How to introduce a new dog

To an older established dog?

Is it even possible?

I have an 8 year old GSD who is a big lad but is older and has settled down in the past few years.
He can be growly with boisterous males when out on a walk but seems to get on with older bitches.

I am debating another dog. I would love a GSD bitch but she would have to be quiet and submissive as I dont think he would like a dominant dog in his space, although he plays fine with other dogs we have never actually had one, if this makes sense.
They would never be left alone together, but whats the best way to introduce them (if I ever find one fitting my requirements!)
Should I be looking at a puppy or an older dog? Where do I look?!

Thanks!

Your male will tolerate a GSD bitch, GSDs are normally great with puppies.

Have you got a cage?

Essential for keeping the pup safe from dog whilst you are in the loo etc and giving older dog some peace and quiet.

Will you NEVER leave them alone together when they are adult?

I just bring my puppies home, they are usually in the cage next to the older one in the car. The older ones want to kill the pup for the first three weeks and then they appear to come to terms with the fact that they are staying and then become buddies.

Giving a home to an older bitch has a lot of pluses though and there are plenty of GSD bitches in rescue through no fault of their own.

Contact the various Breed clubs (google the net) BAGSD and GSDL etc and most have rescue arms.

Thanks Smokeybear.

I will crate the pup when alone with him as he is a big dog and can get rough when playing so I dont want him hurting her!
Once she is adult then possibly, depends how they get on really!

He loves playing with my friends border collie bitches hence thinking I would like another dog, plus the fact he is getting older and I am hoping a pup will bring a new lease of life to him

I have spoken to alot of GSD rescues but they are unwilling to rehome to me as my dogs are home alone for 5 hours during the day 3x a week. The rest of the time I am home plus I live on a farm, but it seems this does not make much difference

Do dogs generally accept puppies more easily than older dogs?
I would concider a rescue bitch but am worried about dominance issues if she has had past issues with other dogs etc?

Dogs accept puppies fine usually, eventually.

I would not worry too much about dominance issues if I were you!

I have a 11 year old bitch and a 6 year old full male, who is the cock of the walk, except with her!

Dogs and bitches rarely fight and the pecking order changes with age etc.

In most houses, bitches rule the roost........

As the only female in our household, I have to agree with that

I grew up with GSDs and we always had two and had no problems introducing the newer dogs to the existing one when we lost one. We lived next to a farm so we'd take both dogs over onto one of the fields and let them meet off-lead, by the time they'd had a good dash around, they were worn out and just came home and settled together.
I couple of years ago I adopted a 2.5/3 year old GSD to go with my similar aged GSD x Rott, we went to the rescue with Kiki, her and Casper were walked parallel to each other for a while and then we went to an enclosed area to let them meet off-lead. Casper was a little OTT but there was a behaviourist with us and she was happy it was all just boisterous play and we picked Casper up a few days later (had to get our fence sorted first). The idea was to walk both dogs together but my younger brother who was living with us at the time offered to take Kiki out for a walk on her own first to let Casper settle from the car journey and then didn't reappear for hours - so we just let the dogs meet in the house and things went fine. Probably not the way you're supposed to do it though!
I would probaby lean towards a slightly older bitch if it were me, just because your boy is that bit older and while he may tolerate a pup now, what about when he's 10, 11, 12 and the pup is now an active 2, 3, 4 year old? My two have just turned 4-ish and are still very bouncy and playful with each other and your older boy may not appreciate that. We did adopt a GSD pup with an older (13-ish) dog as a family and the pup did pester the older dog and the older dog got quite fed up with it. Fortunately our home situation meant someone was home all day to keep giving the older dog a break and give both dogs plenty of attention but I wouldn't hurry to repeat that myself.

Keep trying rescues, all rescues have their own policies so you will most likely find one to consider your circumstances and discuss whether it would work or any possible compromises. I adopted Casper despite working fulltime because household work schedules mean the dogs are rarely left, it was nice to find a rescue that didn't say "Nope, you all work fulltime, we won't home to you" but instead actually came for a homecheck and discussed the working hours and all the practicalities of it.

Thanks for your help!!

Our dog is 8 and he has never lived with another dog, this is all that worries me. Maybe I am looking too much into it though?

As I said he can be aggressive with dogs sometimes, for example, last week at the farm a SBT entire male was jumping all over him and he lunged for it, apart from this he plays with most dogs, and regulally gets beaten up by my friends JRT pup

We are actually moving house in the next 2 months, would this be a good time while everything is new or would it be better to get the pup while we are still in this house and then move them together? Or does it make no difference?

Where would I go about looking for a decent GSD breeder, its been years since Ive done this!

Could you maybe arrange to meet up with some other dogs in the meantime to see how your boy gets on with them, whether there's any particular personalities he seems to get on with better, etc? Maybe look in the Dogsey walks section to see if any members are arranging a walk nearby

Thanks for this. It is something I have thought about.
My older dog, despite looking and acting like a 3 year old proberbly dosent have years and years left in him. I am a veterinary nurse and he did have OCD as a pup which has left him with arthritic hips which will gradually worsen over the next year or 2 we think.
Hence, I am selfishly thinking if I had a younger dog when he goes it will be easier to then get another pup and I will have 2 dogs of a similar age. Plus, I will have another dog to fill the gap

He would also always have time to himself as he goes to his crate to escape when he needs to

god yes..tho oddly, in my house, the neutered bitch also rules the unneutered! (I thought it would be the other way around.)