When we were going to get James, I didn’t think much about dog meeting dogs. I had never had two dogs before as Dyzio had been the sole spoilt dog of the house. Now we had Zoey and James was on the way. Then we watched TV and came across Ceasar’s Way which talked about dog psychology. It was fascinating. I didn’t think I’d need to use it that much but it was good stuff learning about dominance issues.
I read up a little on what to do when dogs are to be introduced to each other for the first time, but then thought to myself, “Zoey” is a genteel dog that doesn’t bark and wags her tail. She doesn’t really have any territory and runs around the garden so meeting James should be a no brainer.
James arrives and I carry him off the car in my arms.
Zoey runs around smelling and a little confused.
I let her smell him and she seems a bit confused. Then I put James down on our front porch and she sniffs and growls. She gives a deep growl that frightens both James and I. He snuggles in between my feet and lies quietly. Zoey continues to growls.
Alex and I decide, “Okay, we’ll try it the dog psychology way.” We’d take them to a neutral location which isn’t our house, have them both on leash and let them get to know each other. Walk them a little and when all seems good, we’d walk them in together.”
So we did. Both on leash, we took them outside the front gate to the street in front of us. Both seemed good and both Zoey and James sniffed each other. A few minutes later tails started wagging. Alex and I had one dog each and we took them on a little walk outside our fence together.
After a while, Alex took both the leash and we quickly walked through our front gate as if nothing could be wrong. We had met friends and taken them home.
James was now a friend, not an intruder.
Still on the leash, we had them play a little. When all seemed better, I took off the leash and watched them play. (Here most websites, says its good to watch them closely in case of agression.) Luckily there was no agression.
Wagging tails and gentle sniffings prevailed that lazy Sunday afternoon. What a relief. I wondered what would happen if we had two dogs showing agression. James slept a good couple hours the way puppies do, occasionally being sniffed by wagging tail Zoey.
Since that day, they have gotten closer and closer. Always together, always playing the way dogs play. Some wrestling, some soft biting and leg pulling. Dogs must be dogs.
Zoey digs up our garden less, and James seems happy with Zoey by his side. Dog Meets Dog really does involve dog psychology, so if you are planning on having another dog, pay close attention! 🙂 It can make a world of a difference. Now both are sleeping by my feet. What happiness. 🙂
Having "Me" Time 