Puppy or no?

It could work.  My Nikon is selective about which dogs he will interact with and allow in our home but puppies are never an issue.  I can just toss a puppy in the mix (a friend's puppy, a foster dog, etc) and he doesn't really care.  I got Pan as a puppy and now foster dogs but get puppies.  He has been fine with my good friends' dogs who are not puppies but they are much smaller, spayed females, and a totally different breed.

 At 3 and 4 years, they should be able to deal with puppy energy, so that would be ok.  (A 10 year old, for example, may find puppy energy too much).

 As for Turbo, a meet and greet may be too short a time for him to adapt.  At least he is not being openly aggressive to them!

 When I introduce new dogs that are coming in, I do it outside.  Let them sniff, poke around, etc.  Then I keep "my" dogs out, let the newbie in to get the lay of the land, see where the water bowl is, and so forth.  Then back outside again.  Finally we all go in.  Lacey in particular will stop turn and look at the newbie then at me -- "that is coming in too?!"  Ha haa.  Within 3 days, they are living like they have always been together.

Last, do you - the humans - have the energy to cope with a puppy at this point?  It's that 'puppy energy' again ha haaa.

As Lies said, it could work to get a puppy or smaller dog.  Talking to the shelter's behaviorist is a great idea. Does Turbo play and interact with Noel or is he indifferent?  Maybe you could consider fostering a puppy or small dog and see how Turbo does.  He might be fine after a few weeks once everyone has settled down.  He might just need that extra time to feel comfortable around a new dog/puppy to feel less fearful.  Being on his home turf would most likely increase his confidence around any new dog, as long as the other dog had appropriate dog social skills.

 If your goal is to have him play and interact with a new dog, I would think a puppy would be the best choice. Turbo may not be the type of dog to enjoy playing with other dogs, no matter what the circumstances might be, but if he's not fearful and just indifferent, that wouldn't be such a terrible thing, IMO.

I say go for the puppy breath :)   Hot Shot was a very fearful dog when we rescued him at age 3.  Rocky came to us from a foster home at age 6-8 weeks.  Rocky was here for 3 months before Hot Shot.  They are brothers, Hot Shot was not one bit afraid of Rocky and was able to be the Alpha male with him which helped his confidence with other dogs.   He will still be somewhat leary of a new dog in the neighborhood but in our case only a horse or cow is bigger than Hot Shot so he is larger than most of the dogs in the community.  Hot and Rock have routines, they are old now but still play in the yard on cooler days and usually sleep within inches of each other when in the house.   Hot likes to go out but is more inclined to stay in the house with hubby.  Rocky wants to be where ever I am, but if I am not home he is fine to nap all day too.

I tried to bring foster adults but Maze didn't take to well to it. My current foster is a 17 year old male GSP and he doesn't really bother Maze to much.. I think it's because he doesn't move much.. lol. But when he does, they play well together. We've had him about a year now.

Maze's major triggers are dogs bigger then her and rude dogs. Once I learned those, it's easier to control what dogs we meet, and which dogs I can bring in to the house without an issue.

Thanks all for such well thought out answers.The shelter behavourist feels a puppy would be a more likely fit but again Turbo would have to go there,meet the pup and be a perfect gentleman for them to allow the adoption to proceed.They are even more selective on who gets to adopt a puppy because of a puppy's vulnerability.I do believe Turbo is truely fearfull not indifferent although every year he gets better. As with the humans he meets it takes him time to trust.He loves Noel they play and wrestle often and will work together with a tug a jug and share the treats as they fall out.When Jewel was alive they often slept together and in her last days he hovered over her clearly upset.We do understand the energy of a puppy Sandy.Turbo and Noel are young herders who have insane energy so we are prepared.A co-worker asked me yesterday why I even WANT three dogs [this from a woman who had eight kids] and the only answer I could think to give was "Because there're so much fun!"  Amber your experience was really helpful.I wonder if you feel Maze's bond to her first packmate is weaker than her second packmate merely because of the different personalities or because she was older and mellower when the introduction occured?In any event we are in no hurry.I just like knowing when the right opportunity presents itself this is something we could attempt.

                                                                                                                           Tena

4HAND

;Amber your experience was really helpful.I wonder if you feel Maze's bond to her first packmate is weaker than her second packmate merely because of the different personalities or because she was older and mellower when the introduction occured?In any event we are in no hurry.I just like knowing when the right opportunity presents itself this is something we could attempt.

If possible, try and introduce Turbo to other puppies that you trust to read him well. It will help build his confidence around puppies. Also I always kept the puppy on leash and let Maze choose to interact or walk away. If Turbo is indifferent to the pup, GREAT! You can start to build a good rep with that.

24 hours after introduction I am breathing a sigh of relief.At first they wanted nothing to do with her,now things are feeling much more relaxed.She's gone from crummy little intruder to I suppose you can have our flying squirrel.Photo thread to come.

                                                               Tena