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Dogs are social beings, living their happiest, healthiest lives when they develop secure relationships with each family member in your home - humans and dogs. For your new dog and resident dogs to be best friends, it usually takes time and and plenty of awareness of everyone's comfort zones.
That's why parallel walking is a such a useful tool for pet parents to ease a new dog into his or her joyful new life with other dog family members.
Parallel walks create social time for dogs with space to have positive introductions as dogs meet, get to know each other and build positive relationships in their own time, at their own pace, on their own comfort-zone terms.
What makes parallel walks a favorite go-to tool for professional dog trainers and behaviorists is their versatility in so many dog-dog situations. Once you master parallel walks to use in introducing a new dog to your current pups, you may be surprised how many times you'll put this technique to work for your dogs in other situations.
Here are times when you can find having parallel walks in your repertoire super useful, even a lifesaver for dogs, new and old:
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At the heart of it all, your central goal is to create positive introductions between dogs, going mindfully at the dogs' pace while remaining under the threshold for all dogs involved.
Important to setting up your dog (and you!) for success is choosing a neutral low-distraction location. If you're adopting and you've already done an introduction at the shelter or rescue, do another parallel walk in your neighborhood in a quiet area.
Because, again, you always want to set your dog up for success, you want to avoid any busy, distracting locations. Avoid doing your training walks at a dog park, a home, or a busy location where you might encounter more people, dogs, bicycles, skateboards, etc.
Let's take it step by step to getting your new dog and your other dog comfortable together with a parallel walk. If you have more than one current dog in your family, you'll want to take your dogs separately. (You will need a second person to help you handle one of the dogs.)
Have between 10 feet to 50 feet between the dogs.
If the other dog does react, increase the distance between the two dogs.
You want a smiling U in the leash, and no tension in the leash, which increases the tension in the dog.
You want them to feel they have more freedom in their movements.
Praise, mark, and treat every time the dog in the back actively smells these locations. Your "following" dog is gathering information and processing it to get familiar and comfortable with your other dog.
That encourages your dog to slow down as well, helping your dog to calm down and stay calmer.
Remember parallel walks can be multiple sessions! You can stop for the day and start fresh the next day if you feel your new dog has had enough stimulation.
Now your calmer dog gets to sniff all the scents and pick up information to get familiar with the other dog.
You could toss a treat and ask your dog to find it or do small scatter feeds to let your dog destress with sniffs to search for the treats. Grass makes a great snuffle mat!
Keep the dogs on their opposite sides - do not have the dogs next to each other.
These walks can take 1 time, 1 week, or even 1 month for the dogs to become comfortable!
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Remember to keep it to under 3 seconds. Your goal is that they smell each other on the walk, then walk together, and get to know each other slowly. Then you're ready to have them greet in an enclosed space OFF LEASH - greeting too much too fast, especially on a first meeting, can lead to reactivity/dog going over the threshold.
For dogs, body language is the earliest predictor of what they're feeling. Understanding their body language helps you anticipate how to manage their interactions.
Increase distance from the other dog to where your dog does not show any stress signals. For some dogs, moving away to where they aren't showing stress signals and can do a reliable cue can be 3 feet, for other dogs this can be 30 feet away and for some dogs it's behind a barrier like a house or a car. These behaviors indicate your dog is over the threshold, reacting and not thinking, and that he or she is very stressed.
If during the parallel walk, your dog shows these behaviors, take time to do a scatter feed or to do a few fun games. Then have the helper dog be at a distance walking back and forth while you do these games/scatter feeds to end on a successful note, and that will be the end of the walk.
Next time, conduct the parallel walk at a much greater distance from the other dog.
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In addition to the watch-outs, you want to keep an eye out for these positive behaviors so you can immediately praise and reward them:
If these behaviors happen, slightly increase the distance to where your dog feels more comfortable and has a looser body.
Because your dog is letting you know that he/she is subtly stressed/fearful/uncomfortable. When your dog communicates these signals move away to where they have a looser body, play some games to refocus like the find-it game, and continue the walk.
All this means your new dog is content. At this point, you can decrease the distance between you and the other dog.
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Once your dogs are comfortable on a walk, then you're ready to slowly begin integrating them into everyday indoor life with your family.
Steps to successful integration at home
After the parallel walks go really well and the two dogs are showing loose, wiggly bodies, you have two options for integration:
Have a baby gate separating the two dogs, let both of the dogs smell each other through the gate. If they start barking at each other through the gate, cover the gate with a sheet and try the introduction through parallel walks again. If both dogs are fine, slowly take away the baby gate.
If the dogs are on a leash have them do a few games to focus them on you while in the other dog’s presence and let them sniff. At this time, if you think the dogs are ok, drop the leashes but be nearby with delicious tasting treats if you need to call them away. Once you know they’re ok, take the leashes off.
Now that you know how to use parallel walks with your new dog, enjoy every moment with your expanded family! Continue on to the next guide to learn how to enjoy dog playdates safely.
And if you need more individualized help with your pup, you can reach out to me to work 1-on-1 with you here on Dogly for any training and behavioral needs or jump into Dogly's New Pet Channel to learn more to support your new family member!
DISCLAIMER: The content of this website and community is based on the research, expertise, and views of each respective author. Information here is not intended to replace your one-on-one relationship with your veterinarian, but as a sharing of information and knowledge to help arm dog parents to make more informed choices. We encourage you to make health care decisions based on your research and in partnership with your vet. In cases of distress, medical issues, or emergency, always consult your veterinarian.