Introduced New Dog into Home-Help/Advice?

Hello, all. We just adopted a special needs German Shepherd named Gracie. We currently have 2 8 year old female greyhounds, Dali and Charlotte. So far, there have been no fights between them. Dali and Charlotte have each growled/barked sharply only when Gracie got too close for a sniff while they were in their dog beds. Couple of quick questions, as this is all new to us.

1) Gracie came into our bedroom where the dogs sleep, and peed a little in front of our greyhounds. Is this submissive peeing? Will she eventually settle down and stop?

2) Do you have any advice about how to integrate her? She really seems to want to befriend our dogs - they've been cautious with her, but haven't interacted much.

I appreciate this so much! Any advice would be wonderful!

Amy

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Originally Posted by cowssaymoo1

Hello, all. We just adopted a special needs German Shepherd named Gracie. We currently have 2 8 year old female greyhounds, Dali and Charlotte. So far, there have been no fights between them. Dali and Charlotte have each growled/barked sharply only when Gracie got too close for a sniff while they were in their dog beds. Couple of quick questions, as this is all new to us.

1) Gracie came into our bedroom where the dogs sleep, and peed a little in front of our greyhounds. Is this submissive peeing? Will she eventually settle down and stop?

2) Do you have any advice about how to integrate her? She really seems to want to befriend our dogs - they've been cautious with her, but haven't interacted much.

I appreciate this so much! Any advice would be wonderful!

Amy

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What is the GSD's special need? The peeing incident could just be "nerves".

Have you made an effort to introduce the dogs outside or was this the
first time your Greyhounds met the new dog?


Here's a sample of ways to introduce new dogs.

http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/IntroducingDogs.html

Here's a little story of what we did...
We just got Eli a month or so ago and had to carefully introduce him to the other two, especially Bunny who can be VERY aggressive towards other dogs, outside of our home. We had all of them on leashes, B and Z with muzzles on, and introduced them outside of the house, in neutral territory. I held E and my partner brought one out at a time, and when we could tell that they were ok, we took that one back in and brought out the other and then when they were all ok, we took them for a short walk. For a day or so after the initial meeting, we kept muzzles on B and Z while they were all loose about the house.

Eli did pee once, on Z's bed... I'm not sure if it was a puppy accident or intentional.. but I immediately took him outside and it hasn't happened since. They are all pretty well adjusted now. Z growled for about a week... he didn't like Eli walking over him, or stepping on him -- understandable.

So... Id say just take it slow, watch them while they eat, and eventually they'll all settle down and get along. If there is a lot of snapping or growling, I would suggest a muzzle. Seems to calm the aggressive dog down until they've accepted the new dog. Also, don't baby the new dog too much in front of the other ones.. as the other ones will get jealous and cause more problems..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lizbud

What is the GSD's special need? The peeing incident could just be "nerves".

Have you made an effort to introduce the dogs outside or was this the
first time your Greyhounds met the new dog?


Here's a sample of ways to introduce new dogs.

http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/IntroducingDogs.html

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Hello - thanks for the link! Gracie has paralysis of the lower spine - likely degenerative myelopathy, although since she was dumped, we don't know exactly for sure. She can move the legs and get up on them to go potty, but the spine doesn't communicate with the legs enough that she can walk on them.

Our girls met Gracie on another occassion, as an introduction...Hopefully, everyone will adjust to the changes soon :)

When I first found Muttly, Travis hated him. He acted like he wanted to kill him while Muttly was in his kennel. So I took them outside to introduce them. I was worried Travis was going to hurt him, but once outside he liked him ok. I did this several time with both my older dogs ( never at the same time however) over a period of about a week. Then I let Muttly loose in the house first with Travis because I though he was the alpha dog. Meanwhile I kept Wilma outside. Then after that went well, I put Travis in another room and let Wilma inspect him. I also did this over several days. Then I let them all outside together, they got on fine, with the exception of the older dogs putting him in his place once in a while.

But then again Muttly is a puppy, I dont know if thats how you introduce adult dogs. But I thought I would share :)

Hope they get along!!