Adopted a second dog 6 months ago and i finally feel like we got the introductions right

Six months ago today we brought home Pepper, a 3yo lab mix from a local rescue. We already had Ranger, our 5yo shepherd mix who is the most chill dog on the planet but also has zero history with other dogs in the house. I was nervous, my partner was nervous, and honestly Ranger looked nervous too.

What we did differently from what i originally planned: we kept them completely separated for the first 9 days. Like, baby gates, separate rooms, parallel feeding through the door. I had read the "neutral territory walk and bring her in" advice and was about to do that on day 1, then a friend who fosters told me to slow way down. Im glad i listened. We did parallel walks across the street from each other for the first week, then side by side, then sniffing through the gate, then short supervised meetings on leash in the yard.

The thing nobody told me is that the awkward middle phase is week 3 to week 6. Theyre not enemies but theyre not friends. Ranger kept giving me this betrayed look like "why is she still here." Pepper would just stare at him from across the room. Once we got through that and they figured out their own play style theyve been good. They have completely different energy levels and Pepper had to learn to take naps when Ranger naps.

Anyway if youre about to do this, the slow path actually is faster in the long run. Trust the process, ignore the people on facebook who say it should click in a week. Sometimes it does, but if it doesnt that doesnt mean its a failure. Just takes more time.