Bringing home a new dog is always an exciting time for everyone. It’s like adding a new family member or guest to your household. There is a lot of information out there about bringing your first dog into the home. However, there is very little about bringing a new dog into the home of another dog. These simple tips should help you make some good decisions that will help ease the transition.

Unfortunately, many pet owners will underestimate the kinds of problems that can occur if mistakes are made. This can be a difficult if not dangerous situation if not handled correctly.

Many people think they can just bring a new dog home and let the dogs work things out amongst themselves. For the lucky ones this might work, but almost always people will find themselves in the middle of a dog fight wondering what went wrong.

The average dog owners do not have a clue about how strong the genetic pack instinct is that always lurks inside the mind of their lovable family pet. The addition of a second or third dog into the home often triggers a genetic pack drive or rank drive. Many people are shocked and confused when they see the level of aggression that their friendly family pet is plenty capable of.

Often, there is usually more than one thing going on that result in these problems. A house dog is often territorial of his home. There can be rank or dominance problems between the new and excising dog. There can also be an inter-male or female issue that will result in this aggression.

The most important part of this process is the purchase and use of dog crates. Try to have a dog crate for every dog in our house. Just because your current dogs don’t use crates is not a good enough reason to not use them in this process. First, put the new dog in a crate in your home where your current dog can freely go up and smell the newcomer. If your current house dog begins to growl at the new dog, immediately step right in, take control of the situation and give a strong correction.

Your job as the pack leader is to show your dog that is not expectable for aggression towards the newest pack member and will not be tolerated.