Last week, we discussed routines around feeding, pottying, recalls, and crating that your dog can learn at home to prepare him to be a well-behaved guest if he’s going to visit a friend’s house, overnight or for an extended stay. Today, we’ll talk more about how to handle introductions and safety if the home that will be hosting your dog has other pets in addition to its human family members.
It takes planning and time to set your dog up for success as a guest in a friend’s home if the host home has other pets, especially a dog. Start early on the introductions, take each step slowly and carefully, be patient, and don’t try to move ahead too quickly. What each dog needs is many short positive experiences in proximity to the human who’ll be his host and to the dog who lives there.
Introductions
Has your dog officially “met” your friend’s dog or dogs?
■ If not, first meetings are most likely to turn out well if those meetings are held on completely neutral territory—not at your home or yard; not at the other dog’s either.
■ Ideally, pick a meeting spot where both dogs will probably feel comfortable, like a park where they’re walked often, or a quiet neighborhood street near either of the homes.
■ If you don’t know that your dog will be comfortable in that spot, try it without the other dog first a few times and do your best to make the walk rewarding to your dog.
Then how about arranging with your friend, the one who’ll be your dog’s host, to “run into” you and your dog as you walk?
■ If your dog already knows and likes that person, take a few minutes from your walk to pass the leash back and forth between the two humans (adults only) so your dog has the experience of being walked by your friend.
■ Treats might help, so make sure you bring enough for both humans to give them out generously!
Follow similar protocols for a meeting of two dogs who do not know each other’s humans.
■ First, pick a neutral spot where you’re fairly sure both dogs will be comfortable.
■ Second, arrange your meeting so that you and your dog will see the other human and their dog from a distance at first. (This is social distancing for dogs!)
■ If you’re walking in a neighborhood, one human and their dog are across a street from the other human and dog.
■ Keep your distance until your close observation of your dog’s body language tells you she’s interested in but not apprehensive about the other dog.
■ Eventually, both humans move their dogs closer, winding up walking parallel as far apart as the sidewalk width or traffic allows. Don’t switch off leashes yet.
Plan further (short) meetings soon until you’re convinced the dogs are okay with being walked within a few feet of their new friend. Be careful when giving treats when the dogs are close together; read the advice on “feeding” further down this page. Repeat “socially distanced” walks together until you’re sure the dogs are enjoying the experience.
Once the two dogs have met repeatedly in a variety of neutral places, plan a very short first meeting at the home your dog will be visiting.
■ Don’t take your dog into the yard or house. Again, meet outside the host dog’s “territory,” maybe at the end of his block or across the street.
■ Pay attention to any signs that the host dog considers the areas close to home as “his,” which certainly is possible.
■ If you suspect that, continue meeting farther away until the host dog gets used to your dog being “near” his home turf.
If you realize that’s not going to happen, I strongly suggest you reconsider the visit until you and the dog’s human can figure out how to change the host dog’s mind about your dog. When a dog has made it clear he resents or fears another dog (one he knows and likes away from home) even near his house, it is extremely unwise to invite the non-resident dog to visit.
You and your friend might employ an experienced trainer to guide you in adjusting the attitude of the resident dog to another dog temporarily on his home turf. No punishment, no scolding, please!
Photo by Jamie Wilke
Introductions to other pets in the home might actually be counterproductive, if the guest dog might obsess on searching those other pets out. Cats like mine, though, who approve of dogs in general, might seek out a visiting dog to “introduce” themselves. My cat is confident because she’s lived with dogs most of her life. She’s never had a bad experience . . . yet.
I won’t let a dog who chases cats to come into my house, and with dogs who have cats at home, I know my cat can take care of herself. She has many high places to which she can jump and dogs cannot follow. She has several sturdy baby gates over which she can leap, entire rooms to which she has access and no dogs can enter. When I had ferrets, few visiting dogs ever met them, as I wasn’t about to take a chance. That would be true if I had pocket pets, birds, even fish in a tank. You just never know how a guest dog might react.
No contact.
Feeding
Home or away, don’t offer treats to multiple dogs at once unless you’ve trained each dog to take only the treats offered to her specifically. The last thing you need when you’re trying to encourage two dogs to become friends is for one of the dogs to attempt to “swipe” a highly valued treat reward from the other dog. Bad news! Such behavior sets the dogs up for conflict when what you want is to keep them safe and comfortable together.
■ At first, give each dog treats in their individual kennel, or in separate rooms, with a door closed in between.
I’ve taught my own dogs to lie down to accept a treat when another dog is present. Having the other dog in a kennel with my dog nearby greatly simplifies this training. My dog can’t reach the other dog’s treat, so the other dog (the one in the kennel) receives her treat without being threatened in any way, since my dog does not even move closer. My dog habitually lies down when treats are being offered and another dog is nearby. He is rewarded for that behavior, which greatly increases the likelihood that behavior will continue.
■ Take up all pet-food dishes before dog visitors are expected. Even empty bowls can cause conflict because dogs may consider their dishes private property. They may act out if another dog walks up to that bowl, even just to sniff it.
■ Put all feeders (for free-feeders) up well out of reach. I keep my cat’s food on top of our tall refrigerator—an easy jump (from the top of a disused dishwasher) for my healthy and athletic cat—where I can be absolutely sure no dog, no matter how tall, can get to it!
■ Communal water bowls often work fine without any dogs competing for access to a drink . . . but make sure it’s working okay by watching carefully how all dogs present behave. If even one dog is reluctant to drink when another dog is present, rethink: could that dog be given a more private drink?
■ Introduce guest dogs to the various water bowls around the house and yard without your dog there.
■ Feed guest dogs in their own kennels, preferably out of sight of any resident animals eating.
Crating
We all know two animals who sleep side by side, cats or dogs—even cats and dogs. When relaxing completely in such close proximity is the animals’ choice, we can surely speculate that they’re there because they want to be. They find the behavior, in that place and in that moment, rewarding. When the behavior is rewarding, it’s likely to continue.
■ While pets may choose to sleep together—in a pet bed or on your furniture—I strongly suggest that you not enclose them together in a kennel unless you leave the door open so they have the choice to stay or go. I’ve seen my own pets startle awake and exit the scene with speed when their sleeping buddy sneezes! Also, animals are often aware of a companion’s ill health. Let’s say another pet in the kennel has a seizure. Leave the door open so that, no matter the reason, each pet has the choice to stay, to leave, or to come back.
■ Is there a reason to confine both pets? Compromise by placing two kennels side by side or door to door, so the two pets can see, smell, even touch each other. This provides togetherness with the safety of a crate for each one, if keeping the pets confined while they sleep is a goal, for your own or for visiting pets.
■ When pets visit each other’s homes, don’t double up on crate occupancy for any reason.
■ Initially—until all the pets demonstrably feel quite comfortable with each other—keep visiting pets confined when they can’t be closely supervised, and don’t allow resident pets to “cruise the kennels” of the guests out of curiosity. The guest pets need their privacy.
■ Put guest pets in a room well away from where the resident animals sleep. Close doors in between. You’ll all rest better, I’d bet.
