Q. Hi Jordan,
I was wondering how long it took for Lucy to accept Virgil [after you brought him home]. Are they buddies now? Did you do anything special to introduce your two dogs?
Thanks,
Rachael
A. Not gonna lie: the Lucy/Virgil integration was a bumpy road full of very grumpy animals and much yowling. Moments after their initial meeting (which you can see on video here), Lucy realized that Virgil was a dog and not a stuffed animal that we had brought home for her to play with, and took a vacation to Crazy Town for awhile. She more or less lost her mind if he came anywhere near her, and for about three months existed in a little cocoon of general resentment while glaring out at her new housemate from various corners.
But now:
She loves him.
They’re totally best friends, and it’s adorable.
They even dress alike.
While a lot is dependent on the personalities of the dogs you’re dealing with, there are some things you can do to coax the relationship along; I wrote a post with lots of tips for intro-ing a new dog to an older one here. We didn’t really follow any of those tips with Virgil (he was a surprise), but I think it’d be advisable to do so (see: aforementioned panic and resentment). Also, because some of the advice is similar, check out this post on how we introduced our (real) baby to our (dog) babies.
