The Art of Slow Introductions: Setting Up Your Foster Animals for Success

The Art of Slow Introductions: Setting Up Your Foster Animals for Success

Bringing a new foster animal into your home can be an incredibly rewarding experience, but for those with resident pets, it’s natural to feel a little apprehensive. How will everyone get along? Will your home remain harmonious? The answer lies in one key practice: slow introductions.

Slow intros are a proven method for acclimating new animals to your home, allowing them and your resident pets to adjust at their own pace. We’ve gathered insights from Cincinnati Animal CARE fosters about what slow intros really mean, how they work, and how they can help set up foster animals—and your home—for success.

What Are Slow Introductions?

Slow introductions involve gradually introducing new animals to resident pets in a structured, controlled manner. This approach reduces stress for all animals involved, allowing them to feel safe and develop positive associations with one another. As CAC foster Melissa Harris notes:

“Every dog is different, and more importantly, each time my girls meet a new foster, they are learning this as well. The process adapts to the animals’ personalities and needs.”

Why Slow Introductions Matter

Slow introductions aren’t just about avoiding conflict—they’re about building trust and creating a positive environment. By taking the time to acclimate your foster animal and resident pets, you’re setting them up for a successful relationship, whether it’s temporary or forever. As CAC foster Sessie said perfectly, 

“Intros are used to acclimate animals at their pace! Some acclimate faster than others–there is no fast or slow! The animal will let you know when they’re ready.”

Slow Intro or No Intro?

CAC foster and staff member Alexis’ experience with fostering has reshaped her approach to intros. She thought she knew a lot about slow intros until they adopted their third dog, Riley.

“We’ve switched to separating fosters almost entirely. It sounds crazy, but it’s less stressful for everyone, and the dogs get their needs met without pressure.”

Before we get into how to do slow intros, we also want to point out that YOU DON’T HAVE TO introduce your resident animals to your fosters. It can be very stressful to resident animals to have a new animal come into their home. 

Your home is your resident animal’s forever place. Your fosters are only there temporarily. By keeping your resident animals feelings and needs at the forefront of your mind when bringing new animals home and you will find the best process that works for your family!

A Step-by-Step Overview to Slow Introductions

1. Decompression Time
   Once inside, give your foster animal a chance to decompress. CAC foster Erin emphasizes the importance of separation: “Let the foster decompress for at least a full day before even starting the slow intro process.”
2. Start Outside on Neutral Territory
   CAC foster Cara recommends beginning with parallel walks: “Let the dogs meet outside, on neutral ground. A quick sniff, then start walking. Gradually bring them closer together if things are going well.” This step is critical for dog-to-dog intros, helping to establish calm, positive interactions before entering your home.
3. Controlled Interaction with Barriers
   Use crates, baby gates, or pens to let the animals see and smell each other without direct contact. CAC foster Alexis shares her favorite tools: “Gates and pens are great because your dogs can roam free in their own spaces. Drag lines (leashes left on the dogs) also make guiding them easier.”
4. Short, Supervised Interactions
   Gradually allow supervised interactions in shared spaces. Keep leashes on for control and remove potential triggers like toys or food. As CAC foster Cara advises: “Watch closely for resource guarding and ensure all dogs feel safe and comfortable.”
5. Progress at Their Pace
   Be patient and adapt the process to the animals’ needs. CAC foster Sessie reminds us:
   “Intros are used to acclimate animals at their pace. Some acclimate faster than others. The animal will let you know when they’re ready!”

Alexis’ Case Study

Alexis is a dedicated member of the CAC Behavior & Training team and a regular foster with Cincinnati Animal CARE! She offers a unique perspective, providing behavior and training support to fosters while also welcoming dogs—and occasionally cats—into her own home. Since adopting her third dog, Riley, her approach has evolved and continues to adapt as she fine-tunes what works best for her family.

“You can never go too slow,” says Alexis. “How I look at fosters is – this isn’t their home, this is my pups home. They get to be comfy and get their needs met, but our ultimate goal is short term placement until I help them find their forever!”

1. Section off your Home: “Crates are a great way to do slow intros, but pens and baby gates are really where it’s at! We use pens to block off large openings and gates to close doorways. Crates are great for transitioning dogs from space to space without “oopsies” and of course for when you’re away, but gating off rooms is great because your dogs get to roam free, just in their own spaces.”
2. Use Drag Lines: “Drag lines are your best friend! Not just for emergencies but making sure you can guide your dogs from room to room easily.”
3. Pay Attention to you Personal Pets: “I think I gained more clarity around slow intros when our oldest started having less tolerance for new fosters. He’s still our most social, but we learned that even great dogs need breaks – and I don’t mean a break from fostering all together, but just better separation when we have a foster. Sometimes people need breaks from other people, and so do dogs. We’ve switched the way we have fostered almost entirely now. Almost the entire time we foster we separate, and I don’t think we will ever go back to full integration. It sounds crazy but it’s easier that way. Less stress on the humans and dogs!”
4. Consider Visual Barriers: “I also always place crate covers on our foster’s crate so it’s more private for them. If the dogs are struggling with integration I also place blankets over the gates for visual barriers.”
5. Be Adaptive: “Our full process depends on the dog we bring home. Puppies get introduced in our back yard to our group day 1, but stay separated in the home. Adults get separated almost the entire time except for backyard “play dates”. Right now we have a spicy pup who prefers to be away from the dogs. We keep two barriers of separation almost at any point in time and only one barrier when there is supervision. He gets muzzled social time with our dogs in the back yard too.”

Cara’s Case Study

CAC foster Cara has has found a process that works for her and her pups. Both of her dogs are dog-friendly, very tolerant, and tend to coexist peacefully rather than play with other dogs.

1. Parallel Walks: “I start with a parallel walk, so the dogs meet outside in neutral territory. I let them quickly sniff each other, but then we just start walking. We start with them about 10 feet apart, but as long as things are going well, we get closer together. It doesn’t need to be a long walk. Usually just 10-15 minutes. We introduce one at a time.”
2. Keep Separate: “I separate my dogs in a closed-door room, and let the new dog sniff everything in the house and get used to the new environment without my dogs getting in the way. Then let them decompress by themselves.”
3. Rotate Spaces: “We usually co-exist for a day or two with closed doors, rotating who is in each space. During this time, we do joint potty breaks outside, with everyone on leash. (We don’t have a fenced yard.)”
4. Sight, but not Touch: “We then transition to co-existing in separate spaces, but with baby gates separating them, so they can see and smell each other. We still do joint outside time and more pack walks.”
5. Supervised Coexisting: “If all is going well, then I let them into the same space in the house. Just one dog at a time initially. I leave drag leashes on all dogs and have a spray bottle or shake can available. I also make sure that anything that could cause issues is put away, pick up all the toys/food. And I don’t let anyone up on the couch. (This is always the paranoid stage for me.) I watch everyone closely until I feel good about them getting along, and get a sense of whether there will be any resource guarding issues.”
6. Shared Space: “As my comfort goes up and every one proves they’re good, then we slowly introduce things like toys and couch time. The couch is always the last thing I allow, and it’s usually at least a week in. That whole process sometimes takes just a day or two. Sometimes it takes 5 days. I let the dogs tell me what’s working.”

Erin’s Case Study

For CAC foster Erin, her approach is different. With two of her three resident dogs displaying on-leash reactivity toward other dogs, she begins all introductions in a fenced backyard. This allows for barrier introductions rather than starting on-leash.

“To me, one of the number one things I do is to make sure I know what type of correction a dog responds to before I let dogs interact in the intro process! I make sure each dog responds to a type of correction method (shaker, spray bottle, pet corrector, etc).”

This is important because you need to know what your foster is receptive to in case you need to move them OUT of a situation. Erin’s most important pice of advice: 

“Not letting the foster even see the resident dog(s) and just letting them decompress for at least a full day (often more depending on the dog) before I even start the slow intro process.”

The Glacial Intro

If you’re bringing home a foster-to-adopt or an dog you’re fostering but you’re considering adopting into your family, you may consider going at an even slower pace. When you’re bringing home a dog with the intention of keeping them for the rest of their life, taking the time to go slow in the beginning will set everyone up for a lifetime of success down the road.

CAC foster Miranda found an even slower pace that works for their family:

“We have had Bacon 9 months, and granted he was in ISO and had eye surgery stuff that kept him separate, but he still does not have full run of house with older residents. Its ok to have space, time, and structure so all residents with 2-4 legs are comfy.”

CAC foster Brian is still working on his slow intros with his resident animals and his CAC alum, Lydia Deetz, who was a foster fail!

“I mean, Lydia and I are still working on slow intros… a year later!”

Learning Through Experience

Many fosters have learned the value of slow intros through trial and error. CAC foster Melissa recalls a key lesson with a special-needs dog:

“My teachable moment was with Evanston. Since he’s down-in-rear, both of my dogs weren’t ever sure what to do. I didn’t think to account for the fact hes unable to do typical dog behaviors for play unless he’s in his wheelchair. This confused my dogs. It never occurred to me to do an outside introduction first until I reached out to the foster and behavioral team. Once I got the info it was like, “Duh, that makes sense!” In his wheel chair he can play bow, he can do the bouncy play. That one teachable moment helped me understand that special needs dogs like him may need a bit more help and creativity to get the right signals across.”

The Role of Patience and Persistence

Patience is crucial when fostering animals. As CAC foster Malissia points out:

“Sometimes it takes a while to confirm compatibility, especially with cats. Super slow intros can reveal that dogs are more likely to be cat-friendly once they’re out of the shelter environment.”

Other CAC foster Mellissa says, “For my cats, that’s always controlled for everyone’s safety. The 3 of them are 10+ so they particularly don’t care about any dog. I just use them to see if the foster has any curiosity, if they just sit and observe or if they want to chase.”

Why Slow Intros Work

Slow intros aren’t just about avoiding fights or accidents—they set the stage for positive relationships. As foster Malissia explains:

“I’ve had dogs that were kept separate for a month, but eventually became best friends with my resident pets. Slow intros allow animals to adjust emotionally and physically.”

At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Our Behavior and Training team offers resources to help with introductions between dogs, cats, and even children.

Feeling Confident to Foster?

Bringing a foster dog into your home is a rewarding experience that transforms lives—yours and theirs. With patience, preparation, and the right support, you can help your new foster find their way to a forever home. If you’re ready to open your heart and home, sign up to become a foster with Cincinnati Animal CARE today!