Introducing a puppy to an older dog

Well, I have Beanie, don't I? Beanie is an absolutely darling, and in hindsight, the vet who inspected Bailey was absolutely right when he said, "You were lucky with Beanie. Think your luck ran out with this one (Bailey)."

Beanie is sweet natured, submissive, loves humans and is playful. She's even taught herself to tolerate and play with kids on her own, despite having had very little exposure to children growing up. I'd wanted another puppy to keep her company, after falling in love with the sight of two Westies walking side by side on the street, tails wagging in unison. Selfishly, as Beanie got on in years, it would also take the edge off not having a dog at all should the untoward one day happen, as it inevitably would (so I thought).

Increasingly, more dog magazines dish out advice on how to introduce two dogs, or a puppy to an older, existing dog. The majority of them say:

• Introduce your pets on neutral territory like a park or public place. Easy to say when you've got two full-grown dogs, not so easy to do when you've got an unvaccinated puppy that should not be exposed to where other dogs might have been, so the park is out of the question. It's still a good idea though, premise being that dogs are territorial, and a direct introduction of newbie in oldie's territory would seem too much like an incursion. Friend's houses (who have no pets) or the car are appropriate alternative places.
• Keep the younger dog in a crate away from harm until you know your older dog is used to the puppy. Again, very wise, and would work if not for Beanie pawing through the crate trying to reach the puppy like a toy... and vice versa.
• Put something with the puppy's scent on it (eg. puppy's bed, pillow or towels) near the older dog, preferably days before you bring pup home, so older dog gets used to pup's scent. If older dog moves away or is otherwise averse, do it gradually to socialize the older dog. Hmm... wish I could do this. Beanie promptly went to Bailey's bed and fell asleep when I placed it on the ground. Without much ado, Bailey clambered all over Beanie's bed and used her indoor toilet tray without invitation or prior training.
• Keep loads of toys and beds and anything dogs may like all around, act like there is too much of goodness to go around to avoid jealousy and fighting over toys. Beanie doesn't like toys at all unless there are treats in them, so having Bailey snatch all toys for a quick nibble didn't seem to bother her that much.
• Give your older dog attention when your newcomer is around, to avoid your older dog feeling left out or replaced. This actually worked! I did also, schemingly, in the weeks leading up to Bailey's arrival, pay Beanie less attention and made less of a fuss, so the transition from all to nothing (just kidding) didn't seem quite as large. Works with frogs and boiling water, sure works with dogs.

What they don't tell you:

• It's incredibly difficult training a puppy with an older, incredibly treat motivated, dog around, as Beanie goes through everything she knows how to do for 4 years now, and expects a treat for examplary behaviour. It must be because she's such a show-off, but did work in my favour as Bailey figured out copying what Beanie was doing was the quickest way to get her a treat, resulting in the ability to teach complex behaviours in a shorter period of time. Note to Self: If you feel you are being far, don't worry about not giving your older dog a treat all the time they demonstrate what needs to be done. It's not like they will stop doing it with a failed attempt, it actually means they try harder next time.
• Puppy playing with older dog intensely tends to result in house-training accidents. Beanie has no concept that Bailey needed the loo and wasn't just trying to get away to incite a chase. This necessitated teaching them both that gravitation towards the toilet zone meant that the toilet zone was out of bounds. It also necessitated watching puppy like a hawk and limiting play zones to a smaller area that Bailey could manage and gradually increasing the area as her control got better.
• Your puppy becomes your dog's greatest fan and longs to be her sidekick. Sometimes annoyingly so. Beanie being rather submissive isn't inclined to tell Bailey off (by growling) unless she's really ticked off, but has a long fuse. It's normally a good thing in a dog, but does require some intervention, which is the hardest thing for new duo-dog owners to figure out.
• Dogs have to fight to get used to each other (OK they do tell you that part), but it's nearly impossible to know when the right time is to intervene, if there is such a time.