to feel positive about it , as

6:54

they then get to play another super fun game of turning

6:57

away , going and collecting their little food scatter

6:59

and then they get to come back and say hello again , so

7:01

that can create a nice positive feeling . With

7:04

these new introductions , we want

7:06

to keep these sessions short

7:08

and supervised , and then our

7:10

job is to monitor their body language

7:12

. We're looking for signs of curiosity

7:15

, playfulness , relaxation . Positive

7:18

behaviors should be rewarded , while any signs

7:20

of tension or discomfort we can just

7:22

simply separate them . So teach

7:24

them to move away from the other dog if needed

7:26

. So again , we need to watch that body language

7:28

and before we're going to let these dogs be together

7:31

without the barrier , we want nice

7:33

, playful , relaxed , curiosity

7:36

type behavior . So

7:39

no tensing , freezing , staring , growling

7:41

None of that . Now

7:43

, this might take one session

7:45

, which is maybe five , ten minutes . This might take

7:48

a week , right ? So be patient . We're

7:50

going to go at our dog's pace both

7:52

of them . We have to make sure both are happy . So if

7:54

one's happy and one's not , we need to wait till both

7:57

of them are happy to be together . So

7:59

creating those separate spaces where they have

8:01

a pen and a crate , or maybe

8:04

we're using some gates to give this dog this

8:06

room and this dog this space , until

8:09

they are a little more friendly

8:11

. Then they can be together . So we're

8:13

going to also start to incorporate what we call parallel

8:15

activities . That will encourage positive

8:17

associations . For example , have

8:19

both dogs engage in activities like

8:21

chewing on toys or enjoying treats

8:24

side by side . I find that that goes

8:26

best if we're doing training side by

8:28

side . So I might ask both

8:30

dogs to do a sit . I'm feeding both dogs . Ask

8:32

both dogs to do a down I'm feeding both dogs

8:34

. Now , your new puppies aren't going to know

8:36

these terms or the cues , but

8:38

you can definitely lure them into these

8:41

positions , lure them into a sit , lure

8:43

them into a down and make sure you include

8:45

that other dog , the older dog , with

8:47

the training and the reinforcement right

8:49

. Feed them food as well . That

8:51

will help them feel positive about this new little sidekick

8:54

that's appeared and is here to stay . So

8:56

feeding and rewarding both dogs

8:58

as they do parallel activities . So

9:01

even if you're just walking around your house and they follow

9:03

you , reward both dogs for following you . Just

9:05

take that training session . They're going to

9:07

have both puppies or both dogs working

9:10

on things at the same time . Now

9:12

, as you're teaching your new dog new behaviors

9:14

, it is also okay to have

9:16

your older dog in a crate while

9:19

you teach the new puppy a behavior and

9:21

then bring out the older dog and work with them side

9:23

by side . But just recognize , doing

9:25

those parallel activities will help them

9:27

be more friendly to one another because they're

9:29

not focused on each other , they're actually

9:31

focused on me . So even some

9:34

play or anything I'm asking

9:36

them to do where they're focused on an outside

9:38

task but they're doing it together , will

9:41

help them get along better . So

9:43

I also like to just regularly rotate the dogs

9:45

between the confined areas . So as we are

9:47

managing our household , you

9:50

know we're moving dogs from room to room or

9:52

space to space occasionally , as

9:54

needed . We're just rotating the household

9:56

is what we call it because we

9:59

want everyone to be happy and friendly , right ? So

10:01

that's going to look differently at everybody's house depending

10:03

on what kind of body language you're seeing

10:05

with your dogs . But don't

10:08

feel badly about rotating your household

10:10

, like where this puppy needs to be in a pen while this

10:12

dog's out for a little bit , and then this dog needs

10:14

to go in a pen while the puppy's out for a little bit . That's

10:16

totally fine , because we want both dogs to be happy

10:19

, relaxed and just getting used to

10:21

one another's presence without overwhelming either

10:23

dog . Also , another tip

10:25

for you would be establishing feeding routines

10:27

that involve the dogs eating on opposite sides

10:30

of a gate or within separate pens , so they're

10:32

not together eating their meals . We don't

10:34

want to create any sort of resource guarding tendencies

10:37

in them , so giving them their own

10:39

spaces to eat their meals will help with that

10:41

. Now , as your dogs show increased

10:43

comfort and positive interactions with

10:45

each other through the gate , through exercise pens

10:47

, we can gradually allow them some supervised

10:50

interactions together . We're

10:52

just going to monitor this and again , I would practice

10:54

those parallel activities when they are together

10:56

, allowing them to do things and focus

10:59

on me or a game or another toy

11:01

, but they are doing it side by

11:03

side and then , if you see any negative

11:05

behavior , we can immediately interrupt , redirect

11:07

and separate as needed . Okay , so

11:10

we'll want to make sure that we're monitoring their together

11:13

times in the beginning to make sure they're both

11:15

friendly and then maintain consistency

11:17

in routines and positive reinforcement to

11:19

help build the strong foundation for their relationship

11:22

. Being patient is really important

11:24

. You guys , as I mentioned , it's going to take different

11:26

time periods for different dogs and

11:28

households . So if there's any signs

11:30

of stress or tension , just go back to

11:33

earlier stages of the introduction process

11:35

and progress at a slower pace . All

11:38

right , that's it for today . Happy holidays everybody

11:41

. Remember , by providing these structured environments

11:43

, controlling their interactions and reinforcing

11:46

positive behaviors , we can definitely

11:48

foster good , happy relationships between

11:50

our dogs , and that's our goal , right ? Happy

11:53

training , thank

11:56

you . If you have a question about anything you heard on

11:58

this podcast or any other puppy training session

12:00

, visit my site BaxterAndBellacom

12:03

to contact me .