Getting dogs used to each other.

My bc Skylar has issues with dogs she doesn't know. We worried that she would never overcome this.
She's completely fine with my mother's dogs, Erin and Fen and an old dog that she met when she was younger, but as soon as she sees a dog she doesn't know she gets a bit jumpy. I always put her on lead and get her to sit until the other dog has passed by, which is starting to take effect thankfully.
Then my mother got herself a puppy (Barney). Sky took a long time to warm to him, but a year down the line she can tolerate him being near and when they're out she has no problem with him at all. Barney on the otherhand is completely besotted with Sky!

Now to the main question.
If you read my intro post (www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=169574) you'll already know that Barney broke through a door to get to Fen when she was in season.
We're having one of the resulting puppies (Mist).
For the past few weeks I've been taking Sky down my mother's to get her used to the puppies.
She's slowly coming round although there was a moment when two puppies went dashing for her and she got a bit nervous. We removed the puppies straight away and I reassured Sky.
My mother has also brought Mist up to our house once so Sky can see her in her home. We've introduced the puppy as 'Mist' and used the name a few times at home (when we visit my mother, we say her dogs names so Sky knows where we are going).
What else can we do to transition Sky (and Mist) to this change? We have four or five days left before bringing the pup home so expect there will be at least one more visit.
Should we keep them separated with a puppy gate when we bring her home?
I intend to take Mist out with us on all walks and trips out with Sky (carrying her until it's safe after vaccs) to get her used to it, and also taking Mist to puppy classes and Sky to one-on-one classes.

I know that eventually they will get used to eachother but any tips to make it easier for both of them would be gratefully received!

I can`t help feeling that you need to work on her fear of other dogs in general, not just with the pups.
There`s a couple of good books you can look at -
Fight! by Jean Donaldson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_...rnid=492562011
BAT by Grisha Stewart
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behavior-Adj...8822424&sr=1-1

Hi C&D,
I completely agree, she does need to overcome her fear. I am going to take her to a trainer in a few weeks and see how we can get her through this.
Thank you for the book recommendations, I will definitely seek them out.
Sara

I use fences and gates with my BC Polo to gauge his reaction to a dog. The instant he sets eyes on a dog through the fence (before he has even had a chance to decide he is going to be stroppy) I praise, call him to me and treat. I continue to do this at intervals until he decides that the very sight of this dog causes him to get lots of positive attention from me.

Any negative reaction, growling/barking/lunging just gets a casual "oi" and called away. I do not tell him off as otherwise strange dog/pup equals a telling off so the other dog risks becoming bad news.

When I feel the time is right I let them together briefly and build on that.

Make sure your new pup gets lots of positive socialising with calm friendly dogs too.

Environmental management is a key tool in this case.

Great tips there thank you.
Will definitely give her lots more positive attention when in the company of strange dogs!

We've adapted the living room so they both have they're own space while still being able to see eachother.
Skylar's most at peace when we're out on a walk so I'm hoping that will be a good bit of neutral ground, even if Mist doesn't literally go on the ground just yet!