Introducing a THIRD dog to the family

TashaMonster

So basically my OH arrived home from work today all excited because he has the opportunity to get a one year old female german sheperd, he has always wanted one and now due to a certain circumstances (marriage breakup) this dog is looking for a home.

My only concern is that we already have two dogs and I'm worried that this might have a negative effect on them, ie. fighting, disrupt the pecking order, etc.

Our dogs, one male, one female, are a collie mix, brother and sister (female neutered) two years old. Reasonably well trained.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Does it just require patience and effort to get them used to each other or are we just asking for trouble???

Would love some advice on this. Thanks in advance!

cjf

I think you have to look at a number of different factors such as how are your own two dogs with other dogs and how is the gsd with other dogs? Adding a third dig to the mix could have a drastic effect which will require patience and training or they may just fit in!! You could bring your dogs to a neutral place to meet and see how it goes before making a final decision. If it doesn't go perfect it's not a sure thing that you can't adopt the other dog but will give you an idea of any potential issues! I have 2 dogs and have fostered so have brought a third dog in and iv never had a problem that couldn be solved the dynamics of my own two never changed they just accepted the other dog was there and I said it was ok!

Bog Bunny

It's a tricky situation. Two's company, three's a crowd. Having said that I have successfully integrated adult dogs, but unfortunately it did not work with a GSD bitch I wanted to foster. She was highly strung and after a few days when she got her footing she wanted to rule the roost and started bullying the residents....
Especially a pair of Collies can spell trouble for a GSD and vice versa. I've often seen two very bonded collies team up on other dogs in the off-leash park. It doesn't start in an aggressive way, it's more a herding game initially, but some dogs don't take kindly to that and it can become nasty. Fortunately all owners there are pretty good and we can diffuse the situation. I'd say these two guys would do this at home too if another dog joined the household.
It all depends how grounded your own dogs are, and of course what kind of personality and temperament the GSD has. Actually, it is easier to integrate a fifth, sixth or seventh dog than a third. A pack of two is sometimes so bonded andso closely knit that they would not tolerate an extra.
If you want to give it a try, meet on neutral ground, in a safe environment where nobodhy can claim erritorial rights and watch their interaction closely for a while before you take them all home together.

Roaster

I had a bad experience with this particular scenario. We already had two dogs (small rescue terrier crosses). We then introduced a third, a lab-cross. We were ok for a year and then one day all hell broke loose. Basically two of them went after the other (the strange thing was it was one of my original dogs and the new one). This happend sporadically at 1st but then it just go worse and I came home one day and one of the dogs was in a really bad state.

Now unfortunately both my wife and I work during the say and couldn't keep an eye on them 24/7 so to speak, so we had to give the lab-cross to a resuce pound (they don't destroy the dogs no matter what). Since then the original two are back to normal and not a bother.

I know we are all responsible for our dogs and how they behave but after our experience I will never have 3 dogs again.

seamus

It is a very tricky one, I know plenty of people who work in rescues who have continually added to their "family" with little incident and may have 4 or 5 dogs who've all arrived at different times. But I also know of people who've had unfortunate incidents like Roaster where a 2-on-1 argument turned into a serious fight.

My suspicion here is that you may have even more difficulty integrating a new dog into a pair of littermates. My parents JRTs are brothers and while they're not unfriendly with other dogs, they are quite insular and only tend to socialise with eachother.

Dyr

Do they know each other already? Years ago, I took in a german shepherd male and I was worried that his moving in would upset our elderly epileptic german shepard male into having fits. They both knew each other already and they got on just fine. The older guy actually benefited from having some "competition" around.

Amberjack

I have 2 springer litter sisters who are as "thick as thieves", when they were about 4, I took in a rescue JRT that I found (also a bitch) and they took to her no bother. 4 years on and the 3 of them are great buddies and the JRT is great company especially if you need to seperate the springers, as before, the 2 had to go everywhere together.
I think it depends on the dogs themselves, my 2 were never bothered with strange dogs and were used to mixing with others, also they weren't that territorial.
Good luck!

Discodog

I think that it depends on you more than your dogs in that it depends how they have been raised. One day I took my two for their evening walk & we found an abandoned 6 month old pup. So I literally went out with two dogs & came back with three !. I could do this because I knew how my dogs would react & they were brilliant. We had no opportunity for introductions. The new guy settled in instantly.

You will never know until you try but be prepared for problems. Do not be so nervous or on edge that your dogs react. Just be relaxed & treat it as if it is no big deal. Don't try & impose your pecking order or show any favour. Let them sort themselves out but do not leave them together, even for a minute, until you are sure that they are ok.

theghost

My eldest is a lab/collie cross who has never had a problem with other dogs coming into the house and accepted no. 2 - a 2 year JRT cross with affection - when she was five. The JRT never liked other dogs coming in so it was with many qualms that I agreed to see how she'd react to a one year JRT cross being introduced when no. 2 was 6. To my surprise she welcomed her with open arms. Maybe it was due to the fact that the newcomer was very nervous, half-starved and quite ill. Three years on the JRT's are inseparable and the lab/collie looks after them in a very motherly way.

Be prepared for initial squabbles and if this happens don't blame just one dog - tell all the combatants off and send them to their beds. Hopefully they'll have sorted out the pecking order in a couple of weeks and you'll have 3 dogs to turf off the settee instead of 2.

The Sweeper

Bog Bunny wrote: »

It's a tricky situation. Two's company, three's a crowd. Having said that I have successfully integrated adult dogs, but unfortunately it did not work with a GSD bitch I wanted to foster. She was highly strung and after a few days when she got her footing she wanted to rule the roost and started bullying the residents....
Especially a pair of Collies can spell trouble for a GSD and vice versa. I've often seen two very bonded collies team up on other dogs in the off-leash park. It doesn't start in an aggressive way, it's more a herding game initially, but some dogs don't take kindly to that and it can become nasty. Fortunately all owners there are pretty good and we can diffuse the situation. I'd say these two guys would do this at home too if another dog joined the household.
It all depends how grounded your own dogs are, and of course what kind of personality and temperament the GSD has. Actually, it is easier to integrate a fifth, sixth or seventh dog than a third. A pack of two is sometimes so bonded andso closely knit that they would not tolerate an extra.
If you want to give it a try, meet on neutral ground, in a safe environment where nobodhy can claim erritorial rights and watch their interaction closely for a while before you take them all home together.

Bogbunny, on this and the integration of two bitches - you have to be really, really careful with bitches.

I found it hard to believe when I heard it first, but it appears that when bitches start to fight they really need to be permanently separated after that and only integrated under strict supervision. Bitches carry grudges for life, and if you reintegrate two bitches after a genuine fight, it's just a countdown to the next fight - and the aggression will escalate in the next one.

It sounds like an old wives tale, you know, 'if a dog fights once it'll be ruined for life' or 'taste for blood' etc. etc., but apparently the dynamics of dog pack structure and gender means that if bitches set up to challenge each other, and have one proper fight, they can never be trusted together unsupervised again because it's simply a waiting game for the day you'll come home to find they've torn each other to pieces and literally fought until one couldn't continue.

I've heard some horror stories of owners coming home quite literally to one dead dog.

Dogs and bitches together not so much - they may relieve tension with a number of small scraps or bickering or general dog interaction. They may have one proper fight, but again they can be put back together and you may never see a proper fight again.

I'd love to hear more opinions from folks with multi-dog households and a lot of experience on it, but as it stands, the story I hear from breeders (some with literally decades of experience) is that the only course of action with two bitches who've had one proper fight, is to separate them for good or they'll just do it again and the second will be worse than the first.

Sassy58

I have 3 female dogs. 2 are terriers and 1 is a rottweiler - we got our 1st female and let her settle in then 10/11 months later got a 2nd female - we have both of them 7 years this year. Then 3 years ago (this April) we got the opportunity to take on a rescue rottie.

I worried that we were going to end up with world war III in the house - I was wondering if 3 females was just pushing my luck as our 2 resident females were very bonded. But we decided to take the rottie on and have never looked back.

The rottie slipped into the household accepted that the smallest dog was the boss and that the cats will randomly use you as a bed whenever the mood takes.

I knew my 2 resident dogs would be grand as they love other dogs and I have had a number of rescue dogs in the house over the years so on their end I wasn't necessarily worried - my concern was that I was taking on a dog that was much bigger then the other two and that we had a "potential" for damage to be done - but I think cause we were concerned about these things we were on top of the situation if anything was going to happen. In the nearly 3 years we have had the 3 dogs there hasn't been a bad word between them.

I think if you go into it with your eyes open, know what you are taking on and have a back up plan in place in things don't work out with the 3rd dog.

I would let your guys meet the 3rd dog a few times out for a walk see how they react and then maybe have the dog over to the house for an hour or so and see how they all interact.

theghost

The Sweeper wrote: »

Bogbunny, on this and the integration of two bitches - you have to be really, really careful with bitches.

I found it hard to believe when I heard it first, but it appears that when bitches start to fight they really need to be permanently separated after that and only integrated under strict supervision. Bitches carry grudges for life, and if you reintegrate two bitches after a genuine fight, it's just a countdown to the next fight - and the aggression will escalate in the next one.

It sounds like an old wives tale, you know, 'if a dog fights once it'll be ruined for life' or 'taste for blood' etc. etc., but apparently the dynamics of dog pack structure and gender means that if bitches set up to challenge each other, and have one proper fight, they can never be trusted together unsupervised again because it's simply a waiting game for the day you'll come home to find they've torn each other to pieces and literally fought until one couldn't continue.

I've heard some horror stories of owners coming home quite literally to one dead dog.

Dogs and bitches together not so much - they may relieve tension with a number of small scraps or bickering or general dog interaction. They may have one proper fight, but again they can be put back together and you may never see a proper fight again.

I'd love to hear more opinions from folks with multi-dog households and a lot of experience on it, but as it stands, the story I hear from breeders (some with literally decades of experience) is that the only course of action with two bitches who've had one proper fight, is to separate them for good or they'll just do it again and the second will be worse than the first.

All my dogs are bitches (I know that's a contradiction in terms) and most of my friends with more than one dog have bitches. They have all integrated with few problems - certainly no fighting to the death or holding grudges, just handbags at dawn over toys occasionly. The only problem we ever heard of was one friend who had a bitch and introduced a younger male dog. Warfare ensued for the better part of a week and then overnight they became the best of friends.

Chris_Heilong

Discodog wrote: »

Don't try & impose your pecking order or show any favour. Let them sort themselves out

I think this is the point most people fail on, they naturally want to pick their favorite to be highest in the pecking order but dont realize that some dogs are just natural followers. Let them sort it out unless one dog is crying in pain or something then its time to intervene but its a fine line to know when its ok to step in IMO.