Here’s an example of how we ‘get to know’ our dogs or cats when they come to live with us. They don’t know how we live and we don’t know them or their past, so a careful and gradual introduction is best for all.

In my book ‘The Tale of a BIG Dog’, which by the way is suitable to all sized dogs and for people accessible for most ages, there’s more detail.

People who visit our home often ask if the dogs and cats get on and seem surprised that they do. And I’m regularly asked whether the dogs get on with one another, as if they might not.

Pogo and Daisy live with us, they’re both bitches of approximately the same age, around 11ish now and Kuzu, a male who is perhaps 6ish, all of whom come from various rescue backgrounds.

Pogo looks like a border collie cross, she came from Border Collie Trust, although when she came to live with us her DNA test showed she had no border collie in her and she is mainly crossed with Nordic breeds. Her background was that she was ‘caught’ in Ireland as she was roaming. Back then Pogo lived life at 90 miles an hour, or so it seemed, and was very ball-focused, she chased anything that moved and killed various small animals while on lead. Pogo was quick. Because she was so ‘wired’ back then, moving hands were tempting for her and she’d be inclined to nip them. She also didn’t know what to do in the house, it was as though she’d never been in one before and indeed may not have. When in the house she’d just leap up onto work surfaces as if that was the norm, and I mean all four feet were on the counter and the dining table. She felt safer up high and couldn’t cope inside which showed in her chewing cushions, furniture and carpets. She was unable to settle inside at all, so life with us started off with Pogo living in the garage, a dog gate at the doorway so she could view life in the kitchen from the other side.

We split the garage, in two, to limit her space. Before dealing with a large space Pogo needed to learn to feel settled and safe in a small space, which was designated as hers. Nothing happened in there, no one coming and going, no noises and so life there was neutral and Pogo learnt to settle there, in a smaller space. Many dogs can struggle in large spaces even though we may feel freedom is good for them. Pogo felt the need to zoom around, chew things, leaping up onto various things and easily clearing the dog gate and so forth.

Sometimes this behaviour may be viewed as a dog being happy. Pogo really wasn’t.

Daisy, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross aged 18 months came from a dog shelter, apparently previously living with a young family where there were three children. When the third child was born, Daisy was taken to a dogs’ home.

Daisy was highly exuberant and really couldn’t cope with any focus on her. She’d leap up to people’s faces and nip them in the blink of an eye. She lacked social etiquette with people and other dogs and at first sight the majority of dogs knew to give her a wide birth and avoid her. It was quite obvious and I saw other dogs looking terrified. Daisy was unable to regulate herself even at the first sight of another dog, which was some distance away. It sent her way out of control, spinning round and round especially if they happened to come too close.

Kuzu, an Anatolian Shepherd Dog / Mastiff mix was a young dog (now, I think he was simply months old) again exuberant, who just insisted he bounce around with any dog he saw, even in the far distance. BUT he was big! A big bouncy dog who was emotionally out of himself was naturally somewhat worrying for quite a few dogs. Kuzu didn’t understand boundaries and he would just try to take me with him to get to meet other dogs. He also didn’t have social skills when he got there. Kuzu found life quite frustrating on many levels. In time he learnt to accept a few necessary limits.

Kuzu was from another dog shelter. His background was that he’d been found wandering the streets somewhere in the UK. In the kennels he was housed with another dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and by the photo’s I could see that terrier was worried by Kuzu, keeping an eye on him. Kuzu had tendencies to intimidate other dogs by invading their space, regardless of their communication so living with another dog without boundaries hadn’t been positive for either dog. Intimidating other dogs showed me he was bothered and frightened by them and even now I see he is, but now he can make wise choices to go in another direction, provided the distance between the dogs is enough. With small dogs he sometimes doesn’t even bat an eyelid.

To integrate animals into our home we supply boundaries and areas so they can feel safe, we give them lots of time to observe what goes on inside the house daily and this is all part of how they learnt to ‘be’ with and respect other members of the household. You might like to read more in The Tale of a BIG Dog or visit the website: https://thetaleofabigdog.com/