As we expected, the introduction of a third dog was going to bring up some issues. Once more we have a dog whose first two years we know only a little of. Like KiKi too, this dog has spent the last several months in a pen and is going to need time to readjust to domestic life and to become familiar with how his life here will be.
As an adult male Dalmatian this boy has energy to spare and while he does seem responsive, at least to a degree, his size and strength make managing him appropriately incredibly important. On the long trip home we stopped for a break at nightfall and found a park where we took all three dogs, leashed, for a short walk. A sudden noise in the dark caused KiKi to bark and move towards the source of the sound. The new dog cowered a little, reversed and then bolted in the opposite direction. Reaching the limit of his leash and dropping his haunches to pull away, it was as much as I could do to to hold him. Clearly anxious and unsettled by the strangeness of the environment he pulled strongly as we headed back, but settled almost immediately once in the car.
Arriving home we prepared to feed the dogs and being aware that food guarding can be an issue, we keep the new boy separated from Leica and Kiki while they eat. He stares down at the bowl I have between my feet, salivating, and takes only a little food although he is clearly hungry. I lift his bowl away as Leica and KiKi come back into the room to avoid any potential confrontation, and set it aside. A minute or so later, with the others gone I put it down again near the back door. He sits, raises a paw slightly, and looks up at me briefly before snatching the bowl in his teeth and rushing outside into the garden. With a deliberate downward swipe of a huge paw he sends the bowl spinning in the air and proceeds to eat the food now scattered on the ground. A few minutes later as I take a handful of dog biscuits from the tin in the cupboard, his head darts beneath me and he rushes towards the door with a bag of flour clamped in his jaws. Concerned about what might happen if he swallows the contents I feel I have no choice but to remove this prize from his mouth. Separating a strange dog from food is a potential flashpoint we know, but he concedes reluctantly. The next morning he eats indoors, still kept apart from the other dogs for the time being, the bowl between my feet to stop it skidding round the room.