How do I introduce our new 1 year old lab female to our 6 year old cairn terrier

[Jenna Fortunato]

male? Hi,
In my family we have always had our 6 year old cairn terrier male who is a bit aggressive. We used to have a golden retriever female that was 1 year younger then him. At first, he was a bit territorial and got aggressive, but after 1 day, they were best friends. She passed away from a devastating incident that left us all in tears. Now, 3 years later, we are getting a 1 year old female lab. I was wondering how we could introduce them together to have a minimal amount of fighting. We will be at our camp when they are introduced, the roads are small with no sidewalks as it is in the bush. Thank you so much.

 

[Keni R]

The easiest way to introduce dogs to eachother is for them to go on a walk together, but if you can't, at least let them meet outside for the first time.

 

[Samantha Worley]

let them sniff each other through a gate or on a leash and then let them play together and they should be fine i have the same problem when introducing a pup to my older dog

 

[tarielle_au]

Excellent answer AnMatrice, that is exactly how a dog introduction should be done. Awesome to see someone who knows what the heck they are talking about.

The only thing I would add to that comment would be to use 2 neutral people in your family (or friends) if possible. The person who the cairn terrier dog considers to be the "boss" in the family should be left out of the introduction and just be a bystander. In other words, who does the cairn terrier listen to and obey the most in your family? That is the person that I'm talking about. It just keeps it as neutral as possible for the terrier and he won't feel he has to be defensive or over protective if someone lower down in the pack order has a hold of his leash.

Good luck and I hope it all works out.

 

[coollike14]

First, put a gate between them and let them meet each other. If one of them turns aggressive, then don`t put them together. Take both of them out for a walk, maybe one of you walk the lab and another walks the terrier, so in case they start fighting, 2 people have control over them. Don`t punish them if they start to fight, give both of them the same amount of attention and try not to do things that would make the terrier jealous. Sooner or later, the terrier should learn that the lab is there to stay, and he should be accepting about his new sister.

 

[AnMatrice]

the thing you will need to do is have 2 people, each one with a dog with a leash and make them meet at a safe distance. If both dogs are not showing any aggression signs, try getting closer calmly. If they ever show signs of aggression, step back a bit until they stop, then both of you give some good tasty treats to each dog. The plan is to make them associate each other with something positive and not scary. If they don't show any sign of aggression, let them meet like normal dogs, sniffing each other and all. If then they show sign of aggression, do the previous exercise to undo the fear towards the other dog.