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Bringing Your New IG Home to Another IG

© Jane Lightle

I finally made the big decision to get a second IG. I knew it was only a matter of time - and so did my husband. A local breeder called me to come have a look at his new IG babies, and the rest is history. The litter had four puppies: three female and one male. It's quite exciting to get a new puppy, but I wanted to be very careful not to rock the apple cart with our existing animal kingdom, Estelle the IG and Dickens the Siamese.

Originally I opted for the largest, plumpest little female which was fawn just like Estelle. She was rather outgoing but extremely pretty and healthy looking. When it came time to make my final decision it turned out I wanted a more demure dog. After all, Estelle is not a dominant dog and I wanted a partner for her rather than a puppy that might boss her around. There was a delicate seal (chocolate blackish brown) and white female who I originally wasn't interested in because she was so little - I wanted a sturdy little running playmate. However, the little seal and white girl seemed similar in personality to Estelle so I picked her in the end. Funny enough, after I picked her and we went over for a few visits, Estelle seemed quite nervous around the little fawn girl I'd originally picked. Obviously this told me I'd made the right decision by going with the quiet "runt." The breeder let me take her home a couple of times from the time she was 5 and a half weeks old for a few hours, to break her in and let my pets get familiar with her. I think this was a good thing rather than just arriving one day with a puppy that Estelle and Dickens may not have been welcoming to. The first couple of visits Estelle was a little offish and kept her distance but she warmed up to the new little one with time. At first Dickens hid under the bed but afterward let his curiousity get the best of him and ventured out to see her on the third visit.

I think the most important part of the process has been making certain that Estelle doesn't feel like second fiddle to the puppy. The puppy gets feed second and comes second in line for all the privileges so that she'll undestand her position in relation to Estelle. This way the older dog will be less likely to resent the puppy. In fact, Estelle has been making an effort to teach the puppy and even takes her under her wing a lot.

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