When introducing new animals, it’s essential to set up the animals for success by carefully managing the environment and progressing only when the animals are comfortable. At The Ranch, Ken Ramirez teaches students his protocol for animal introductions, which starts with working with each animal separately on foundation behaviors, then working with both animals with a barrier, and finally, repeating these steps without the barrier.

In this video, Ken works with puppy, Karma, while Lisa works with Mr. Miyagi with a barrier in between. Both animals are engaged in their training session and display calm behavior. If either animal were to appear uncomfortable, the training session would end and resume another time with more distance between them.