question about pet adaptation

[marni]

My FIL and his dog are moving in with us next week. Beau, his dog, is a fixed male housedog maltese terrier/shitzhu mix about 8 years old. In this household there already is a spayed female corgie, also about 8 years old, and three fixed or spayed cats.

I am looking for help and advice about how to introduce Sadie and Beau to each other and get them to both live in mutual tolerance of each other and Beau with the cats if not down right peace without trying to kill each other or continually be telling each other off or in Beaus case, picking on the cats, although I am quite sure our big maine coone will sort him out in short order.

Sadie is used to being kenneled at night, gets walked daily, and mostly stays outside during the day while I am gone or having the run of the house when I am home. Beau is used to having the run of the house and non stop access to a small doggy yard via a doggy door. He gets walked occasionally since my FIL is going gradually blind and is now almost totally blind. I will be glad to take over the walk duties, although I can't predictably say I will be walking them at the same time.

My primary concern is how to introduce them to each other and induce them to live and let live.

It might also help, or complicate that we will be leaving both at a boarding kennel a week after Beau and Dad get here while we go to CA for a wedding and then a week after we get back we will all be moving into a new house.

I will be busy helping the dogs adjust as well as dad, but I have helped dad before and I have ne ver done this with two dogs.

HELP and ADVICE would really help, any idea no matter how strange....

thanks

marni

[Chicken Little]

They must first meet on neutral territory. Is it too late for that? No common feeding sites or treats for a while. Minimize toys for a while, in case someone wants to show ownership. Lots of walks on leashes, lots of exercise. I have had good luck this way, but admit no knowledge of introducing dogs and cats. Just dogs and dogs.

[Trek-chick]

I agree on the neutral territory meeting. I would have them meet up as much as possible before the actual move in date. that's what I did with my dog when I moved in with my DH and his two dogs. I even did a few sleep overs with them before the big move. Dogs will have to sort out their pack status too so, there may be some agressive moments. I usually just let them sort it out themselves unless one dog is being hurt badly.

I got lucky because my dog (Lab) adapted well with the two new dogs my DH had. She even took to the Airedale like they were long lost friends. It was funny because the smallest (Shih-Tzu) is the pack leader. My Lab wouln't even look at her when she was eating for the longest time and was very submissive. Now they have eased into a beautiful relationship.

[smilingcat]

We've fostered both cats and dogs in our house with 2 dogs and 5+ cats. Fostering of newborn kittens were easiest, the hardest one to integrate is our current foster cat. Fostering of goldens were relatively easy.

+1 with introducing the two dogs in neutral territory. At first feed the two dogs in separate place out of sight of each other. Last thing you need is have the two dogs "eye-ing" each other during feeding time. Once they sort out the pecking order between 2 dogs, then you can start feeding them together within eye-distance. later you can feed them next to each other. How fast depends on how well and how quickly the dogs will sort things out.

Beau and the three cats:

If Beau is the kind of dog that likes to chase (being a terrier), its best to keep Beau on leash when he is brought into the house. Also have a spray bottle ready! Both you and your DH should be reassuring the cat when your FIL brings in Beau into the house. Your cats are most likely bolt to go to their hiding place. Let them. Cats are curious enough so that when the dust settles down, they will venture out.

One thing to remember, your cats may show their disapproval of Beau by spraying around the house so have "Natures Miracle" ready to clean up the spray.

Squirt Beau with water if he shows any inclination to chase the cats. And keep an eye on your cats. After about a week or so, the cats may get enough nerve to attack the dog in the face.

The whole integration time could be short as few days and may be long as a month.

MAKE SURE SOME ONE IS AROUND TO SUPERVISE AT ALL TIMES FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS. You, your DH and FIL will also need to readjust with the animal dynamics. And keep a close watch on their health. Stress of new animal in the household can cause some illness. Diahhrea is common.

When all the animals fall into their new routine, you'll forget about the stress of integration.

enjoy the new dog in your household and your FIL too .

[GLC1968]

Dogs will have to sort out their pack status too so, there may be some agressive moments. I usually just let them sort it out themselves unless one dog is being hurt badly.

Ditto what everyone else is saying including the above. Have the dogs ever met before? Are they each generally ok with other dogs or is one or both dog-agressive? (I'm guessing no, but I had to ask because that's potentially a whole different ball game).

For the cats, we've done this a bunch of times. It helps that your cats are already ok with your dog and that you are bringing the new dog into their territory. I've never had to deal with a cat showing agression or causing the problem, but if you are more concerned with Beau's reaction, it's as simple as teaching him that the cats are also part of the pack. This means all initial interactions should be supervised (with Beau on a leash if he's not well trained to voice commands). If he makes ANY move towards the cat (outside of a desire to sniff), correct him. If you can have your dog in the room too...so Beau can see how the cats fit into the pack, that'll help. Again, this is all assuming that your cats are ok around a strange but calm dog. That's the only type of cat we've had, so I can't speak to cat-aggression! Like in the case of the dogs, there may be some hissing or growling or such...it's ok and normal. Just make sure that you are always in attendence until both animals visibly relax whenever they are together. Oh, and once everyone is comfortable with each other, don't let the cats rub up against the dogs when they are eating...recipe for disaster!

Good luck. Sounds like you will definitely have your hands full!