How to Train a Dog to Accept a New Dog Into the Home Using BAT

In this Omaha dog training session we worked with Molly, a two-year-old Australian Cattle Dog mix, who was dog reactive and having issues getting along with a new dog that will be moving in.

After I arrived I sat down to chat with Molly’s guardian about this main dog behavior concern. Molly had issues with getting along with other dogs and soon Molly would be sharing the house with a new dog. I want to applaud Molly’s guardian for reaching out to us proactively to help Molly get used to the new dog before it moved in.

When dogs are reactive to other dogs this often times accompanied by barking. Barking can signal that the dog is either excited or is telling the other dog to go away. Molly was most likely nervous to have a new dog in her home and wanted to keep it to herself. Instead of trying to train Molly to like the new dog, I used a method called Behavior Adjustment Training or BAT to help Molly learn to be around the new dog and have calm behavior. To see how we accomplished this, you can watch the video below.

One thing that I didn’t mention in the video, but chatted with the guardian off-camera about it is that when Molly jumped up onto the chair during this training session, she likely was trying to inflate her status around the other dog. I was immediately happy that she was showing calmer behavior by laying down, but after we stopped shooting the video I asked the guardian to keep her off of the furniture to keep the dogs at the same level. This will help the two dogs get along over time.

To keep up with this good behavior the two guardians will want to plan on training sessions with the two dogs before they move in together. The first dog that will be able to be off leash is the new dog to the home because she is older and more relaxed. Then over time you can allow Molly off-leash when she is respecting the new dog’s personal space and boundaries. We wrapped up this dog behavior session with Moly’s Roadmap to Success video, which you can watch below.