We are going to our vacation/eventual retirement home in North Carolina next week. We have two terrier mixes, one male one female, about 30 pounds each, ages 4 and 6 years. Our son who lives in Charlotte is coming to stay with us for a few days and bringing his 60 pound male 4 year old lab/(pit?). None of the dogs have a history of being particularly aggressive but our knuckleheads can get feisty sometimes, especially when they encounter bigger dogs at the dog park or wherever. His dog is kind of high energy. If there was any problem no doubt our dogs would get the worst of it so we obviously want to avoid that. Looking for advice on how to best introduce them so everyone gets along. TIA.

Find neutral ground like a street or road. Walk your dogs along the street and then have your son bring his dog in. Keep all the dogs walking and keep them focused on the respective owners, not the other dogs. After about half an hour end up back home.

I would do this every time you bring the dogs together until they are to the point where they don't react anymore.

Edit, I might try to bleed out the energy first if you can. Maybe your son could bring his dog to a dog park first. Then do the walk.

Personally, I make them shake hands and give their full names.

Find a neutral spot to let them all meet at. Not the house as your two likely see it as their “territory”. They need to be on even ground as it were. Also, see if you both can separately get some exercise before they meet. Don’t want them dog tired (pun intended) but burn off some of that initial energy. Going for a walk together right after the initial meet might also help the process.

^^^Looks like Broadside and I think alike.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SigM4,

What Broadside said. Also, once you are ready to let them meet, let them go nose to butt for 3 seconds, then end the greeting and resume walking. Do this a few times until it seems like it’s become boring to them.

Be sure and monitor play once they are together off leash. If one of them gets too rowdy, intervene and slow them down.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Personally, I make them shake hands and give their full names.

And butts, don't forget the butts.

The neutral ground thing is the best. If there's a dog park nearby, even better.

I've had good success with scent pads. Basically having one dog sit/lay down on a patch of grass for a few minutes, then have the other dog come by and scent the space vacated by the first dog. Then reverse the process so each dog gets to know one another by smell first. Then an off leash meeting in a neutral space.

I've had success crating them next to one another for a while. Other times crating the new one in the room with everyone else for a while.

If not crated, I suggest off-leash and on neutral ground. Leashes exacerbate dog-intros of the scared ones. IME.

I’ve heard walk them together so they feel apart of the same pack.