I brought Miso home Friday, November 30th. She had already met Harley, Chubby, and Capone on-leash at the SPCA a few days prior, so the stress of first introductions was behind me. However, I still had to make sure their interactions with one another were as pleasant as possible! I planned to utilize crating and tie-downs (keeping Miso leashed to an eye hook screwed into the baseboard) to keep interactions mellow and smooth. I had already bought Miso her collar, her ID tag, a prong with a karbiner (to attach to her flat collar in case the prong unsnaps), two crates (one for the kitchen and one for the bedroom), a couple of tie down cables, and plenty of eye hooks!
Tim advised me to take things turtle-slow. You can't move too slowly when doing dog introductions. I decided to save seeing Capone for another day. Today's priorities were about getting acclimated to her new home and her new brother and sister.
Day 1 was all about crating! Chubby and Harley rode in the car in a crate in the backseat together, and Miso sat next to them, loose, in the back seat. She wasn't used to the car, so she kept jumping between the backseat and the trunk area of my SUV. A few times, she tried to step onto the front seat armrest and join my boyfriend in shotgun, but a firm "No!" or "Uh-oh!" and we managed to push her butt back into her proper seat. I can't tell you how cute it was seeing her little face in my rearview mirror!
When we arrived home, I first put Harley and Chubby in their crates and then brought Miso out to potty and sniff the kitchen area. My kitchen is gated off from the rest of the house, and for now this was all the freedom she would get.
I must admit, there's nothing like bringing a new dog into the house to highlight the areas you need to work on with your resident dogs! Having Miso around will definitely force me to step up my game as leader and dog owner. That's something I knew going into this and I embrace it. Harley and Chubby are crate trained - they eat and often sleep the night in their crates (unless they're in bed with me), but one thing I need to work on with them is being quiet! They definitely had things to say about being confined while I let Miso sniff around. I expected a few objections, but I need to work on their "Quiet!" command for sure.
Today was the most stressful day to be sure. I wanted to make sure everyone had positive interactions with each other, and set the tone for good behavior and good vibes for the future. One bad experience could set their relationships with each other back and LONG way, so handling things right in the beginning is paramount. It's a lot of pressure for someone who's never done this before! But I want Miso and I know I can do it.
Miso spent a lot of time in her crate today. I had chew sticks and lots of treats on hand for everyone. I had them all in their crates chewing on bully sticks - a good bonding experience for them I think. I let the little guys out and fed them all treats up against Miso's crate, noses almost touching. Being next to each other is a good good thing!
When Miso was out of her crate, Harley and Chubby were in their crates (chewing on yummy things!) I tried the tie-down for a few minutes, but Miso was too eager to start a game of rowdy chase, and Chubby started posturing in a way I didn't like. So back to the crates! A couple times Chubby approached Miso's crate with some bully posturing - ears very erect, eyes wide, chest puffed up, which Miso didn't appreciate and neither did I. I issued a loud verbal correction to Chubby and enticed him to come to me, which he did. I will have to watch him carefully while he is loose and she is in her crate.
Harley doesn't seem to mind Miso's presence at all, as long as Miso isn't getting any more extra treats than Harley gets! As a bigger dog, Miso's playful interactions can also seem rude to my little Pug, so I will have to watch for that.
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