Sunday, August 02, 2009

THE PAIRING

Perhaps the scariest part of adopting a second dog into your home is the fear that your harmonious family may be turned upside down if the dogs do not get along. This is also true if you are adding a dog to a cat home. You love dogs and want to rescue another homeless fur baby. You think, I've already got 1, so might as well go for 2. Then you look at your precious little boston sleeping for a change and you think about how your life and home have a routine now. Then your mind wanders to visions of flashing teeth, growls, yips, bites and trips to the emergency vet. Suddenly you are not so sure that 1 is not enough.

These fears are perfectly normal. Don't over think it, just follow your heart to the second fur baby waiting for you. The good news is that dogs get along with each other far more often than not. Dogs at BTRNC and other rescues have been exposed to other dogs, sometimes several within the same house. Their foster homes know and will tell you if a dog is aggressive towards other dogs, cats, children, or all three. Sometimes if everyone lives closest enough, you can actually meet a foster dog in the presence of your dog first. If the dogs are instant friends, you will feel this sense of relief wash over you like a shower.

If you cannot do introductions before the adoption, introduce the dogs in neutral territory and on leashes. You should have someone helping you so that each dog has their own human at the end of their leash. Neutral territory ensures that neither dog will be territorial about visitors on his turf. Let hem sniff and watch their body language. Some dogs immediately try to play while others take awhile to warm up. Yes dear friends, dogs insist on getting to know one another by sniffing in the most inappropriate places.

Here is one rescue pairing that went really well. Meet Spice and Domino who seem to be telling their own story of meeting.

0.k. - we met, we like, now can we have a biscuit?




Let me tell you all about my life!





Now let us break bread together and seal the deal!

Cheers to Domino, Spice and all of our other successful pairings. Give it a shot, you may just be uniting your dog with their new best friend for life!


2 Comments:

At 10:36 PM, Blogger The Curious Christian said...

I totally agree! I look at my new addition (Pearl, 2 years old) with my original BT (Macy, 7 years old) and I see how much they love each other. Macy tolerates her bratty kid sister stealing her toys and stealing her attention but when they are away from home being babysat by my parents Pearl snuggles close to Macy and follows her around. My new addition really needed a big sister to show her the ropes and establish the routine. Pearl is a rescue so lots of things scare her, but when her big sister Macy says things are okay, Pearl relaxes. Pearl trusts Macy as much as she trusts me as her mommy. We are a team and are so blessed to have each other!

 
At 10:04 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

I needed to read this blog again at this time. I'm getting ready to adopt my 2nd rescue, after only having my first for 2 months, and the panic attacks set in last night - every question running through my mind that you addressed in the blog. I really have no reason to believe it won't work out and am SO excited about giving little Bailey a home. I'm so grateful for the foster families that prepare this little ones for their next adventure!

 

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