Integration complete

Bella is now fully integrated into the household.  Last night we folded up her crate as she no longer used it.  I do want to document what we did. I know I have been posting about it here, but I want to lay it out in one post just in case I ever need it again. 

2/11/11 - Friday night - we drove to Mililani and picked Bella up.  We brought her home and took the big dogs into the yard and snuck her in the front door. They immediately raced into the house and went after her.  Charlie held them back while I scooped up the puppy. I then proceeded to inform them that was not cool and they had to learn to accept her. I did this in a loud, stern voice.  For the rest of the evening I carried her around. We sat at the computer and I read about adapexin-p while Axl tried to sniff and nip at her. It was a pretty stressful night and I was wondering if we had made a huge mistake. We brought the giant kennel into the house with the idea of letting her sleep in there. Unfortunately she whined and cried, getting the big dogs excited. I ended up sleeping with her in the computer room all night.

We settled into a routine where Bella would spend the day in the computer room and when Charlie got home she would hang out in the carport with him. We would walk the big dogs then I would take Bella on a short walk. The kennel was still in the middle of the living room and she spent the evenings before bed in there.

2/19/11 - After a week of having Bella around and signs that the big dogs were getting used to her, we decided to bring them together for the first time. A friend of ours was over so while we were walking the big dogs, he brought Bella out into the carport. When we got back I came down first with Lola and Charlie followed a few minutes later with Axl. We didn't want to overwhelm her with both dogs at once, plus these two feed off each others energy. Since I knew Lola would adjust quickest I brought her down first. By the time Axl got here Lola was all whatever...
We took them into the backyard, with the leashes on, and let them play for just a few minutes - 10-15. Then we took Bella back out and left the big dogs there.

We kept this up for about a week. Initially we would only do it if our friend was over, luckily he was over frequently, but after a while we were able to do it with just the two of us.

2/27/11 - I decided I was done with the kennel and I wanted a wire crate. I got a huge one and put it in the living room. This did a couple of things. First, the big dogs were now able to see the puppy and everything she did. Axl gets a little freaky when he sees other dogs walking or running or jumping. Well, with the wire crate he could see her doing all of that and get used to it. Second, she could see everything that was going on in the room. That way we weren't hidden from her view and she didn't feel so isolated. Thirdly, I will need a crate like this when we start doing things. Fourthly, it was freaking cheap!!! Anyway, we set this up and moved her into it. I think this was one of the best things we did. By seeing each other so well, they all became used to each other quickly. Bella would lean up against the wires and Lola would try and lick her. They would make the bowed play stance to each other clearly wanting to play. This happened more and more and I knew we were on the right track. Between the play time after the walks and this crate, we were making progress in a good direction.

3/13/11 - after a couple of weeks of ever increasing interactions and growing desires to be together, I decided tonight was the night. Our friend was over and after the walk we were going to go into the backyard and just let them work it out. We decided we would stay out there until they all worked it out and were completely comfortable with each other. So we did. We were out there 45 minutes. There were some very minor scuffles but nothing serious. By the end of the 45 minutes everyone was tired and completely at ease with each other.

At this point we decided that we would bring them together every night and allow them a goodly amount of time to play. Gradually we would introduce them in the house in the mornings and in the evenings. Well, the best laid plans....

3/14/11 - As I was getting things ready in the morning the big dogs got out of the bedroom. They came out to the kitchen where I was with Bella and just laid down. I decided to let them stay and we just kept an eye on them. Things went well. From this point on Bella was out with the big dogs in the morning and in the evenings. No more crate for her. They were getting along just fine and really seemed to be enjoying each other. Axl is really loving it.

3/18/11 - One more step in the total integration program. Tonight we let her sleep in our room. She is too small to jump on our bed so she slept on the floor while the big dogs slept on the bed. We had moved her bed into our room but Lola ended up sleeping on it. We are not going to do that anymore.

The only thing left to do is leave them together when we are not home. I am not in any kind of rush to do that at all. I like having her contained in an environment I can control completely so I know she won't get into anything harmful. The big dogs have been known to get into things they should not have and while they have been fine, these things could kill the puppy.

So there you have it. It took us 5 weeks but that was actually much quicker than I thought it would be. I am extremely glad we did it slowly allowing everyone time to adjust step by step. Now our focus is on transitions. Axl is totally fine if he knows whats going on, so we are working now on setting those patterns for him. He's really doing great though. I'm so proud of him.