New dog ..introduced. . very excitable play fighting.

Hello. .. we have yesterday acquired a new dog.. a female cross setter/collie she is 15 months old.. we already have a 21 month old female chocolate lab. . . Both seem to be getting along fine.. there was a growl at first ftom the new dog.. but within minutes they were good together..

It is early days yet... but just wanted any advice on how best to gradually leave them alone together. . They have slept next to each other on the settee for a few hours after walkies this morning. . However they play quite rough together in the house pulling each other by the collar... and quite a few growls etc etc .. just don't want it to escalate into anything more when we are out.

I would try to separate them if leaving them alone for the time being. Until you're confident that they will get on.
Don't leave the rough play get too out of hand, although it starts out harmless, if they get too excitable one of them might get hurt. They're still feeling each other out, an accidental bite or nip might slow down the bonding process.
Supervise the play, and call one of them if it gets too rough to break their focus.

Can you remove their collars while they're at home?

Good advice, I feel the same as Hiker. It's great that they seem to be getting along so well together, and you'll know as time goes on, just when to step in or not.

I remember when we brought our rescue gsd home having walked him first with my own dog, where she had told him off for jumping on her. There were growls indoors but that was only for her to tell him she was the boss! When I let them out into the front garden, jeesus christ, they played solidly for half an hour, I had to stop them for fear of them dropping dead on me through exhaustion. They were happy to be together indoors and lay down together, but I always supervised play and kept them separate when I went out.

3 months down the line, the play got pretty wild, but you will get to know the difference when these are just play growls and when they're not I'm sure.

Awwww, lovely to hear of a new doglet finding such a lovely home and having a new friend. Please let us know how well it goes in the future.

Hello,, thanks for the replies.... we are at home with both the dogs this week so we can keep an eye on them with the play fighting is does seem to be quieting down a little as each day goes by....

However from Monday of next week they will be left alone for upto 4/5 hours, then the day is broken up by son/daughter spending an hour with them, letting them outside for a toilet break ... We are planning to gradually leave them alone together say 30 mins today, then 1 1/2 hour tomorrow then 2 hours Saturday then 3 hours sunday... I would think they would settle quite well together when they get left alone... as I will be walking them together for an hour at 6am then an hour at 5.30pm...

Any suggestions to ensure they will be ok together and settle together ?? would you keep kongs with food and chew bones out of bounds for the time being incase they become aggressive with each other.

Yes, I wouldn't want to instigate any nastiness by leaving anything like bones or kongs around. Make sure they're pretty tired out when you leave them alone together is my advice.

You will know whether they're going to be best mates or not already I would have thought. If they love to play together, then I'm sure everything will be fine. It wasn't long before I knew I could safely leave my two together anyway, but you'll just have to play it by ear, and good luck.

When they lay down, do they lie down near to each other? That's always a good sign indoors if they're good friends?

They will lie on the settee together.. not touching but just a short distance away.. at night maisy choc lab sleeps on our bed and the other dog in her basket near to bed. She gets onto bed in morning to lie with me then next to maisy... maisy can be a little rough with other dog as she is stronger and pulled her collar off yesterday... thamk you for your help and advice

All sounds to be going great, but please, please be careful about them playing with collars on Can't you leave the collars off when they're indoors, especially when they're left alone together. I always took collars off when I had two dogs indoors, it's not worth the risk when they play, especially when play gets a bit rough. Good luck with their bonding, I'm sure they're going to get on just great by the sounds of it.

Thanks for all the advice .. we will keep you posted how it goes.. we are now leaving the collars off all the time in the house.. so hopefully the play fighting will calm down. .. thanks again

All kinds of great advice here. Seems like everyone is on the same page, and I agree. They would probably do OK left alone for the full five hours, but since I'm a bit of a worrier I would probably leave one dog in a separate room or in a crate at first. I'd probably leave them alone for short periods together like a half-hour here and there at first and then longer as they do well.

I agree it's best not to leave any toys, food or bones out just in case one gets possessive. Taking the collars off would also be a good safety precaution, or purchasing a breakaway collar which is just as it sounds. If a collar gets caught on another dog, it will break off. But for walks, it has too loops you hook together on the leash so it won't break off then.

Sounds like things are going really well. Congrats on your new dog. I would also continue keeping up on walking them together. This is always a good bonding experience. I wrote a post on how to safely and slowly introduce two dogs for anyone who is interested: http://www.dogids.com/blog/how-to-sa...ntroduce-dogs/

Do keep us posted!

Fab thanks for the kind words and advice. .. I would put some pics up if I knew how to...