Introducing a new dog to your existing household is a process! Even if everyone gets along right away, the foster dog still has to learn the routines of your household and how everyone fits into that picture. This affects everything, from who gets access to the dog beds and each crate, to the order everyone is fed, and even if they have to wait in line to get water after coming back inside from play!
If you have other pets besides dogs, it may very likely be the first experience the Can Do dog has with seeing that species up close. They need time to learn the body language and communication of the other animals.
In the ideal world, the foster dog should meet only one of your pets at a time, and this should be done in a neutral location with plenty of space for each dog to see each other without forcing interaction.
The best way to do this is to take a walk with separate handlers for each dog. Don’t let the dogs directly sniff each other. Help them remain calm, and prevent them from rude, hard staring. Start walking, allow them to air sniff and let some of that initial burst of excitement die down. Remember that these dogs will be sharing space inside your house. You don’t want them to be all ramped up at the thought of each other.
Bonus points if you can take the dogs to an area where you can then switch them to long lines and let them do lots of side-by-side sniffing of the ground. Keep moving so the dogs don’t start to think about a play session with each other. If you find they really want to play, you will need to continue your walk until you can safely get to an area where you can let them off leash (such as your yard).
If you don’t have access to a yard, let them do a quick “say hi” sniff of each other towards the end of your walk. Interrupt this every three seconds to call each dog to come back to their handler to get a treat before resuming walking or releasing them again. Greetings on a leash can add tension, and are not something we want them to start expecting to be able to do as assistance dogs in training.
If things are going well, it’s time to let the foster dog inside. Try to put your other dogs back outside or in crates so that the foster dog has time to explore their new house and get used to things without having to worry about being followed by the other animals.
If you have other pets, have the foster dog drag a leash so you can easily interrupt them from any attempts to mark.
Let the dogs greet outside again if possible before letting everyone in the house together.
When the dogs are all inside with each other, you will likely need to pick up all bones, toys, and empty food bowls until you can see if the dogs communicate with each other kindly. It’s okay to only give them their bones when they are in their crates and to feed in crates too. If your dog has a favorite dog bed that they might not want to share, make sure to put that away for now too.
As you start to see their relationship grow, you may decide to bring certain objects back out. Make sure to have plenty of available choices around them. A good rule of thumb is at least two for each dog. So if you now have two dogs in your house, you will want at least four nylabones out.
The number of available sleeping areas should also be high. Crates, dog beds, and for your pet dog, the couch might be options. You can choose, or the dogs can choose, if all are available for sharing or if you want to encourage each dog to have their own spot. You would need to step in and help redirect the foster dog to a new sleeping area if that is the case.
Remember, only one dog should be allowed in a crate at a time. While some dogs may love to cuddle up, let them do this on a dog bed and not in a confined box where it’s harder to escape if agitated.
You will likely need to use baby gates or crates to continue to separate the dogs for a period of a few days to a few weeks as they get to know each other and the house rules. Even if everyone is getting along, there will be certain times of day when having them separate can be helpful to prevent over-excitement or one dog from harassing the other dog to keep playing.
You may choose to have a “no playing inside” rule. You might be okau with light wrestling, but put your foot down to actual running inside. To help enforce this, have separate places you can send each dog to for “rest time.” You can have treat containers located around your house to help the dogs calm down and respond quickly. A rest time can be for 10 seconds before being released, or you may choose to have a longer rest time by putting one dog into a crate, xpen, or on the other side of a baby gate.