Going to be a Multiple Doodle Owner on Sunday any advice on introducing them is welcome

[Rosemarie, Roxie & Kirby]

Hi All,

 

I will be picking up our new puppy on Sunday.  We have Roxie who just turned two.  I would appreciate any suggestions, pointers, tips on how to make the transition smooth as possilbe.  Roxie is very attached to my husband,  I thought of having my husband meet us in my neighbor's yard with both of them on leashes for the first meeting and then working our way home.  Then someone told me I should bring Roxie for the pick up, so I'm not sure what to do.  I'm so excited, yet so nervous.

[Patty, Roxy & Spencer]

Hi Rosemarie,
Our Roxy was 11 mos. old when we brought Spencer (17 wks) home. Roxy was in the house and we let Spencer smell his new front yard. We live in the mtns. so there is only a road that goes by our home. We took him up and down the road a bit to smell that too. This way the new pup has a chance to smell some of his new outside surroundings. A few people said to us later after Roxy and Spencer's first meeting that we should have had a neighbor hold on to Spencer while we had a hold of Roxy. This way it is less threatening and more of a "just passing by" type meeting. Well, we wanted Roxy to meet her new brother right away. After he had a good sniff of his front yard we brought Roxy out. She wanted to play with him right away and he was really not so sure of her. She played kind of rough with him for a few weeks until he knew how to defend his ground or where he could hide for some relief. Of course we were there to supervise, but they had to work it out between them also. Your Roxie is older and probably won't rough house so much. Our Roxy was just a pup herself and having another smaller puppy to play with was great! This was last April. Now they play with equal footing and never want to be very far from each other. I used to tell Roxy that one day Spencer would be bigger so you'd better be nice to him. She weighs 44 lbs. now and he is 57 lbs. You are going to love having two Doodles. It's so much fun to watch them do their Doodly things together. So consider having a neighbor walk back to your house with you and hold your new pup's leash while you do your introduction. Slowly move to the back yard and then maybe into the kitchen for awhile. I've been told slower is better. Good luck....

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

Whopper is 2 and we brought Simba in at 14 1/2 weeks. We opted not to bring Whopper to pick up Simba from the airport. We thought that he would be experiencing a lot of changes and that having an excited dog there could overwhelm him. We wanted them to meet in a more controlled situation. When we got home, my husband took Simba outside. Because Whopper is more attached to me, I went inside to get her because it may have upset her more to see me with the new puppy. We then let them sniff although the puppy was definitely intimidated because Whopper was sooooooooo excited. We took them for a walk around the building and then let them get acquainted off-leash in our buildings dog run before bringing them in. This all started at 9:45 at night due to flight delays but they settled quickly once inside. Since, they play a lot! Whopper at 2 is actually more high energy and tries to play more than he probably wants since he is a snuggler. We definitely let them work things out unless Whopper was attempting to drag him by his leash that was often on early on. Now, 3 weeks to the day, our only issue is Whopper barking at him when he doesn't want to play or is hiding under the table or behind the couch as a game.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I had a 1 and 1/2 year old dog when I got an 8 month old who was already bigger than my first doodle and they played like mad--they got really crazy and I had to separate the after 4 or 5 minutes in order to prevent them from jumping over furniture etc. I did find that each day they could play a little longer and after a few weeks, I didn't have to separate them anymore. I couldn't picture the day that they could just be together without going nuts, but it did come. Now they are great together.
My biggest concern--and you will have to judge this based on your dogs--is injury to the puppy. If it is just a new puppy, less than 4 months, I would have a hard time letting them work it out on their own. I would want to protect the puppy and not have the older dog get into the habit of playing too roughly. That is just my opinion and it looks like there are other opinions out there! Again, it depends on your Roxie and how well she handles playing with a tiny pup. Their hip joints, etc, really haven't formed yet and it may be necessary to control the level of play that they can do.
I like the idea of enlisting a neighbor's help--but whatever you do, I am sure it will go well and you are going to LOVE having two doodles!

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

IMHO, It would be best to take Roxie with you to pick up the puppy. If Hubby can go too, great! That way Roxie is part of the adoption. Also, your older dog may have a truer sense of what's happening if involved in the process - more of a growing family than a "surprise gift". Just speaking from experience on that....

When I took Maple to pick up Lucky, I wanted to see the interaction between them right away. Lucky was 4 m/o so there was more to watch, but if the puppy takes a submissive approach to Roxie, you know you have a good match. It's tricky to see that in very young puppies, but it's how I picked Maple from her litter. Elaborating here but there's a connection...

When (choosing the first doodle from the litter) I put my hand to the puppy I was most attracted too, she licked my hand and I thought "perfect". But then she came back for more and kept licking, and licking and then jumped on my hand. So I pulled my hand back and repositioned. Maple came over, licked my hand and laid down next to it. I knew then that she was my pup.

Anyway, I think it's very important to see the interaction between two potential dog "roomies" in a neutral environment. Then riding home in YOUR vehicle together that Roxie has shared will help Roxie acclimate to the puppy and by the time you reach the house, Roxie will feel confident and easily share the rest of her world to the puppy.

Congratulations! A double doodle home is a whirling circus of fun!

[R Umlah]

I don't know if there is a right answer but this is what I recently did. In July I brought home two 8 week old Doodle pups and introduced them to my 7.5 year old female lab. First you have to know your dog and how well they interact with other dogs. Lucy is general good but can be very vocal when playing with other dogs so I wanted to make sure she remained calm and quiet.. I bought an exercise pen and placed both pups in it for the first few days. Lucy (The Lab) was able to smell them through the pen and get used to them being around before any physical contact was made. When I felt it was time to meet outside the pen I took each pup in turn and put them on my lap with butt facing out to allow Lucy to get in close for a good sniff. Then if they remained calm, I put the puppy down. I did not talk much and when I did I used calm words as I didn't want either to get too excited. If either got too excited I picked the pup up and put them back in the ex-pen. After a few days all was well.

I also encouraged the pups not to jump at Lucy's face. Pups like to do this but older dogs don't like it . I also made sure to spend 'quality time' with the older dog to make sure she knew she was still #1.S he has more freedom inside the house and out and I allow her to have her time away from the pups to chill.

Just remember not to let your own state of mind influence their meeting. if you are excited or nervous the dogs will sense this and may react to it rather than each other. If you can't be calm , then have someone else introduce the pups initially.

Later when the third pup joined us in September, we had a similar routine but were able to move through in it much faster as the older dog was already used to having pups around.

Good luck and have fun !

[Jeanne, Tura and Dolly]

First of all, Congrats!! Lots of fun ahead for you. Our older pup Tura was 10 months when we brought home Dolly, 4 months. I went alone to get her, walked her around our from yard and then my husband brought Tura out for a smell and then to the back yard. The first day was a little rough, Dolly hiding under a chair and Tura nipping at her to come play. We were pretty worried but each day it got better. Dolly finally got comfortable after a few days. Dolly turned out to be Alpha and now controls the play and activity. Tura did start acting up a bit for a few weeks, started peeing and pooping in the house and on the deck but that has now stopped and they play all day and are together a lot. It is important to spend time with each one alone, for bonding and play and training so they remember YOU are in charge. They have so much fun together it is easy to ignore you... Have fun.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I think I have a worst case scenario because Taquito (chihuahua) is SUPER attached to me and was an only dog for 5 years until Peri came home. I opted to take him with us when we picked her up. He is not a doodle, remember that, so he was growling at her and probably thinking "NOOOOO"....we got home and they both ran around, Taquito pooped on the floor (marking??, showing disgust?). Anyhow, everyone does it differently and quite honestly, just go for it. Roxie will be fine no matter what. Just give her lots of individual attention the first few weeks especially. Have your husband take her on outings alone, on walks alone, etc....
It took Taquito about 2 weeks until they were playing all over the place and let me stress again, he is a CHIHUAHUA. Doodles are more friendly and playful IMHO.

Keep us posted and post photos!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rosemarie, Roxie & Kirby]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm so happy to be adding our new little guy to the family. We haven't thought of name yet, but I'm sure upon meeting we will have one quickly :)

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/share-your-doodles-name-and
Rosemarie...check out this post. We are also getting #2 on Nov 20th and are still working on a name. The 2nd one seems to be harder to choose. But this post has been fun to read!!!

As to integrating puppy to the household....I had thought to ask our breeder if I could bring Lucca as we will have 2 puppies to choose from. But I think he will get too excited. I think it's best to have them meet at home outside. We also have an 8 year old Golden Retriever who only "tolerated" Lucca as a pup. Lucca jumped all over his face and poor Ben was way too submissive (and polite). Lucca is definitely Alpha dog but he and Ben are now best friends. When Lucca was around 6 months old Ben realized he was fun to play with. Now they play and truly have their own language together. It's so sweet to watch. It will be interesting how the new puppy will fit into the mix.
Good luck and congratulations!!!!!!!

[Bev]

I am very happy for you! My labradoodles are 6 yrs, 4 yrs, 3 yrs. I put each new puppy in our fenced yard and then let the others out. They circle around the new puppy, sniff and the puppy follows them back to the sliding glass door that leads back to the house. It teaches the puppy you are last in the pack. The puppy learns to go potty based on the smells in the grass. I would not take Roxie for the pick up as she may get too excited in the car and the puppy could get confused as to who is the big dog.

[Gail+Kathleen,(Sydney+Olivia:)]

We know the feeling of getting a second "Doodle", Congrats! What we did, seemed to work out nicely. We left Sydney home when we went to pick up Olivia our second "Doodle". Instead of bringing Olivia into our home, we brought Sydney outside to meet Olivia on our front lawn. We let them get acquainted outside for 10 minutes or so. Then we all went into the house together. We made sure that we continued to give Sydney lots of attention. We always put her food down first, always gave her toys first and always greeted her first. We still try to do this most of the time. They seem to get along just fine, they are both females and are 11 months apart. The second "Doodle" seems to be like a second child. Doesn't need as much attention, plays by herself and is easier all around. Best of luck to you, we hope this info helps!

[Beverley S. LaLonde]

I would take your other dog with you and leave in your car. Put the new little one in crate and let them get acquainted on the way home.While baby is in crate during the car ride. That is what I have done and have 3 getting my 4th.
Bev,Harlee,Miss Chloe & Li'l Buddy