Adding an adult dog to one's household

[Nici]

Hello!
My family and I have inherited a two-year old toy poodle bitch. The poor girl is grieving for her dead owner at the moment and is feeling very sorry for herself. We have a few weeks' time until she arrives. I have met her before and she is very friendly towards people and cats. She is a little shy with other dogs and has never met a horse. We have cats as well as dogs at home and we usually take our dogs to the stables. Our dogs are socialised but they have their little quirks. Our Pomeranian is a grumpy old man and our Weimaraner-Dalmatian cross is a boisterous young adult.

1. I wonder if anybody could give us some advice on how to introduce a depressed poodle to our current animals.
2. I plan to learn to clip her myself. Are there any clippers and other grooming tools you would recommend?
3. We would also be really grateful to hear about some toy-poodle-friendly activities and toys.

Thank you very much in advance!

 

[meleeka]

I’d let her have her own space to start and then introduce her to your most laid back and quiet one first. Putting them all together is probably going to be too much. Have a think about your set up and how you could have a separation so that nobody feels put out.

 

[planete]

The first meeting should preferably been on neutral territory with all dogs under control. An on lead walk is a good way of letting the dogs become familiar with each other safely. We have dog gates in a couple of doorways so that a new dog can be separate to start with if necessary as our terrier takes a couple of days to accept strange dogs. He is then fine even though he noisily threatens the new one for the first day or two.

 

[Clodagh]

Poor little girl and well done for taking her on.
Good luck.
I would say we have a convoluted arrangement of baby gates here so no one feels pressured to have company.
I wonder if you need to balance making her happy with not ‘spoiling ‘ her so don’t let her on furniture if the others aren’t and so on. Apart from that others far more knowledgeable than me are here.

 

[Chiffy]

I have introduced many dogs over the years to whatever current ones I have as I always have a rescue BUT my dogs are very friendly and social.
Your poor little girl must have a safe cosy place to call her own where she feels safe and you will need to police the set up until they all get used to each other. Having said that, my dog Walker friend took on a miniature poodle from an old lady who could no longer look after her. She would barely go for a walk and was completely withdrawn. The friends dog was a very lively spaniel . The poodle adapted really well and is a different dog now meeting and walking with all sorts every day.
As far as clipping and grooming a poodle is concerned, if you have never done it and don’t even know what equipment you need, I advise you go to a groomer first and learn.

 

[Parrotperson]

Could you take your dogs to her for walks before she arrives? That would introduce them away from your house. Then slowly and quietly when she arrives always supervising and make sure she’s got somewhere to go to get away.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Definitely introduce on neutral ground, if you can do that prior to taking her home, even better. If that is possible, I would take them for several walks,on lead at first, then progressing to off lead, if that is what theya re all used to. I might hire a secure space to let them all off lead for the 1st time, just in case. Take a careful note of all their body language as you plan to take the next step. I always feed them all at the same time but possibly in separate rooms, depending on the pack dynamics. Make sure that they can all have a separate safe space - and as above the same rules for all.

 

[Bellasophia]

Ive had three standard poodles..the grooming routine / tools will be much the same so I can offer advise when you decide if you want her in an allover clip or keep her in some sort of pattern.
..Home groom or groomer?
..What colour is she,what is her hair like…fine hair or thick as a bear?
..Id suggest grumpy Pom may be her first best friend..the bigger dog will be overwhelming at first if she’s a sensitive girl.
..Toys are much more delicate than a mini or standard ,so treat as you have your Pom,especially around the yard.

 

[Nici]

I’d let her have her own space to start and then introduce her to your most laid back and quiet one first. Putting them all together is probably going to be too much. Have a think about your set up and how you could have a separation so that nobody feels put out.

Thank you meleeka, we will do the introduction bit by bit then.

 

[Nici]

The first meeting should preferably been on neutral territory with all dogs under control. An on lead walk is a good way of letting the dogs become familiar with each other safely. We have dog gates in a couple of doorways so that a new dog can be separate to start with if necessary as our terrier takes a couple of days to accept strange dogs. He is then fine even though he noisily threatens the new one for the first day or two.

Thank you planete, when the poodle arrives we will get our current dogs and the poodle to meet during a walk and at home we will take it easy with integrating her.

 

[Nici]

Poor little girl and well done for taking her on.
Good luck.
I would say we have a convoluted arrangement of baby gates here so no one feels pressured to have company.
I wonder if you need to balance making her happy with not ‘spoiling ‘ her so don’t let her on furniture if the others aren’t and so on. Apart from that others far more knowledgeable than me are here.

Thank you very much Clodagh!
It’s true that the poodle was a little spoiled by her previous owner, we may have to work on housetraining and no begging at the table. We will look for some baby gates, they are sure to come in handy.

 

[Nici]

I have introduced many dogs over the years to whatever current ones I have as I always have a rescue BUT my dogs are very friendly and social.
Your poor little girl must have a safe cosy place to call her own where she feels safe and you will need to police the set up until they all get used to each other. Having said that, my dog Walker friend took on a miniature poodle from an old lady who could no longer look after her. She would barely go for a walk and was completely withdrawn. The friends dog was a very lively spaniel . The poodle adapted really well and is a different dog now meeting and walking with all sorts every day.
As far as clipping and grooming a poodle is concerned, if you have never done it and don’t even know what equipment you need, I advise you go to a groomer first and learn.

Thank you for your ideas Chiffy!
I also think that the poodle will get along nicely with the Pom, he is lovely with small dogs and she might just confuse him with a cat.
Yes, I imagine grooming a tiny dog is not quite the same as clipping a cob with a set of 150W clippers.

 

[Nici]

Could you take your dogs to her for walks before she arrives? That would introduce them away from your house. Then slowly and quietly when she arrives always supervising and make sure she’s got somewhere to go to get away.

Thank you Parrotperson! We live abroad and will not get to see the poodle until she gets her rabies shot, but once she arrives we could keep her apart from the other dogs at home and let them get to know one another on our daily rounds.

 

[Nici]

Definitely introduce on neutral ground, if you can do that prior to taking her home, even better. If that is possible, I would take them for several walks,on lead at first, then progressing to off lead, if that is what theya re all used to. I might hire a secure space to let them all off lead for the 1st time, just in case. Take a careful note of all their body language as you plan to take the next step. I always feed them all at the same time but possibly in separate rooms, depending on the pack dynamics. Make sure that they can all have a separate safe space - and as above the same rules for all.

Thank you for your ideas Pearlsacarolsinger, especially re feeding. We already feed the Pomeranian separately so the cats don’t steal from him. Once the poodle and the Pom get along, we could let them eat in the same room.

 

[Nici]

Ive had three standard poodles..the grooming routine / tools will be much the same so I can offer advise when you decide if you want her in an allover clip or keep her in some sort of pattern.
..Home groom or groomer?
..What colour is she,what is her hair like…fine hair or thick as a bear?
..Id suggest grumpy Pom may be her first best friend..the bigger dog will be overwhelming at first if she’s a sensitive girl.
..Toys are much more delicate than a mini or standard ,so treat as you have your Pom,especially around the yard.

Thank you very much for your reply Bellasophia. I would try an all-over clip at home. I’m adding a photo of the poodle so you can see her coat. I would say she has medium to thick hair, so I expect quite a bit of grooming.
I agree, our Pom and the cats will be easier for her to handle than our cross!

 

[Kat_Bath]

It's been mentioned a couple of times above, but I really think meeting outside on a walk, twice, before Buddy came to live with us, helped enormously. I think it made a world of difference, and I would highly recommend!

Also, sticking to our normal routine and letting/making/encouraging Buddy to join in has meant he's learned how our household works and 2 weeks in, he's doing really, really well, especially considering we have a very different life to his old one.

The other thing is that both dogs have been out on walks on their own and done things on their own and that's helped (dogs and humans!). We've also tried different methods to find what suits when leaving them on their own (something really important to us, so we started this process early). But also, taking time to get to Buddy, and just watch him and pay attention to what he does, how he is, what he likes, what he doesn't seem to like. We're still settling and I'm no expert, but I've no doubt you'll be fine and she'll be lucky to be a part of your household and hopefully it'll help her with her loss as well. Let us know how you get on!

 

[Bellasophia]

NicI..she looks a very nice quality dog with a good coat.She’s been nicely styled in a puppy clip,or teddy bear..probably been to a groomer,so hopefully she will be good on a table.I can give you tips and help if you want to learn to do it yourself.The grooming equipment can add up,and grooming to keep her as she is will be a regular task,but so worth it in the long run.in Italy,a clip like this would cost approx 40 to 50 euro..probably similar in Spain,so you could consider that route monthly as an alternative.
I can give you my email if you want to diy and will be happy to send you websites ,tool suggestions etc that will help.

 

[Nici]

NicI..she looks a very nice quality dog with a good coat.She’s been nicely styled in a puppy clip,or teddy bear..probably been to a groomer,so hopefully she will be good on a table.I can give you tips and help if you want to learn to do it yourself.The grooming equipment can add up,and grooming to keep her as she is will be a regular task,but so worth it in the long run.in Italy,a clip like this would cost approx 40 to 50 euro..probably similar in Spain,so you could consider that route monthly as an alternative.
I can give you my email if you want to diy and will be happy to send you websites ,tool suggestions etc that will help.

Oh I would love to learn to groom her! Thank you.
I will PM you with my email details.

 

[Nici]

It's been mentioned a couple of times above, but I really think meeting outside on a walk, twice, before Buddy came to live with us, helped enormously. I think it made a world of difference, and I would highly recommend!

Also, sticking to our normal routine and letting/making/encouraging Buddy to join in has meant he's learned how our household works and 2 weeks in, he's doing really, really well, especially considering we have a very different life to his old one.

The other thing is that both dogs have been out on walks on their own and done things on their own and that's helped (dogs and humans!). We've also tried different methods to find what suits when leaving them on their own (something really important to us, so we started this process early). But also, taking time to get to Buddy, and just watch him and pay attention to what he does, how he is, what he likes, what he doesn't seem to like. We're still settling and I'm no expert, but I've no doubt you'll be fine and she'll be lucky to be a part of your household and hopefully it'll help her with her loss as well. Let us know how you get on!

Thank you for sharing your tips and your experience with Buddy Kat_Bath! The advice sounds good and we will follow it.

 

[Nici]

Update
The little poodle has finally joined us this week. She is a very good girl and I’m making sure to let her out every few hours and crate training her at night so that she does not break her housetraining. What I had hoped would be a gradual introduction to our other pets turned out to be a little more direct because she arrived just when I was away. The poodle was let into the house with all the other pets. Thank goodness everybody is getting along for now.

 

[chaps89]

I adore the little poodles and she’s lovely OP. Glad to hear she’s settling alright, even if it wasn’t quite the intro as planned

 

[Nici]

I adore the little poodles and she’s lovely OP. Glad to hear she’s settling alright, even if it wasn’t quite the intro as planned

Thank you!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

The best laid plans!

It sounds all very positive. My aunt and uncle inherited their first poodle, who knew them and their own dogs well but then took retired breeding bitches from the breeder of the first one and they were all very different.

I hope the positive start continues into a long and happy life together.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Aww, she's so cute! Glad to hear the introduction, as it now was, still worked. Hope you have lots of fun together with her.

 

[Nici]

Thank you very much, @Pearlsasinger and @FinnishLapphund!

 

[Nici]

The best laid plans!

It sounds all very positive. My aunt and uncle inherited their first poodle, who knew them and their own dogs well but then took retired breeding bitches from the breeder of the first one and they were all very different.

I hope the positive start continues into a long and happy life together.

It must have been fascinating for them to meet and keep so many different dogs over the years!