So you want to bring home a new dog, or perhaps you have a dog and you're dating someone with a dog and you want to be able to hang out as one big happy family. How do you go about introducing new dogs to each other? Sometimes, if both dogs are well socialized, it's as easy as planning a play date at the local off leash dog park. It's a neutral area, where dogs expect to meet other dogs. They are off leash and are free to interact and get to know each other. If they don't seem to be best buddies when the park is busy, try arranging a second play date at an off-peak time so the dogs will have fewer distractions. This will work if they were getting along in that first visit, but just seemed more interested in other dogs.

***IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE DOING INTRODUCTIONS OF THIS NATURE ON YOUR OWN, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ENLIST THE ASSISTANCE OF A LOCAL PROFESSIONAL WHO HAS EXPERIENCE IN SUCH MATTERS. IF YOU ARE UNSURE, INSECURE OR TENSE, YOUR DOGS WILL KNOW IT AND ACT ACCORDINGLY.***

But what do you do if one or both dogs is not well socialized? Or if a first encounter didn't "go so well"? Just because the dogs got off on the wrong paw, doesn't necessarily mean all is lost. It may still be possible to create a comfortable coexistence. Keep in mind that dogs are individuals and have personalities that include likes and dislikes. Not all dogs will get along famously. Just because you love that dog's daddy, doesn't automatically mean that your dog will love his dog.... So, if you need to introduce dogs that may not get along instantly, below is a detailed step-by-step process you can do to try to create a more comfortable dynamic. Remember, the dogs don't have to be best friends. They just have to coexist peacefully.

The first step is to make arrangements to meet at a local park - not a dog park. Both dogs should be on leash. If they are not good at walking on leash currently, I strongly recommend practice before trying to introduce them. You want the dogs to be able to walk well with their respective humans while on leash.

Once humans and dogs are comfortable with leash walking, meet at the park. Drive separately. Each human should take her/his own dog for a walk for at least 10 minutes *AWAY FROM EACH OTHER*. After about 10 minutes, when the super excitement of being at this park has started to wear off, do a simple pass-by. Do not try to greet each other. Stay at least 20 feet apart and simply walk past each other. If the dogs remain focused on the walk - only barely acknowledging each other, you are doing great! If one or both go off their rocker, then keep walking separately for awhile and try again. This will take a lot of patience and may not happen the first time out. It may take several such exercises over the course of a couple to several weeks before you can get them to spend time near each other.

Once you get them to walk past each other at such a distance without freaking out too badly, try again just a hair closer (maybe 15 feet). Again, don't even speak to each other. Simply walk past. Don't forget that you should praise your dogs for being polite in the face of such heavy distraction. Praise should be a simple, quiet, "Good job" and maybe a pat on the head. Do not change your walking pace when you offer the praise. The praise is calm and quiet during this exercise because we don't want to suddenly get very worked up and energized as this will feed directly to the dog. Since we are working very hard on keeping our dog calm and relaxed, the last thing we want to do is suddenly shower them with loads of baby talk, treats and ball tosses.

If they can walk past each other at 15 feet, the next step is to fall in line with each other. Start at the same 15-foot distance. Walk past each other, and then one of you (predetermined) will turn around and fall in step with the other. Stay15 feet apart. If they can walk in tandem (in this case tandem is side-by-side, not follow-the-leader) without trying to tear the leash in half, you are doing GREAT! If this is working, you can slowly start to close the gap down by just a few feet every 5 or 6minutes. If you can get to a point where the two humans are about 5 feet from each other, you can move on to the next step.

**CAVEAT:Walking in tandem should have the 2 humans on the inside and the 2 dogs on the outside, so that there are 2 humans between the dogs.

If you can walk in tandem 5 feet apart for several minutes with no ugliness and no efforts to cut across humans to insist on interaction with the other dog, then you can stop walking and stand at that distance and chat. The dogs will hopefully practice avoidance*. If they do, you want to be sure to praise it. If you see any behavior that you don't want, distract them and then praise the calm behavior. Distraction can be giving a command such as 'sit' or 'lay down' and then treating/praising, or it can be just covering their eyes for a moment so they break their focus on the other dog.

*Avoidance in this circumstance involves: no direct eye contact between the dogs, turning backs so they are facing away from each other, laying down, distracted by other things, etc.

Do not pick up little dogs as this will change the entire dynamic. All dogs should remain on equal footing, which means all dogs are standing on their own. Do not coddle dogs if they are showing fear. Ignore the behavior until the dog settles and then praise the calm and relaxed behavior. DO NOT IGNORE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR (GROWLING, SNARLING, SHOWING TEETH, POINTED STARES, EARS FLAT AND TIGHT BACK TO THE HEAD, HACKLES RAISED, STIFF TAIL, OR WAGGING TOO INTENSELY, ETC.) - DISTRACT IT AND PRAISE CALM AND RELAXED BEHAVIOR.

If a dog is yawning, this means they are conflicted. They want to do more than one thing - likely obey their human, but also interact with the other dog.

If you can all hang out with just a few feet between you and there is good avoidance, you can move on to proper introductions. This will involve keeping all dogs on the ground. One human will turn her/his dog (Louie) so that the dog's bum end is toward the other dog. Hold Louie's head between the human's legs to keep him from turning around and snapping. The human will also gently, but firmly, hold the collar and leash (very short) while the dog is in this position. THE HUMAN SHOULD BE COMPLETELY RELAXED AND CONFIDENT THAT THIS INTRODUCTION WILL GO SMOOTHLY. THE HUMAN IS LIKE A SEAT BELT - THEY ARE THERE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, BUT NEVER TIGHT OR CONSTRICTING IF THINGS ARE GOING WELL. Let the other dog (Cooper) sniff Louie's bum and genitals. This is how dogs get to know each other. It's how they learn about each other regarding: age, gender, health, status, sexual readiness, recent diet, etc. It's important that they have this opportunity.

Once Cooper has had a good sniff, Cooper's human will turn him and hold his head between her/his legs.  Let Louie take a good sniff of Cooper's bum and genitals.

If the sniffing goes well, you can all sit down and resume the human conversation while encouraging avoidance. If they are calm and relaxed, you can allow them to begin to get to know each other more face to face - perhaps a game. But you'll need to read their body language to determine if they are ready for this. Take note that one may be more ready than the other. So you'll have to feel out the dogs and decide if they should be allowed to sniff each other along the side of the body, sniff mouths (another major social necessity between dogs), play, or if you should continue to encourage avoidance.

If the hair along the back is up, if eyes are narrowed,if ears are pulled back and tight to the head, if tail is stiff or wagging in a jerky kind of fashion or too fast for conditions or pointed toward the ground or between the legs, these are all signs of fear. If they are relaxed, tail is wagging lazily, then they are comfortable with each other.

The important thing in all of this is DO NOT RUSH IT. Even if you can sit and talk while they practice good avoidance, this does not mean the next step is a canine slumber party. There should be 3 or 4 excellent visits in neutral territory before going to a home for a visit.

Once you do get to the home of either Louie or Cooper, you should re-introduce the dogs outside in a neutral area, perhaps across the street from the house, let them sniff each other ("Oh yeah, I know you... we met at the park..."), walk up and down the block together as a unit, and then walk them together to the house. The dog who resides in the house should go first through the door. Keep the leashes on for a while, just in case you need to control them in a smaller space. If they are being calm and relaxed, hopefully avoiding each other or playing nicely, let them just drag the leashes around until you are confident with their behavior.

In short: Patience, take your time, start out with baby steps and work up to the grand finale. Even if Cooper and Louie never reach "best friend" status, it is still possible to get them comfortable enough with each other that you can share a peaceful and harmonious home with the dogs. Even if they've met once or twice before and got off on the wrong paw, with patience and baby steps and the right mindset, it may be possible to help them work through their issues and come to a place of mutual respect.

***IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE DOING INTRODUCTIONS OF THIS NATURE ON YOUR OWN, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ENLIST THE ASSISTANCE OF A LOCAL PROFESSIONAL WHO HAS EXPERIENCE IN SUCH MATTERS. IF YOU ARE UNSURE, INSECURE OR TENSE, YOUR DOGS WILL KNOW IT AND ACT ACCORDINGLY.***

***Dogs that have been fixed are less likely to show dominance aggression, although it is not impossible. Two males are more likely to fight and two females are more likely to fight than opposite sex encounters, but this does not mean that same-sex dogs will necessarily fight nor that opposite-sex dogs will never fight. If one or both dogs has a history of aggression, whether dominance or fear, it is strongly encouraged that you do not attempt this type of introduction without first consulting a local professional who can assist you in your efforts.