Introducing New Pets to Pets Already in the Household

I have a cute new half pug dog that I rescued from a street near South Campus Drive in SLC. She is Cuddles, and asks to tell people the best way to introduce new pets to the ones already in the household.

First, when brought home, give some water and food to your new animal before introducing it to the rest of the household. Make sure it has time to get used to its new surroundings before introductions.

If you are introducing ,say, a cat or dog to a snake, you better rethink that plan. They don't get along.

But if you are introducing perhaps a dog and a cat, proceed cautiously. Don't let them mingle all of a sudden or throw them together. If it is a big dog being introduced to a cat, it is best to have them introduced either with the dog on a leash and being held still by another person, or on opposite sides of the fence.

Cats usually don't have problems with dogs if raised around them, but can instigate a lot of fights between a dog and it if not trained around dogs. So if you have a timid dog that won't hurt a fly or a small dog, make sure to keep that dog away from cats that hiss, claw at it, or spit at it for a long time.

Dogs that are provoked or trained to go after things can and will bite other animals, even if raised around that certain species all of its life.

If you bring a smaller dog home to meet a big dog, hold your big dog back a very long way from the smaller dog until both the dogs are comfortable. You wouldn't want the big dog to harm the small dog.

Introducing a snake and a snake is pretty easy, except if it's around mating time and there is already a male and female in the cage and the snake waiting to meet them is another male. Two male snakes fight over a female at breeding time, ensuring the strongest snake mates with the female and produces strong baby snakes. It is like this with most of the natural world.

Do not try to introduce male rodents to one another. They will eat one another, and eat babies also that are in the cage along with them. I have seen this happen, sadly.

So - - now you have a guide on how to introduce pets. Go try it.