Hi,
My wife and I have a very sweet 1 year old,spayed Pit Bull .Female,people friendly,dog friendly,kid friendly,stranger friendly.We have had her since she was 8 weeks.We are thinking of adding to our home a 3 year old American Bull Dog.Male,intact,former stud dog. The current owner-breeder says "he is people,kid and FEMALE DOG friendly".We plan on neutering him if we get him.The female Pit is very well trained in OB. The owner of the male American Bull dog says he is somewhat trained.Both dogs are also taking protection training.My questions are
1,Are we making a mistake adding this new dog to the family?
2,What things should I be looking for when I introduce the 2 dogs?
3,What is the best way to get the new dog to fit in?
4,Should I just scrap this idea and get a puppy instead?
Please respond,any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for looking.

Stewart.

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stewartmiller@lvcm.com

Hi Stewert,

I can give you a few tips, then the professionals can take over.

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1,Are we making a mistake adding this new dog to the family?

Only if you don't give them a good home, and you have enough room. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> That's an easy one!

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2,What things should I be looking for when I introduce the 2 dogs?

I personally would introduce them to each other, outside in a neutral area, such as the park or something, let them play a bit and watch for posturing outside the norm and be ready to step in. By the sounds of it your Pit shold respond to verbal intervention. Let them establish the order between themselves and break them up once and awhile and make them both down for a few to establish yourselfand keep control. I would continue this for a while.

I would then take them home and put the new dog in a crate inside the house and then let the Pit in and let them interact in the house through the crate and see how it goes..if it's all ok, let the new dog out and let them interact in one room of the house, like the kitchen. Then so on and so on... I would not feed together period until you know it's not going to start a fight, and rank is established.

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3,What is the best way to get the new dog to fit in?

Play Play Play
Dogs get real jelous sometimes.. I know my dog does... you just have to try and show equal attention to both dogs, until they set the pack order. They both sound like really nice dogs, you should have no trouble.

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4,Should I just scrap this idea and get a puppy instead?

I don't really see the need to scrap the idea, unless you know something you didn't tell us! Have a "Wait and see" clause in your purchase agreement, if it don't work out you can return him, that would be a smart idea.

So there are my thoughts.... Good Luck!

Go to my list of training article on my web site. There is an article on how to introduce a new dog into a home with exisiting dogs. Your answers to these questions are there. I also have an article on neutering. This is not going to have much of an effect on a 3 year old male dog. Neutering only effects dogs that are neutered at a young age.