Could be getting a shikoku next month!

Spitzfever

Any advice when it comes to bringing home an older dog? Our current puppy will be 6 months and the shikoku female will be 1.5 years old by the time she comes home to us (if she comes home to us). I am super excited but am not sure what steps should be taken when we bring the dog home.

Shikoku

Think you should have them meet before you decide to get the shikoku pup. What is the other breed/sex? What made you want to add another dog this soon after having a pup for four months- Assuming you got it at 8wks?

Best advice have multiple meet ups if possible before setting one of the dogs up for failure. There are a few people on the forum who have done what your considering and years later must still keep both dogs seperate.

Spitzfever

@Shikoku
we already have the meet ups set up and planned so the girls will get time to play with each (both in home and at park) and walk on leash together. My current puppy is a female Finnish Lapphund and we were always planning on getting another dog while she was young. When we first started our search for a shikoku we were told the earlier the better because that would give our lapphund a chance to get used to her play mate before she hit full maturity. The shikoku is apparently best with other females and prefers puppies so hopefully it all works out! My Lapphund also prefers playing with females so it sounds like a good match! Nothing is certain yet but we are very hopeful

Shikoku

I can't speak much on the shikoku's and how well they get along. But you seem to have it worked out. That's all I could offer.

Spitzfever

@shikoku
Thank you for your input We are very excited to see how they get along!

Hinata23

We got our Shikoku around that age... and it was a heartbreaking nightmare... It took a good 4 months to help her adjust (and by "adjust" I mean tolerate us and her surrounds more) and that was after we got her a Kai puppy (that's right Goro was for ChoCho and not us lol), and moved cross country, which seemed to help her a lot. It took a TON of work, tears, emotional and physical energy, and will power (among other things). We took her from a rural setting and into a suburb. It did not go as smoothly as we'd all hope, but after countless trials and errors we figured out (somewhat) what worked for her.

Your girly might have a better transition since you have another dog, but she could also get annoyed/stressed by a 6 month old puppy she doesn't know. It's always a huge gamble with older rehomed NK.

Spitzfever

@Hinata23
thanks for sharing your experience! This is the honest reply that I needed to hear
The shikoku will be going from a condo to a home with a yard so I am hoping that will be good for her! Kyra is a pretty laid back puppy so I do wonder if another dog in the home will make her more playful. I am pretty nervous but am trying to be confident about the situation.

Any tips for bringing her home and making the place feel safe? I'm hoping the previous owners could send her with some toys from home.

Trzcina

Lappies usually have decent social skills naturally, though some are better than others--and keep in mind that lots of dogs experience a shift in how they interact with others as they hit adolescence. And six months is very much hitting adolescence (my Lapphund became quite skittish around that age, and became much more selective about which dogs she was interested in playing with--though she was always on the more drivey end of the Lapphund spectrum and was the agility prospect pup, though the skittishness wasn't reflected in her puppyhood or mature behavior, just in adolescence), so do beware that the social dynamic can change as your pup grows up on her end as well as on the Shikoku end.

I can't really speak to the integrating her and making her feel safe part. I guess if it were me, I'd make sure that both dogs have "safe zones" where the other dog doesn't get to go, and prevent toys from becoming a conflict area. Dogs can be very jealous and toys can easily be a problem if they're both a little stressed (not to say that they shouldn't have toys, as they definitely should! Just that you should be aware of what's happening when the dogs are using them). The only time I integrated two dogs was with both dogs in older adulthood, and for the most part it went well--but toys and food always retained the potential for conflict, even when they were usually totally fine with each other (though they never played with one another, even if they did learn behaviors from one another).

Hinata23

I would take things slow. If she seems nervous, introduce her to new parts of the house slowly, so she won't become overwhelmed. Take it a day at a time. I agree with the "safe zone" idea. We kept ChoCho in a our room (we were staying at the time at my in-laws) and whenever she would freakout or get nervous we would put her in her crate with a chew. You don't want a Shikoku to go over their threshold. Their brains shut down and they loose all reason. You want to pay attention to what makes her nervous and quickly call her and distract her.

Walks were also a HUGE help. I MEAN HUGE! I guess it helped ChoCho get to know her surroundings and not be as freaked out by stuff. I would take her on long 1-1.5 hr walks x2/day since she was terrified of the house. They helped us bond with her and get to know her and her us. Since she was terrified of everything we would encourage her curiosity while on walks and let her explore. Doing tricks with her also help a ton. We started to take her to training classes after having her for 2 months. This helped our relationship and helped her not fear strangers as much.

Anywhos, your lady could transition beautifully into your lifestyle and home and none of thing would be relevant! But it's always nice to know what could happen and not be caught off guard... Then again I researched the Shikoku for 3 years before adopting mine and it still knocked the wind out of us. It was a punch to the gut lol. Know that we're always here to help! Feel free to ask me anything.

Spitzfever

@Trzcina
My lapphund seems to be becoming more social and although she was always friendly she liked roaming and playing by herself more than playing with other dogs. She is more outgoing now than she was earlier and seems to be less selective with who she plays with (before she would only play with dogs her size or a little bigger but now she plays with bigger AND smaller dogs). Hopefully she continues to be social as she hits adolescences. I figure that their crates would be their safe spots...if crates are too small of a safe spot then they could each take a guest room? Kyra has toys but isn't interested in them...even when other dogs come over (my friends bring their dogs over every once in a while) she shows no interest in her toys. She just likes wrestling with me or anyone who will take her on lol but the shikoku apparently LOVES toys so it will be interesting to see how that works out. Hopefully my lappy doesn't develop jealousy over the toys....It was nice to hear from another lapphund owner

@Hinata23
hopefully it goes well and I can look back and say it was easier than I expected! I wasn't sure if I should bond with her like I would a puppy (i.e. walks, training, slow home introduction) because she is a little older. I will take it slow like I did with Kyra I am home all day everyday so I am sure that will help her a ton! Her old owners didn't crate train her so maybe the crate training will help her become more comfortable as well and she will have more living space than she did before...I'm sure I will have a billion questions after she gets here!

TheWalrus

I've had three adult Shikoku females move in with me. With 1 female it was a breeze. The other two took around a month to settle in comfortably (to where they were not trying to dodge me or run). It takes some time and patience, and an understanding that in the end everything may not turn out exactly as YOU want. For instance, my three girls all hate each other, so I have to manage that. They cannot be in each others presence or even walk together.
Two of them wanted to eat puppies when they first got here, but now they are great with them. They also get along with all my male dogs, so that makes things easier.

Spitzfever

@TheWalrus
Thanks for the very real experience I know I can't determine what kind of relationships the girls will have just by a few meetings but I hope it helps...I am trying to lower my expectations so that I am not totally caught off guard if/when things don't turn out how I want them to be. The shikoku is doing good in her temporary home but they also have a ton more experience with shikoku so my experience with her may not be as great....Super nervous but I am glad others have gone through this! Hopefully the forum will prove to be helpful if/when she comes home with me

Hinata23

You will do great! It could be rough in the beginning, but it'll worth it! We're all here to help Crate training is really important. I totally recommend helping her get used to it early on.

violet_in_seville

Deal with the toys carefully. When we first integrated our easy going male (whom our girl has adored from day one) some items in which she previously evinced little to no interest suddenly skyrocketed in value. We integrated moderately fast (in part because they are non-littermate siblings, in part because they had played together while she was growing up) but were pretty conservative with resouces. Their only fights were over previously low value items where I was not cautious enough. Now they both share everything but raw.

Spitzfever

@violet_in_seville
thanks! I will do my best not to let my guard down when it comes to items I consider non-issue!

@Hinata23 thanks! I will probably need the help lol and I agree, crate training was so important to me with Kyra so I couldn't imagine any other dog not being crate trained