Introductions take time

First impressions don't always stick in the dog world.  This week we've had a doggy guest at our house and initially she was not at all enthused about Langley and his over the top, energetic way of greeting a new dog. 

I'm pretty sure in Langley's mind all that was going on was "OMG, OMG, OMGEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" because that's about how excited he gets when meeting a new dog.  Instead of going into play position, his entire body flattens to the floor in a quivering mass of potential energy and immediately the new dog realizes they are in over their head and is on guard.  Then Langley launches at the dog expecting a Langley style wrestling match and he instead he finds the dog is growling at him with lip curled.  The end result would be a fight if I didn't intercede since Langley is so far over threshold from excitement that his joy quickly turns to reactiveness.

So, instead of right off the bat expecting the dogs to be in the same room together, I separated them so they can't get at each other, but they do see each other.  For the first day this still drove Langley nuts, but gradually, the sight of Chicory became old hat.  She was just another dog in the house like Tilly or Frodo and he could really care less about her. 

Chicory and Langley, hanging out in our small kitchen

This morning Langley jumped the gate into the kitchen, as Langley does regularly since we only have a 36" baby gate.  My first thought was to get him out of there because he just goes in to steal Tilly's stash of little bully stick nubs. Sure enough, that's what he was doing, but when I got into the kitchen to get him, I realized that both Tilly and Chicory were gated inside the kitchen.  I felt panicky but immediately realized that Langley was completely unimpressed by Chicory being in the room.  He looked for bully sticks, got a drink of water, and then came over when he saw that I was treating Chicory and Tilly for sitting calmly.  No altercation and then I picked him up and carried him back into the living room without ever realizing that yesterday this was the dog that had him half crazed.

So remember when you are introducing a new dog into your pack, or if you already have a dog who is slow to warm to new dogs, give them some time to feel comfortable and safe.  Often times a new dog is a nervous and confused and they just need some time before they are expected to settle in.

Tonight we have a new foster boy arriving so this experience with Chicory was a great test drive to see how Langley could handle another dog in the house. Both he and Chicory did great so I think we are ready to have a second foster dog here.  Wish us luck!