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Question

I have a 3 year old female labrador. We are wanting to get another dog (border terrier) but as the lab is more used to people then being around other dogs, i dont know how to introduce it incase she doesnt like it etc. She would never harm it, she would just try to get away from it as we have tried to see what she was like with another puppy lab. She is a very skittish dog as she is scared of loud noises, so we dont want to make her worse.

Is there anything i can do?

Submitted: 117 days and 1 hours ago.
Category: Dog
Value: $12
Status: CLOSED
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Pet's Sex: Female
Pet's Age: 3

Already Tried:
We have taken her to my partners brothers house for a week who has a puppy lab, and she wasnt really wanting to be around it.

she isnt as bad with adult dogs, its mostly puppies.

Accepted Answer

Hi

Dogs are naturally social creatures, living in packs in their natural state. For that reason they are ideally suited to multi-dog households. There are exceptions as with some of the fighting breeds but generally Labradors are well suited to living with other dogs.

However some dogs are a little shy and less extrovert than others. She may just be like that. But it’s very unlikely that this would interfere in the long term with her developing a good relationship with another introduced dog. This is particularly the case with a puppy. Puppies present themselves to adult dogs in a submissive fashion. The pup will not appear to be a threat to your Lab. She will feel confident that her place in the family will remain. Certainly she may initially find the pup’s attention a bit overwhelming.

The most important thing in introducing the pup is to show favouritism to the existing dog. The pup will not see that as being unfair and it won’t cause the pup any harm. Do this until a good bond has developed between the two dogs. So an example of this would be if you were cuddling the puppy and your Lab either appeared upset or even tried to intervene. You should then put the pup down and give her the attention. Similarly always give treats to the adult first.

It is extremely rare for there to be any problems with this sort of introduction. On the contrary I find that a second dog will often resolve a lot of shyness issues.

I hope I’ve been of help and wish you all the best with the new family member.

Kindest regards, XXXXX

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Expert: Dr Pete
Pos. Feedback: 99.7 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 7/29/2009

Dog Veterinarian

Bachelor of Veterinary Science (University of Melbourne, Australia)

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