[zbckFNlW]

As stated in another thread that I started, we have my son's dog here visiting and there's a possibility that I may be asked to keep her. I've been slowly introducing Mazzi and Biff and it's going quite well. Here's what I've accomplished so far. I started by crating Mazzi and Biff and I put a gate on the bathroom door so that Sadie (the visiting dog) couldn't get into the bathroom, where the crated dogs are. I allowed them to see each other through the door, unless either Mazzi or Biff started barking. If they did, the door was closed. After a few minutes, I opened the door and we started the process again, until they were quiet and I could keep the door open. After about an hour of Mazzi and Biff remaining quiet, I took them (just Mazzi and Biff) outside and let them run for 15-20 minutes. When they came back in, they found Sadie was in a crate and the gate on the doorway. I put a leash and prong collar on Biff and allowed Mazzi to be loose, (trusting she'd behave) while I gave them commands such as sit, lay down, wait, kiss, and look. (make eye contact with me) I used a reinforcer, (kibble) which normally, I don't do. They did very well! After about 20 minutes, I let Biff through the gate, still leashed and he lay on the floor about a foot from the Crate and quietly watched Sadie. BTW, the whole time, Sadie was calm too. I sat there for a bit and then made a phone call, via speaker phone, so he'd have a tiny bit of distraction. He did great! I never had to correct him. : ) Mazzi remained on the other side of the gate, quiet as well. I continued reinforcing the good behavior with food and pats on the head, but no words or eye contact. After about 45 minutes total, all 3 dogs were put on leash and brought together in the LR, but kept separated. Biff became a bit wound up, so I sarted again with the commands and reinforcements. Once he settled, I ignored him and started a low key conversation with my son and BF. After about 15 minutes, I cued the BF to crate Mazzi and a few minutes later, I crated Biff. They began barking in the crates, so I closed the door to the BR and started the process of going back and opening the door, then closing if they got wound up. They are doing great now.

I figure I'll need to continue crate and rotate for the rest of the day and make sure that Mazzi and Biff are getting lots of run time outside. Is there anything else that I am forgetting? Any better ideas? What's the typical amount of time that it takes? I understand that all
situations/dogs will respond differently, so just looking for an estimate. We had Mazzi for less than two weeks when we took in a rescue and a week or so later, followed Biff. The 3 of them all got along pretty well. Since then, which has been about 3 months now, neither have been around other dogs. I don't want to rush it, as I don't 100% feel that Biff is ready. Well, I guess I'll never be 100% sure...it would be stupid to trust a pit bull never to cause harm to another dog. I think you know what I mean though. Thanks so much. : )