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306867 tn?1299249709

Dog advice .

I posted this on the dog forum, but not very busy over there and would rather get advice from all my friends here.

Due to the bad economy we will be combining households.  I have a Mini Schnauzer and Rat Terrier. My sister has a Basset Hound, 7 lb. Poodle and a very old, deaf, Border Collie.  We will be putting 5 dogs in the same house.  We plan on feeding them separately.  Whats the best way to introduce them ?  Should I get rid of the basket of toys (that my Zippy is very protective of) ?
  I admit, it's my dogs that have the worst manners (they trained me instead of being trained)lol   Any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

My sister's dogs eat table scraps and my dogs do not.  My Sadie (Schnauzer) has allergies and can only eat her "fish & potato's".  Her treats are also "fish & potato.  
Boy this is going to be an adventure ! lol
17 Responses
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306867 tn?1299249709
LOL  I'm not laughing at you.  I think Cesar Millan guy is great. I've just been too cheap to buy his book.  (so I'll just pick your brain for info)lol   Thanks again !
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You guys are funny - there will be no neck snapping in anyone's yard! Just make sure you have time and walk walk walk with them as soon as they meet. If you have time to spend time with all of them together that would be good too. Pay lots of attention to body language cuz dog fights really don't happen out of nowhere. They evil-eye each other like boxers in a ring first!! Dominant ones keep on a leash until you know how they'll react. I'm tellin ya - the Cesar Millan thing is no joke - we used a few of his techniques with my dogs and it really does work! That's how we integrated the dogs without bloodshed. Stop laughing at me - it's true!! :)  Big congrats and good luck!!
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306867 tn?1299249709
No ! Your dogs stay in their yard ! LOLOL  They could snap my babies necks in a heartbeat.
Helpful - 0
306455 tn?1288862071
LOL I guess Mary isn't even concidering introducing my dogs into the mix. I have a  Very dominant  male Rottie (Rocky) and a female pit bull (Mimi). I would like to see all the dogs meet before they establish their own teritories.
I pretty sure my pit will fall in love with the basset hound, since she has a thing for big ears. lol   But she may not be happy with the other females going anywhere near Rocky.
We'll let ya know how it all works out.
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306867 tn?1299249709
Thank you all for the great advice.  I'm so happy we got the compound !

I should have mentioned that all but the Basset Hound are females.  The Basset loves everyone, except when it comes to food. He's a bottomless pit and wants it all. lol
I have two dominant females. It was crazy when I brought the rat terrior home to meet the schnauzer. They were both trying to take the lead. The schnauzer eventually won.

  My friend threw a birthday party for her dog. There was a doberman, 2 boxers, rottwieler and my little schnauzer. They all got along great and had meet at different times before.  My little schnauzer was so obviously the leader of the pack. I have a feeling it will be this way again.  She is so possesive of me and I don't think I did a good job teaching her that I'm the leader.
I guess I could ramble on for days about my dogs. lol
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
We just had to do this actually, my family has 3 and I have 2 and we had to integrate them together. This might sound cheesy - but have you ever watched the dog whisperer? Total cheese I know but it really does work. They need to walk together right off the bat so they form a new pack together. So the meet-n-greet butt sniffing ritual doesn't neccessarily have to be #1, if they walk together they'll be more receptive to butt sniffing after. And about feeding times - they need to be fed all together in the same room. If you feed these dogs here and those dogs there it draws a line and creates 2 separate packs which you don't want. So feed them together - it may be a little hectic for the first couple of days but they'll get into a routine. Our dogs had to sniff every dish before they ate for the first week or so now they all old pros! About toys and possessive dogs... I'm not sure what to do in the beginning but once they settle into a pack they should figure it out amongst themselves. They'll fall into a natural pecking order of leader and followers. If you have more than one aggressive or super dominant dog within sexes you'll have to be a bit more cautious. Two dominant females will be difficult to transition, and two dominant males blah blah. The biggest thing will be first impression so make sure you have time for a long walk right when you introduce them all - the more walking you do then the better off you'll be later. If any that are high energy take them separately for a walk before you introduce everyone else. And make sure you let them know you are the boss! Sorry this is so long! Congrats on the house and good luck with the pups!
Helpful - 0
306455 tn?1288862071
Naughty,   LOL   I don't think my sisters would be real happy putting their dogs in a room with mine and letting them duke it out.  lol  Even though my dogs are very sweet, we're just not sure how they'll react to the little yippee dogs. We're just afraid they might mistake them for chew toys.  
I think introducing them off the property, one by one will be the best bet.
Iam very curious to see how my dogs react to Marys, since I'm always over at Mary's holding or petting her dogs. Then I go home and I know my dogs must smell them on me, but they don't react to it. They will though, if I've been around some other strange dogs (like clients dogs).
Do you think my dogs already know Mary's dogs? and visa versa?   Will this be a case for the "Dog Whisperer"?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Put em all in one room and let them duke it out....then sniff each others butts and they will be fine......keep all feeding areas at different locations but at the same time every day.  Even keep water bowls separate locations if needed......oh they will let you know.

13 years and they still fight over their territory (food & water bowls) when they do ...its not pretty.....its down right scary........

You and Mary are awesome ladies......even though you can't cook a cheesecake....:-))

I wish you luck.  You definitely have your hands full.

Congats on the Compound......Can't wait to see what you do with it!!

God Bless,
nauty...........
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306455 tn?1288862071
oh yeah, moving :(...............the worst part.
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495284 tn?1333894042
COMMUNITY LEADER
Congrats on the house!!!!  Now its moving time............
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306455 tn?1288862071
whoooo whooooo!   We got the house!!   Or as we call it   "The Compound".
Main house=Double lot,4 bedrooms, 2 baths, x-large Livingroom, 2 car garage, Huge pool (36x16) and then the cottage (mine for now)=1 bedroom,1 bath, livingroom, kitchen, laundry and screened patio. House needs work but it's gonna be nice!  All for 65 thousand!  Soooooo happy!!!!!
7 dogs is gonna be interesting though.
Helpful - 0
495284 tn?1333894042
COMMUNITY LEADER
I would recommend introducing them slowly too.  I know the beagle thinks everything is hers and she likes to let the other dogs of the family know she is boss....She doesnt stand very tall but she "smiles" so pretty to the other ones!!!!!!  

Good luck on the house!!!!!
Helpful - 0
306867 tn?1299249709
Thanks Trouble.   Luckily we are moving into a different house, so none of the dogs have claimed it their territory yet.
Magi will be living in a guest house next door with her two dogs. So actually it's 7 dogs. lol  They will have a separate fenced yard though.

We should find out today or tomorrow if the bank is going to take our offer on the house. Keep your fingers crossed. It will be the answer to our prayers.  
Helpful - 0
230262 tn?1316645934
omg you guys must be as crazy as I am to do such a thing, lolol.  Good luck with this! haha! As a lifelong multi-pet owner I would have to say for starters definitely let them do the meeting/butt sniffing ceremonies on a neutral ground so no dog is being territorial. and i dont mean just taking the dogs just out of the house, because their yard is still their own yard/territory and they will be aggressive probably. Meet at the park or beach or whatnot where neither set of dogs feels the need to protect/guard/own. Hopefully they will make friends fast and not cause a bad problem once they are in the same house. If there are problems you may have to keep them separated by doggy/kid gates. I would not try locking them in different rooms where they cant see/smell one another because that just causes more anxiety and aggression. Let them sniff between the bars of the gate and get acquainted gradually that way with small playtimes in between. You'll have to totally wing it and play it by ear depending on how they all react to each other. and yes feed them apart from each other!! Food aggression is very natural to an animal, especially dogs though and will make for some horrendous fights possible! good luck and let us know how it goes!      
Helpful - 0
306867 tn?1299249709
Jacqui.................LMAO   Oh that's what we need ....a cat to straighten out all these dogs. lol lol   Sounds like your cat could do night patrol.

Lizzy............great idea !  I was thinking I would walk 2 at a time around the block, so they could get acquainted.  My little Zippy thinks all toys are hers.lol   She is a rescue and I think she lived on the streets for a while. When they finally caught her, she was pregnant.  She's had a hard life......(homeless and raped), so I've let her get away with being protective of her stuff. lol
Helpful - 0
186166 tn?1385259382
whenever i have had a friend come over with her dog...i have introduced her dog to mine...one at a time.  i take them outside...away from "their space" and put one of my dogs out with hers.  then i add another dog...then another...lol.  i do this to avoid the pack mentality.  so far, so good...never a fight :)
i would do the same thing with the basket of toys.  i would take it up...then after all the dogs have settled in...introduce the toys back in...one at a time.
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401786 tn?1309152034
Mary,

I'm so happy to be able to offer you a solution.  I happen to have a cat in my posession that would love to come live with you....she has special etiquette skills and can therefore teach all the doggies to get along.  

See that, all your troubles are over.......now where should I send the cat?
Helpful - 0
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