Rio meeting Marley the Cockapoo....! (videos)

Hey all, sorry for the recent absence, have been away and recently struck down with food poisoning, so have been curled in a corner trying to recover!

My mum was passing through to pick up my sister yesterday and stopped by with her dog Marley (4 months) who's a cockapoo. She's desperate for them to get on and I said don't expect miracles but i think we can give it a go.

Now i've read a few intro techniques on here such as walking them together at distance, but this just doesn't work for Rio as he'll constantly pull and lunge.

So on our drive way (as neutral as we could make safe at the time) we had my mum take control of Marley, who just wanted to play and is very bouncy. And Adam (OH) had Rio's lead as relaxed as possible and i was next to him reassuring, praising and holding if necessary.

Rio did get vocal and lunge a couple of times but we reassured him back down and he calmed down a bit, almost trying to ignore Marley? I know he's stressed in these videos with his stress smile and whining, we only did so much before we thought it'd be more detrimental to continue.

I personally think he did very well considering but was hoping to get some opinions of what you all think of his behaviour in the videos, tips etc?

My plan was to try this a couple more times before trying a walk near each other

https://youtu.be/Y9fxAxn_DzM

https://youtu.be/7HdmarzwPjM

He looked more relaxed in the 2nd video It will take a little time for Rio to get used to Marley, they are a very bouncy friendly breed I must say Katy has a cockerpoo friend called Marvin, she loves to play with him. She likes to steal his ball so he has to chase her

Sounds like you're on the right track Kerry, will watch the clips when I'm on decent BB

He did really well! I was a bit worried watching the first one that it was too stressful, he didn't even want to look, but the 2nd was better.

I would go for the side by side walking, though. If he pulls and lunges you might just be too close. Walk as far away as you need for him to be able to walk without lunging. If you can't do side by side because there is nowhere with enough space that's not busy, then walk one after the other, with Rio behind.

I would also think about taking lots of treats (you might need to cut down on a meal) so that you can scatter them on the ground for him to snuffle up. That helps get the head down and gives him a natural, relaxing behaviour to do.

Doing something is in part why the walking is advised. After the initial excitement, most dogs will settle then know what to do. Just standing or sitting isn't natural behaviour for a dog in that situation and can leave them looking for something else to do. I also wouldn't ask a stressed dog to lie down near a strange dog as it's a very vulnerable position and might make the stress worse.

Thank you for your responses!

Yeah Liz it was getting to a point where i thought that's enough for today but he did relax a bit and the fact he was eating treats, I took as a good sign, so we did just a bit more. Rio went in after the second video and got lots of fusses

The thing with him lying down, i understand what you're saying, but in general he's a bit of a flopper, likes to flop on the floor whenever and where ever, he was doing it before i filmed so thought he may be comfortable like that, but i won't do it next time and see if that helps the little stress head.

He's come such a long way in the last year, very proud of him.
I'll make bag of high value treats for him when we do this next, the next location i was thinking is where we have a bit of an open field/ grassy area where there aren't a lot dogs.
If Rio eventually is ok with Marley, it'd be such a big break through for him

And Jen, Marley is so SO bouncy and playful and friendly to anything that moves!! That energy isn't the best for this situation but it went well considering that