With any amount of luck, tomorrow I will be the proud owner of a beautiful foundation bred quarter horse- Zippin Peppy San… barn named _______. I’m not anouncing the name until I’ve signed the papers, after so many disapointments, I think maybe it’s bad luck. Keep your finger crossed for me!
Introducing Dogs and Horses, the easiest way:
With the new horse comes a few new problems, tighter money, more trips to CT.. and most importantly, fostering a healthy relationship between my dog, and my soon to be horse. Small but mighty, my 4 pound Pomeranian, Zenzie will not stand to be left behind, and living in the city, I’ve grown accustomed to bringing her everywhere. Introducing animals really just depends on the animal, their are precaustions you can take, and basic rules to follow… but really it comes down to the animals individually.
With the new horse, I’m lucky. She’s a ranch horse, and pretty solid, she bites cows, but dogs don’t register on her list of important things. This, typically would be enough information to all but insure a gentle introduction but in my case, it won’t be that easy. Zenzie is not a typical barn dog, and new horse hasn’t seen, to my knowledge, that many small dogs. To make matters more complicated, Zenzie has only met a horse once, and though she seemed chill, I’m just not certain I trust her around such big animals.
My goals for introducing them are to hopefully be able to travel, on horseback, with Zenzie. I plan on doing a good deal of camping, and for these types of trips Z will alternate between being carried in a doggy backpack or running along side. These goals, for Z are attainable assuming she has some horse smarts.
My plan to introduce is simple. Her size, at this juncture is to my advantage because I can hold her and allow them to sniff each other while I have complete contact with Zenzie. If that goes well, Zenzie will be allowed to walk around the horse on her leash. If you don’t have a dog you can easily carry… go straight to using a leash, but allow a tight enough contact on your dog to control any situation. It’s best to have a partner controlling the horse (or vice wersa) Both reactions will be gauged, and Zenzie will remain on her leash for at least a week. During this time I’m also going to make sure she undertands arena rules, ie: don’t go in the arena, even though you can run under the fence. So I don’t confuse her, it’s best if she never goes in the arena- when horses are present and not.
It’s also important to remember that barns often have a revolving cast of dogs and depending on the day, it’s usually different. I’m going to make sure that every dog Zenzie is likely to encounter is small dog friendly. If your bringing a new dog to the barn, don’t be afraid to inquire about peoples shot records… and make sure your dog is up to date. If you are bringing an unaltered dog, alert anyone who may also have an unaltered dog and plan accordingly.
Once she’s comfortable with her new barn surroundings, I’m going to cautiously allow her off the leash when I’m grooming the new horse. It’s best to have a designated safe area for your dog, away from the horse. Zenzie is currently learning to command “place” which orders who to quickly run to her designated place and laydown on it. Before you try this at the barn around horses, teach it at home. An old saddle blanket that you can bring back and forth will work best.
As soon as ‘place’ is mastered, your dog is ready to try a day off leash. Throughout the day, command ‘place’ to make sure she’s paying attention to you. If you sense your loosing control of your dog, that they are getting to excited or just not listening promptly put them back on leash, or remove them from the situation entirely.
I’ll be introducing them on saturday, pictures and an update on how it went to follow.
