Introducing your new guide dog to your pet dog

Getting a new guide dog will be an exciting time for you, but if you have a retired guide dog or any other dogs at home, they might be wary of their new housemate.

Here, we talk you through some of the measures you can take to set yourself up for success when introducing your new guide dog to other dogs.

Why it’s important to have a positive first introduction

A positive first meeting will go a long way in making the relationship between your guide dog and other dogs a success. If your guide dog associates other dogs with positive emotions the first time they meet, this bodes well for future encounters, and they’ll be more relaxed when they see each other next time. 

Knowing your dog

Dogs let us know how they’re feeling in many ways, so pay attention to both dogs’ behaviour, such as their body posture, how they move and the sounds they make. During the introduction, hopefully they’ll display signs of being happy, which typically include a waggy tail, a relaxed body or a high-pitched bark. However, monitor for signs of distress or discomfort, such as yawning or turning their body away, or even trying to escape from the interaction. High-level distress signs include growling or their ears lying flat against their head. 

It’s important to think about when your pet dog has met other animals before – what worked and what didn’t work? Was their experience a positive one, or was your dog worried by it? Use this knowledge to try and improve on past experiences, avoid the same situations or replicate them if they went well.  You can talk this through with your Guide Dog Mobility Specialist, who can advise on how best to approach first introductions.

Managing for success

Planning ahead will help to set you up for success. Before you’re matched with your guide dog, we'll already be aware of your existing pets. During a matching meeting, your Guide Dog Mobility Specialist will help you with an initial introduction.

Before you introduce your new guide dog to your pet, you could try scent swapping, where you give your new guide dog something that smells like your pet and vice versa. You can use items such as blankets or other bedding for this. Your Guide Dog Mobility Specialist will advise and support, depending on your and your dog’s needs.

You should have both dogs on a lead – if you have more than two dogs, introduce the dogs individually at first. You’ll need to enlist a friend or an adult family member to support you.

Immediately before the introduction, try and keep all the dogs calm – avoid using an excited or loud voice, and keep calm yourself as some pets can sense when their owners are anxious.

It’s important to manage your expectations. Everyone wants their pets to get along well, but every dog is different - some dogs might need longer to get used to a new companion than others.

Where to introduce them

Where you introduce your new guide dog to your pet dog will depend on their age, size and personality. Your Guide Dog Mobility Specialist can help advise on the best steps to take for your individual circumstance and needs.

Creating a positive experience

You want your dogs to form positive associations with each other and there are several things you can do to help, such as using positive reinforcement. Some tips to help ensure that the first meeting is a positive experience include:

• Reward behaviour you want to encourage, either with affection or a food reward, to help your dog's associate each other with happy emotions.
• Ensure you give both dogs equal attention and reward them at the same time to avoid one getting jealous. 
• Only when you feel confident that both dogs are relaxed should you consider letting them off the lead.  
• Dogs that are overexcited or worried, may demonstrate behaviours such as mounting, barking or growling. In general terms, you should allow the dogs time to interact freely, but be prepared to interrupt if you consider behaviour is escalating or one or both dogs are becoming concerned. 
• If the first few minutes of the introduction go well, let them have a break from one another, and then gradually increase the time they spend together. 
• If one dog is more confident than the other, you can distract them while they get used to each other, giving them a chew toy or enrichment toy.

Bringing them home

Welcoming your new guide dog to their home is a big day. Even though you’ve completed your matching visits and class training at this point and will have already introduced your guide dog to your pets, we still recommend that you let the dogs say hello to each other outside the house if possible. Somewhere like a garden or a green space nearby is ideal for this. Your Guide Dog Mobility Specialist should be present to support you with this initial introduction.

When you welcome a new guide dog into your home, it’s vital that they have their own space to retreat to. If your new guide dog chooses to go to their safe space, don’t disturb them, and ensure your other pets or members of the household don’t either. Continue to monitor both dogs closely in the early weeks and keep them both calm and settled.

What to do if first introductions don’t go well

It’s a good idea to have a backup plan if their first meeting doesn’t go as you’d hoped. Closely supervise and monitor both dogs and intervene quickly if either show signs of being uncomfortable. If one or both seem uncomfortable, there are steps you can take:

1. Put the more confident dog on a lead or behind a barrier. If this doesn't help, then separate the dogs. 
2. It’s important not to scold or punish either dog if the first introduction doesn’t go as planned. 
3. Give them both time and space to rest and recover from the initial meet and greet. 
4. Once you’re sure both your guide dog and pet dog are well rested, try again in a neutral setting. For example, if you tried the first introduction at home, try the second somewhere outside, if appropriate. 
5. Make sure you always give both dogs the ability to opt out of the interaction by moving away, and reward positive interaction with praise. 
6. When both dogs are showing signs of being relaxed and calm, you can play some enrichment games with them individually while in the same area to help them build confidence bring around each other. 
7. You can learn from this first experience to plan how to set the next meeting up for greater success – such as using baby gates, a shorter interaction time, or introducing the dogs from a distance to begin with.

Who to contact for advice

If over time the relationship between your guide dog and your pet dog is not improving, worsening, or you notice any behaviours of concern, please contact Guide Line for advice and support.