Hi All,

My sister is due to re-home a 4 y/o pom chi on Wednesday. She is a lovely confident little dog and great with kids too which was the main concern with any dog my sis would re-home. She is coming straight from her current home where she is being re-homed as the owner is going into a full time uni course and a part time job so won't have as much time.

It would be great for everyone if she could get on with Nando, my 16 month old GSD as then she could sleep here whenever my sister or niece does. It's not a necessity but it would be great if she could stay over so I was wondering what the best way to introduce them would be? Nando can be a little bit intense when meeting other dogs with the sniffing and he loves to lick little dogs.

I intend to take him for a big walk/training session, tire him out and then take him for a second walk later when he's a bit tired, before returning to the house with the Pom x Chi and Nando to settle.

She is very overweight and so it would be great for her if she could walk together with my Nando, but not essential.

Josh

My sister would visit us with her female Boxer. Buster would get very excited, so would the boxer. The last time she visited, we took them for a short walk together, it really took the edge of things and made them much calmer together once back in my house.

Buster isn't territorial, but the boxer was a little wary of him as she hadn't had many great experiences with other dogs. Taking them on a walk gave her that bit of time to relax around him, on neutral ground and just gave Bust 20 mins to get over the massive excitement of actually being close to another dog! (doesn't happen often, most people don't like thier dog to be near him :( )

I second going for a walk but it might not be as easy as that. Do you know anything about what this little cross has been used to? Beware a lot of small dogs are scared of bigger dogs if they are not used to them. Most people will think it's aggression and somehow see it as funny, because the little dog will bark at the big one and maybe even try to bite -but it's all fear of the unknown and of course, you only need to imagine what a giant a GSD must be compared to something so small. It's all down to what they are already used to. I was at a toybreed championship show at the weekend, and on two occasions did people walk two MEDIUM sized breeds (far from big, hardly even medium in fact) through the show hall and it was amazing to watch as all dogs started barking and staring at the dogs that were the odd ones out. All but mine that is, as mine never even blinked being so used to living with much bigger dogs.

So don't expect miracles and don't rush things. I bought a 9 month old Papillon once who wasn't used to bigger dogs, it took a few weeks for her to be okay round mine, which for instance involved sitting for hours with her on a lead and bigger dogs wandering around  without interacting with her -and treats being handed out whenever the Pap did not bark or lunge. Even today, 5 ½ years on, she does not like big dogs she does not know very well. She shares her life with 3 Malinois 24/7 (3 bitches that the rest of the Malis have pushed out from the pack so they have to live with the little dogs) and they get on just fine, but if I as much as walk another of my big dogs past her (such as when taking them out for a walk and needing to walk through the house to get to the front door), she will lunge at their hindlegs and bite them.

Sorry I should have said, current owner says she is OK around bigger dogs but can get barky when she gets too excited.

It will be a few weeks before they meet but I may get my sister to carry her around on walks with Nando as I would a socialising puppy.

Definitely introduce them on neutral territory on a walk to see how they get on in general. Walking along together (start off with the two of you walking in the middle with the dogs on the outside of you both) reduces tension and sets a good tone to their relationship.

It is probably best to have Nando on the lead and let the pom-chi off - that way if she feels overwhelmed she can easily get away from him and that will increase her confidence.  The last think you want is Nando getting excited and wanting to have a play and squishing her...

Agree introduce them on neutral ground but I have not met a Chi or Chi cross who does not think they are a big dog anyway so it should not fazed by the size of other dogs.

Good advice Rabid. As Josh knows I have the same cross and a gsd. If done careful as I know Josh will it can work well mine a good friends now and the last pup flatcoat who is now less bounce and more careful is also doing well. Mine can still be wary of big dogs when out and will chose to stay by me  if unsure very sensible but if they get to close will give large dog a good telling off
I would however always keep them separate if not supervised just in case of big paws etc.