New Chow addition to our home!

[MartMan86]

Hey guys.

I had a question for anyone that has 2 or more Chows in their home. My wife and I currently have one black female who is now 4, Nadia. Come Feb. 16th we are getting another Chow from the same breeder and same mother and father as Nadia. The new addition will be a cinnamon MALE. Same exact bloodline, etc.

Is there anything I should do when I bring him home for the first time? Should I treat Nadia differently? Should I do anything to let one know who is dominant? I've owned 3 Chows throughout my life but never more than one at a time, so I'm a little lost on this one.

Thanks for any help guys.

[cherriemater]

First of all ... CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Secondly, I think you're wise, since you're adding to your pack, to go with the opposite *Censored Word*. This should help a bit with the dominance issue. This is why we chose to get two boys at the same time from the same litter. We're in for some power struggles, I'm sure, but we're keeping consistent and trying not to show any favoritism. I think with any type of addition, though (human or chowdren), you should remain consistent. Don't change things for your Nadia ... that could cause insecurity or jealousy. If you usually walk her at a certain time, continue to do so. If she has a favorite treat, keep giving her that. If she has a favorite spot on the floor/bed/furniture, reinforce that as hers. I have read a lot lately about our chowdren looking to us (the Alpha) for direction. Your reassurance of your love for her will go a long way in smoothing the transition.

I'm sure you'll get better advice from others since we're too new with our two. Can't wait to see pictures of your new bundle of fluff!!!

[Ursa's daddy]

I have a male and a female. About a year after I adopted Ursa (f), I was at the shelter and saw another chow. He was maybe three months old and well socialized. I filled out the adoption papers and brought Ursa by the shelter so the two could meet. My big concern was that Ursa would jump this puppy. That didn't happen, and after a few days, I was able to adopt the puppy. I don't recall doing anything special. Ursa is the alpha, and Malachi seemed to accept that. Now there were some "discussions", especially first thing in the morning when there was a contest to see who could get closest to me while I got dressed. In retrospect, I probably should have put them out the room and dressed behind a closed door. I think things worked out well because of the different personalities. Malachi is very outgoing, and Ursa is shy.

[bellachow]

When we brought Chumley home Belle was about a year old. We just brought him into the house & let him run. It was soo funny cause Belle ran and jumped on the bed to get away from him But Belle loves the game of chase and so does Chums so Belle soon loved him. Now a year later they have bonded and you dont find one without the other. The only thing we did special was to keep them seperated at night and when we were gone so that Belle didnt accidently hurt him.

Congratulations! I envy you all the puppy fun to come!

[chowchowdaddy]

One thing I always recommend is try to introduce them on so-called neutral territory. When we brought Tempest into our home, we took Ming (our male) to meet her at a neutral place and they got along great, which made it SO much easier to bring Tempest (a female) into our home. To this day, 6+ years later, they are the absolute best of friends. Well, most of the time...

[Victory]

First of all, how is Nadia around other dogs when she is out and about? If she likes them, or is used to them, then you are half way home. My Firesong was 6 years old when I brought Dreamdancer home at 8 weeks. What I did was bring him and his carrier into the house then I left him in the carrier for a bit. Firesong could smell him, even touch with her paw a little but not really get to him. I left it like that for almost an hour carefully monitoring her behavior for any aggression, I gave her lots of encouragment, and played with Dreamdancer through the cage with my fingers so they both got equal attention. Then when I let him out of the carrier and let him explore while she followed and watched him. She became aunty Firesong very quickly. I was careful to monitor their feeding times, him being so little ate 3 times a day. For the first three months I separated them during feeding times, pacing out her food so she ate at the same time. Firesong came to me with a bit of food aggression with other dogs, and while I was pretty sure it was over, I didn't want to take a chance of her reverting and hurting him. I also separated them with a baby gate when I wasn't home to prevent any roughplay accidents. Chows play rough which I'm sure you know, and even a little puppy will be game to play, but they just don't have the muscle mass and bone strength to deal with a very rough place session, so I kept them separated when I wasn't home to monitor them for the first three or so months. After that he was about 1/2 her size and well able to deal with her, in fact sometimes he drove her crazy as he saw her as his own private giant chew toy.

It's a lot like having an older child and then bringing a baby home. You protect the baby from any roughness from the older child, but let them interact in a good way, and pretty soon you have two kids who are bonded. Same with chows, you're older one will become the leader of the other, simply because the older one knows all the rules. It is also a good thing that you have opposite genders, the pack dynamics between a male and female are different, (better in my opinion) than between a male and a male or a female and a female although those can work too.

Congrats and you'll be fine.

[chowchowdaddy]

I have to laugh when you compare this to having an older child and bringing a new baby home because years ago, a friend of mine was told by her daughter that when she brought her new baby boy home from the hospital, the daughter took his bottle away from him hoping he'd starve to death and when that didn't work, she'd pinch him all the time to make him cry hoping the parents would take him back where they got him... But, hopefully, we don't run into these things with our chows??????????

[Victory]

I have to laugh when you compare this to having an older child and bringing a new baby home because years ago, a friend of mine was told by her daughter that when she brought her new baby boy home from the hospital, the daughter took his bottle away from him hoping he'd starve to death and when that didn't work, she'd pinch him all the time to make him cry hoping the parents would take him back where they got him... But, hopefully, we don't run into these things with our chows??????????

Yep. I have two older cousins, and when the younger one came home, the older one did the exact same things! And as this was before disposable diapers, he would also unpin the his little brother's diaper and stick the baby with it! So yeah it IS all about getting our chows to NOT act like that. As I watch Firesong play bow to Dreamdancer right now...my two did great.

[karenmarie]

Congratulations on your upcoming arrival! We have introduced three chow babies over the last 27 years to our pack. Male to male, Female to male, and currently Male to female. All have proven successful so far. Our current female Bella was 1 year old when we brought home a bundle of joy, Bubha a male ( just turned 4 months yesterday). Balou a male was 14 when we introduced Bella, and last but not least Manny a male 13 years old when Balou joined us.
We did introduce each one outside of the house and in our yard. We let them smell and get acquainted a little before going inside. It is important that the person she is closest to the past four years is the one to take her to the meeting. Your partner can bring the new puppy . We all would sit down to put everyone at ease. After a bit we all would venture to our home and let the puppy explore and elder follow. We did keep food bowls up and leave the water bowl down except for feeding time the first few days. Also do break your adult dogs food into 4 feedings just like a puppy requires for the first month or so. None of our chowdren had problems with toy sharing.That has been fortunate. I do believe if the puppy pesters her to much he should have a time out. Just a brief time to slow down 2 or 3 minutes ,you can take this opportunity for one of you to be one on one with the puppy( We occasionally did this to give the elder space and one on one time as well). Good Luck. Looking forward to many pictures.