New Dog in the Pack

We have always been a multi-dog household. Typically, we have a combination of rescues and purchased dogs. The purchased dog typically has less unknown’s. That’s not to say that rescues are difficult; they just need some understanding… well maybe everyone does.

Ovaro arrived on a Saturday morning, 2.5 hours before we were holding an open house at our home, to be greeted by me, my wife, Audrey, our ten year old son, Jake, and our other three German shepherd rescues (two males, one female). With a quick solution, a prayer, then action, I stayed outside of the house with Ovaro, while my wife brought our female shepherd, Isabel, out. She is the queen bee, second-in-command of the house behind my wife. We walked together, meeting on the street (neutral ground,) and slowly moved them closer and closer as we walked. Next, we brought out the younger male (Chewy AKA Chewbacca,) her surrogate pup. We were experiencing “great success,” so out with the final dog, the older male shepherd, Ghost. The four walked together, side-by-side, without incident. We then transitioned into the house and to the backyard.  Whenever introducing a new dog to the pack, the most important thing is to allow for a proper, neutral introduction, in a calm and relaxed environment, since nervous energy can be contagious.