[haileyandbandit]

Hey everyone!

I just adopted a 19ibs border collie cattle dog mix (estimate from the shelter) named Kiko. She's almost two, and she's very very sweet and inteliigent.
I have a small greek tortoise named Rocket, and I wanted to see if anyone had good feed back for how to introduce the two? Rocket has met many large labs and horses, but I don't know Kiko's personality so I don't want to put Rocket in any danger.

Thanks!

 

[hanksimon]

Most dogs won't go into full prey drive with a slow moving animal, so you should have some control. If you have a bite sized baby, you need to be careful, but if the tortoise is bigger than hand sized, so the dog can't pick it up, so can slowly introduce her. She may sniff it or ignore it. Or she may get spooked and bark at it.

1. Give her something with turtle smell on it (?)
2. Let her see it from afar.
3. Let her sniff, while on leash. If she gets spooked or too interested, sit on the ground, holding the tortoise and let her investigate.

Now, that I've written that... Why do you need to socialize the dog with the tortoise ?

 

[haileyandbandit]

Thanks for your reply! Rocket is a little larger than my hand. He has an open enclosure in my house, so Kiko has access to it. I want to make sure she isn't aggresive or frightened towards him. I've kept Rocket in a closed off room for the day, so she's had full access to sniffing his cage.
I just introduced him to her when she was very relaxed and getting a belly rub from my dad, she got very excited and loud. I think we're going to try distracting her by asking for a settle with treats while we bring him closer. I'll let you know how it goes!