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Well the introduction of our new pup (Cassy) to our 2 other dogs was an absolute and complete disaster! I got the 2 dogs from the boarding kennel last night and had DH bring Cassy out front when I got them home so I could do a controlled introduction and take them all for a walk to get to know each other. Of all the scenerios that could have happened, the one I never anticipated was that Cassy (a dog that was supposed to be a submissive personality and IS submissive to humans) would immediately and aggressively lunge with full teeth bared at my Alpha Chessie, Mariah Chaos ensued with DH trying to hold back Cassy from attacking while I worked to control Mariah and Gator who were now just as intent to get at Cassy, who they now saw as a threat to themselves and me!
To regroup, I took Cassy to the boarding kennel for the night so we could rethink our strategy for bringing these dogs together. I realized this morning that I was the root cause of the whole fiasco. As tired as I was from the trip, my energy wasn't right for an introduction. Since I have more experience with dogs than DH does, I also should have been the one controlling Cassy, since she was the unknown. Boy did I ever screw up!
Well, we are now trying this again in a whole different way. We now have all the dogs under one roof but because of my misinterpretation of Cassy's personality, its gonna take a lot more time and very slow introduction to get these dogs together. What a mess!
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I'm so sorry that the "meet and greet" didn't work out the way you had envisioned it.
I don't think you screwed up, though. You did what you thought was right -- boarding your other two; having them meet on neutral ground (i.e. not IN your/their house); etc...
Maybe Mariah and Gator didn't like seeing Cassy in front of your/their house and saw her as a threat? Maybe more neutral ground (like a park, or even around the corner from your house) would have been better? Well, hindsight and all that...
I hope things go better as the days go on.
I've got no advice -- Artie is an "only" dog for a reason; he doesn't play well with others -- but I send you hugs and only good stuff from here on out.
Our neighbors have a pack of 12 (we don't know many people here with less than 3 dogs); so 12 is not a crazy number. Most of their pack are small, just a few larger (+70lbs).
The introduction they use is to take the newbie into their bedroom and spend a few minutes and let him/her out into the pack. It is absolutely amazing how they know which dogs can make it in their pack and which ones won't (we wound up w/ one that wouldn't fit).
Point is, they, the humans, are the alphas and their projection, or lack of it will determine whether or not the dog will fit within the pack.
Final point, they work it out among themselves. Good luck to you and NO - you did not screw anything up. The new one will discover how the little pack works. Treats to the "alpha" first, then the 2nd, etc. Same with attention. This has worked for us and others that we know with multiples. Let your DH handle a lot of this and keep your projections to yourself. Trip to the vet? Maybe. But that is what you sign up for when you increase the pack. Don't worry, it will work out if it is meant to be.
For the last year with ours, I've been keeping the new one in quarantine in another room. It's just got a door separating them. They can smell one another but not see one another. Some spend a few days there others a few weeks until they seem calm. Then I open the door and sit on the floor at the junction of the two rooms. They can get close enough to touch noses, but there can't be a fight because I"m in the middle. The new dog gets most of my focus as I know the rest of my pack is well balanced. If anyone seems to be getting too excited they're corrected very quickly and sharply. I've only had to try to introduce a dog twice one time; every other time I can introduce that day. The most recent was a 120+ pound mastiff puppy. He was in quarantine a day and met them and it went perfect. Before that I had 5 in quarantine and it took me almost two weeks before I could introduce, but I got them intro'd that day they had the door open. It's worked well for me.
This can be a sticky problem.
I had a Shep mix that was dog-agressive. I had gotten her as a weanling pup. When she was 7 months old I decided that I wanted to raise pure-breds and gave her away. She went to 2 different homes and didn't make it. She was aggressive to their male dogs. They brought her back. I had no idea that she was agressive, as I had at the time 2 other dogs and all was well with them.
When she came back I had acquired her father, a Belgian Tervuren. He was the pack leader and my pal. There were no problems with her agressing him... for whatever reason. Maybe he just had that Leader attitude and she didn't dare.
I did begin to have problems with the 2 male Tervuren tho and had to part with one of them.
Some years later The Groenendaal female was spayed. It was only weeks after this that the big girl becam aggressive to her.
This may give you some clues as to what goes on with them.
I hope you can get the pack to work things out. Jazz is a fear aggressive dog so things have to go slow when she is introduced to other dogs yet when I got Dazzle I got home after driving 6 hours home at about 5 PM so did not have alot of time for an introduction. I had him in a wire crate in the back of the outback so I went in and got Jazz and Dash and put them in the car and right away she went off and was growling and lunging at the crate and Dash being her loyal buddy joined in so poor easy going 8 month old Dazzle was frozen with fear. We drove the couple miles to the beach . ( as for some reason Jazz sees the beach as such a fun place that she is easier on other dogs there) I got every one out.Despite her fear she has to be in control too. We had some rough moments but took a beach walk on leash and did some obedience stuff well Jazz and Dash did as Dazzle was clueless back then. Jazz and Dash got rewarded for calm behavior and things like sniffing Dazzle without any signs of aggression towards him. That helped settle the beast down. She did have issues with him and still does at times as he taunts her knowing he is fast and she at almost 14 is slow but it went a lot better the I was expecting. I do gate him in the dining room when I go out for long periods at first because of the issues but now because he still likes to chew things that are not his. But over all things are peaceful when he is not taunting her and even then she does just does the lip curling , growling and lunging but does not actually attack him. Dash was the odd card as alone he adored Dazzle and wanted to spend time with him but if Queen Jazz reacted to Dazzle, Dash he was 100% loyal to the queen and would join in, It has always been that way with them and other dogs. Living alone and having to do a rush intro was not easy but in the end it did work out and I think Dash actually may have hung on months longer to make sure that Dazzle would fill his paws( since dogs do not wear shoes) and would be able to deal with his queen.
I wiill send positive thoughts for peace among your pack to you,
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Chaos ensued with DH trying to hold back Cassy from attacking while I worked to control Mariah and Gator who were now just as intent to get at Cassy, who they now saw as a threat to themselves and me!
Jazz and Dash got rewarded for calm behavior and things like sniffing Dazzle without any signs of aggression towards him. That helped settle the beast down. She did have issues with him and still does at times as he taunts her knowing he is fast and she at almost 14 is slow
but it went a lot better the I was expecting. I do gate him in the dining room when I go out for long periods at first because of the issues but now because he still likes to chew things that are not his. But over all things are peaceful when he is not taunting her and even then she does just does the lip curling , growling and lunging but does not actually attack him. Dash was the odd card as alone he adored Dazzle and wanted to spend time with him but if Queen Jazz reacted to Dazzle, Dash he was 100% loyal to the queen and would join in, It has always been that way with them and other dogs. 
