Q&A: Multi-Dog Households and Adding Dogs to Your Family

00:00 — The episode addresses common questions about adding dogs and managing multiple-dog households.

Speaker 1: Do you have a multiple dog household or are you considering getting another dog and adding another dog to your household? Well, this is just the episode for you. We are going to unpack some of the most common questions we receive around multi dog households and adding a dog to the household. All that and more coming up.

Speaker 2: Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I am Kati owner of Diamond Canine Dog training in Biddeford, Maine. We specialize in eco training for off leash obedience and reliability and behavior modification. So stopping people help, stopping people help <laugh>, helping people stop all those unwanted behaviors, uh, like barking and pulling on the leash and getting into the trash and jumping all over people and all that business. Uh, and also more serious stuff like leash aggression and resource guarding and separation issues. Love, love, love doing in-depth state of mind, work with anxious and fearful dogs.

Speaker 1: Um, and we also do puppy training. So that's who we are and what we do. And this podcast is just our way of sharing everything that we see every day and everything we're doing with our clients and our dogs with you guys. So hopefully you get something out of it.

Speaker 1: Today I wanna unpack some of the most common questions that I receive about adding dogs to the household or just the dynamic between the dogs. If you have a multi dog household. Uh, I thought this was, uh, a really, really great topic to get into, um, because I just had several of these questions yesterday even. So one of the most common things I get asked, um, you know, especially when like we have one client that's already completed a program with one of their dogs and then they go, well, when should I get another dog? Right?

Speaker 1: Because they really want another dog, but they didn't really want to be overwhelmed. Um, maybe they thought about getting a couple puppies but then thought better of it. Thank God. 'cause puppies are can be a lot of work <laugh>. So we usually don't recommend you get two puppies at once.

Speaker 1: But some people come to us and they've already done that and we help them and that's fine. Um, but so people will say, when should I add my next dog? We know we want another one, we just don't know when to do it. And I think that's such a great question and it, it makes me so happy to hear people actually like thinking through this process and being strategic about it. And the fact is like life is life and it's busy and crazy and there might never actually be like the perfect time to add another dog.

Speaker 1: Um, but there are some controllables, right, that we should consider that could make a big difference, um, in how easy or not easy <laugh> of a time we have adding another dog. And so my recommendation usually is, first of all, if your dog's still a young puppy, don't do it now, right?

Speaker 1: So if your dog's under six months old, I probably wouldn't recommend it because you still just have so much to teach your dog. Like they're learning so fast, they're sponges. They have so much to learn. You have so much patterning to do so many things to show them and there's no way you're gonna be able to invest yourself the same way if you now have another dog. And it's like, yes, you can train them both, you can spend time with them both. You can put them both in the car and take them places, but it just isn't going to be the same.

Speaker 1: It just isn't. It's going to be a little more harder. It's gonna take a little more planning, it's gonna be a little more chaotic. You are now split in half when someone comes to the house. You now have two dogs you need to try to control and give feedback to and shape the experience that's twice as hard as one dog, right?

Speaker 1: And even if we're just talking about teaching obedience commands and simple stuff, you now have to put in double the time. Which might sound fine in theory, but the fact is most people have a hard time finding the time to train one dog even though it's not a big time commitment. Um, so usually, you know, we're gonna say steer clear of that while your dog's under six months old for sure, right? And you might still be working on things like house breaking and who wants to be dealing with double of that, right? So ideally it's like once your dog is well trained and they don't really require you to invest such a high amount of energy, right?

Speaker 1: So if you have someone over or you take your dog somewhere, if you have to really focus on your dog, if you have to constantly be communicating with them and giving them feedback, then maybe it's too soon, right?

Speaker 1: So we look at it more from a training and maturation perspective. Like, let your puppy grow up a little bit. Let them get maximum you right? Your time, your feedback, your play, your engagement, your training. Let them have all of you <laugh> before they have to split it, right? But the training especially so our clients that do an eco program, their dogs go home man, and they've got the tools and the skills that they'll need to set them up for success for the rest of their life. Now, I wouldn't necessarily suggest adding a dog on day one, right?

06:00 — Complete an e-collar training program and allow obedience skills time to become reliable before…

Speaker 1: Because these skills are still new to the dog and they still are gonna need some repetition and some time for things to really be cemented and the owner's just learning everything most of the time. But I would say if you can do an e-collar program with your dog, that's fantastic.

Speaker 1: And then go home and cement that and get to a place and we give our our customers ongoing guidance and support if they need it after the program. And we do another follow-up lesson so that we can really polish things up and make sure they're not having to nag their dog with the eco all the time. They're not having to tell their dog the same thing over and over again, right? Because I think that's the place that you really wanna get to before you add another dog. You wanna get to a place where your first dog pretty much, right?

Speaker 1: They're not gonna be perfect, they're not gonna be a robot, but they pretty much know the rules. They know the expectations, they know the routines, um, and they're pretty good, right? So yes, you'll have to give 'em a reminder here and there, but you're not having to stare at them.

Speaker 1: You're not having to nag with your eco or you're not having to bark commands at them constantly. Um, if you ask them to do something, they do it. They're listening pretty well the first time you ask for something, um, they're not going off the deep end and being all crazy and bananas when someone comes to the door, right? Get to a place where things are pretty good. Um, and you just have to give your dog occasional reminders, right? And you can, with most dogs, you can do that fairly quickly if you do a good program or you work with a good trainer.

Speaker 1: And I think that's ideal. That's ideal. Now of course not everyone's gonna do that. People are gonna add a dog when they wanna add a dog. That's fine and we'll of course help them. Um, but if you ask my opinion, that's what I would say.

Speaker 1: So it really has very little to do with how old your dog is. Although like I said, I wouldn't recommend them when they're a young puppy. Um, I think it really has more to do with, has life become easy? And I will give you one fair bit of warning. Uh, life can seem easy, right? If you have a a dog that's pretty soft and pretty well behaved, life can seem easy. But if they're not actually really very well trained, then when you add that second dog you find, you start to see how not easy it actually is, right?

Speaker 1: So a lot of times people have a dog that isn't really well trained or that just doesn't listen very well, but it's not a particularly big deal because the dog's really small or the dog's just really friendly and soft and good natured and so they just kind of get away with stuff and it's not a big deal and the person's happy and fine, that makes you happy, fine.

Speaker 1: But then you add a second dog and suddenly that turns into chaos. Right now they're getting each other riled up. Neither one of them are listening. You've got two dogs to control. And suddenly it goes from life was pretty easy to like, everything I do is hard and I don't really get to enjoy it 'cause I have to like invest all my energy in controlling the dogs. So I really do recommend a good training program. And once you get to a point where your dog's pretty good on their own and you don't have to invest all kinds of energy managing them, then add another dog.

Speaker 1: It's time, right? And you'll have more of yourself to give because you've got one dog in a really good place already. Alright? How do I choose another dog? That's another question I get. So a lot of my clients, um, we become friends and they, they ask me, you know, they'll text me, uh, 10 o'clock at night, <laugh> say, Hey, I'm thinking about getting this puppy.

Speaker 1: What do you think? Or How do I pick a puppy? Or, you know, what do I look for in a breeder? That sort of thing. So how do I choose another dog? Um, and that's a really great question and I could go on and on really about that topic, but I'll try not to. I think ultimately you have a lot of things to consider when you're adding a dog to your household. So I like people to really consider this one. This one's more important than the last one. So when to add another dog is a great consideration.

10:00 — Choosing the right second dog may matter more than timing because the existing dog’s…

Speaker 1: But how to choose another dog might be the most important question you could possibly ask. Most important thing you could possibly consider when adding another dog because you already have a dog, okay? And presumably you are attached to that dog. You love that dog, you have a relationship with that dog, you've invested time, energy, and money into that dog.

Speaker 1: And the last thing you wanna do is add another dog. And they mix like oil and water. So the way I would choose another dog is I would consider my current dog and their personality. I would consider things like their sex, whether or not they're spayed or neutered, what their general temperament seems to be toward other dogs, their play style, right? And when you choose another dog, I'm gonna think about choosing most likely the opposite sex. And unless of course your current dog is not spayed or neutered, then you have to consider unwanted pregnancy. Um, and so you may choose to get the same sex.

Speaker 1: Now if you're gonna do same sex, that's usually, and again, there's never any all or nothing here, right? There's no guarantees. But I would much rather see two un neutered males than two unspayed females. Females just tend toward more conflict historically.

Speaker 1: Um, and it can be more difficult to straighten out if that happens. So I tend to recommend probably going with the opposite sex just to avoid any potential same sex head butting, right? But you're not necessarily going to have that again, we're just, we're trying to make decisions that give us the best chance of having a harmonious household, right? So I'm probably gonna choose or recommend a dog of the opposite sex. I'm gonna recommend or I'm gonna suggest a breed that might fit with my dog's personality traits, right? So maybe it's the same breed, but maybe it's not.

Speaker 1: And breed isn't a guarantee of the traits that your dog is going to have, right? But we can kind of get an idea of what's typical of a breed by doing our research. And we can say this gives us the best chance of getting a dog that fits in nicely, right?

Speaker 1: So if you have a German shepherd that tends to be sort of nervous and sort of reactive, um, sort of touchy, that sort of thing, you probably don't wanna add another power breed to that because let's just say you happen to get another dog that has some quirks that are similar. You now have two large power breed dogs that have state of mind issues and they might not mix well, right? And so then you've got, um, one dog maybe that's very forward, nosy, pushy, um, or reactive themselves. And then you've got the other dog who tends to be very, um, jumpy and nervy and uh, just sort of react poorly to being startled or being pushed around or, right?

13:00 — Avoid doubling up on power breeds with similar state-of-mind or behavioral problems.

Speaker 1: And we shouldn't let our dogs get pushed around anyway. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. But, so you have to consider your dog's breed your dog's personality and then say, okay, well maybe I wanna look for a dog that's sort of softer and calmer to have my dog around.

Speaker 1: I think that would be good for her. Or maybe I, maybe my dog is just really shy and submissive and so maybe I want to bring in a dog that's a little more like confident and happy go lucky to sort of rub off that confidence on my dog, right? So they compliment each other. So you don't necessarily want your dogs to be the same. You want them to meld together. So sometimes they need to compliment each other. And actually being somewhat opposite is helpful, right? If you have two dogs that are very dominant and very strong headed and very forward and very pushy, well that could be a disaster,

Speaker 1: Right? That could be a disaster. But you're probably gonna want your dogs to be of a similar size and a similar play style. So sometimes more than breed, it's helpful to just meet the dogs. If you can at least meet the parents, maybe depending on the situation, the breeder can let you meet and evaluate the puppies yourself. Um, a lot of breeders are very good at choosing the right puppy for the right home if you just can give them as much information as possible. Um, but maybe you feel comfortable actually looking at the puppies and assessing kind of their personalities and you know, how confident are they?

Speaker 1: Do they run right up to us? Do they shrink away? Are they barking at us out of insecurity? Like, 'cause that might not be a thing you want to deal with, right? Uh, are they trying to avoid us?

Speaker 1: Um, are they jumping all over us and tearing out our clothes? Like they're super, super forward. So you can definitely get a feel right? And their puppies are gonna do all sorts of stuff, but you can definitely start to get a feel for what their personality type is and how that might evolve and how that might meld with your current dog, right? If your dog is kind of aloof, doesn't really like playing with other dogs and you bring home a dog that's just all over his siblings tearing at their ears and everything, well that might not be a good mix, right?

Speaker 1: And so then you're gonna have more work on your end trying to control everything and always intervening and always advocating, um, and always managing things. So the long and short of it is, guys, the way I would choose another dog is I would consider our lifestyle, right? What sorts of things do we wanna be able to do with our dog? And what is our current dog? Like, what is our family situation, right? So if I, the, if I have children, if I wanna be able to go out hiking in public off leash with other dogs around, if I have one dog that's already kind of a knucklehead, like pushy, then I'm probably not gonna pick like a large power breed dog,

17:00 — Match the new dog to your lifestyle, including energy requirements, work schedule, and available…

Speaker 1: Right? So just consider everything about your lifestyle, what sorts of things you wanna do with your dog, right? If you're just gonna be home all the time and you don't have, you know, 10 acres of land to go run your dog around and you work a lot, well you might not wanna get like a sporting breed who wants to be out there running all the time, right? You might not wanna bring home a vla, you might not want to bring home a dog that has those kinds of energy requirements to meet. So you have to consider that too.

Speaker 1: So there's a lot lot that goes into it and there's not really any right or wrong answer. But I think ultimately when you consider your lifestyle, your family members and your other dog's personality,

Speaker 1: That might narrow it down to some breeds. And then it's a matter of like, can we meet the individual dogs? Can we meet the breeding stock? Can we meet the parents? Can we meet the puppies, right? Because no matter what the breed, every dog is gonna be different. And if you go to a shelter to adopt a dog, like that's fine too, but you're gonna have a lot less information and no way to know if the information is accurate. So you're really, really heavily dependent on your assessment of the dog. And you will not see the real dog the first time you go meet them.

Speaker 1: You never will. It'll be a few weeks before you really get to know who the real dog is after you bring them home. So just something to keep in mind. Another question we get. How do I introduce the dogs once I bring my new dog home? Fantastic question. And I love talking about this question because nobody does this right? And yes, I do think there's a right and a wrong way to do it, so at least there's a wrong way. So let's talk about the wrong way to introduce your dogs. The wrong way to introduce your dogs is to just bring the new dog home and turn them loose with your dog.

Speaker 1: That is the wrong way to introduce the dogs. So the last time I introduced a new dog to my household, it wasn't that long ago because I have a puppy. They were in the house cohabitating together for probably at least a week before they ever even got to sniff each other. So most people move way too fast, guys way, way too fast. Um, they're throwing the dogs together, they think it's necessary for the dogs to say hi and make friends, like immediately No, no and no. So here's what you want. You want control and structure, okay?

20:00 — Use separate crates, gates, and obedience structure to control the dogs’ first shared experiences.

Speaker 1: So hopefully you've got two crates, one for your dog and one for your new dog. And ideally, in a perfect world, the dog you already have has some obedience training, knows the place command is reliable to stay there, is good on a leash. Okay? So for at least, uh, I mean this is like bare minimum, at least the first day, the dogs aren't gonna say hi. You're gonna have your current dog either on a leash, on place in their kennel or somewhere so that when you come through the door with your new dog, there's no greeting at the door,

Speaker 1: Okay? And we just want them to be able to see and smell each other without actually physically meeting. And I ideally really we want this to continue for a few days. So they just get used to seeing each other, right? By the time they actually say hi, they're no longer aroused by the presence of the other dog because it's just become normal. So one of the biggest problems with dog greetings is the arousal, right? Because they're meeting and saying hi the second they see each other and that arousal is just at a peak, right? So they go right off a cliff, they get super stimulated, super roused, and then they're meeting the other dog and they're pushy or they're whiny, they're invasive, it's not interpreted well by the other dog.

Speaker 1: It makes the other dog nervous or is off-putting whatever. And then you get a snippy, little spat or worse, um, that can all be avoided a lot of the time by the dogs just sharing space and not meeting. So use gates, use crates, okay? So ideally we just want them cohabitating and sharing space, but not saying hi for a while. The other thing we like to do is go for a walk together. Now, depending on the dogs, right, as long as they're not nutcases on the walk and they're not completely crazy 'cause that could have the opposite effect of what we want, but they're reasonably well behaved on the walk, go for a walk together.

Speaker 1: Again, they're not saying hi, right? So you should have two handlers,

Speaker 1: One to walk your dog, one to walk your new dog, have a little bit of space between 'em, right? You're not on opposite sides of the road, you should be walking two. But you don't have to be pancake together. Give 'em a little space. Um, again, we don't want them necessarily saying hi, yet. We just wanna go for a walk. We wanna migrate together to very natural, primal canine behavior. Um, and it really helps to bring dogs together and see each other as part of the same group, right? So it's a great way to start laying a foundation for like, we're gonna be a pack now we're gonna all be together.

Speaker 1: Um, so a walk is a good idea. Sharing space is a very good idea. And then, you know, maybe it's one day later, maybe it's a few days later, maybe it's a few weeks later, don't rush it. But if you see your dogs are sharing space and going on walks and they're not super concerned about the other dog, they're not staring, they're not giving stink eyes, they're not growling, um, then let him say hi. Let him say hi, right? Probably off leash,

Speaker 1: Right? Or maybe you have, if it's a puppy, maybe you have the puppy on a short leash,

Speaker 1: But nice and loose, very loose. I prefer dog readings to be off leash in an open space, right? But again, it also depends on like what type of dogs do you have? Like what is the risk? Is the size difference a big difference? If so, then you wanna take some precautions just in case, right? So I don't take those kinds of risks, I'm very careful. But chances are if your dogs have been cohabitating for a week and like they're not concerned about the other dog and they're not showing any signs of like stink eye or growling or staring and fixating, then it's probably just not gonna be a thing.

24:00 — Make the first greeting in open space, with precautions for size differences and readiness…

Speaker 1: But maybe, right? So take some precautions, put a long line on muzzles are also a thing you can do. Although if your dog's not muzzle conditioned, that might make a more uncomfortable, right? But most dogs, especially if you know that your dog has had relationships with dogs in the past and it's been fine, right? You're probably fine. You're probably fine, but don't take any risks you're not comfortable with taking. It's important. Um, but yeah, usually after that period we let them say hi. We see how it goes, and we are 110% ready to intervene and advocate for both dogs.

Speaker 1: And that's so, so important for a couple of reasons. Number one,

Speaker 1: Puppies are intolerable. They don't have manners. Um, and you need to intervene and advocate or your dog, your current dog that you already had. They don't want a puppy jumping all over them. Even if they handle it well, even if they tolerate it well, it just isn't nice. It doesn't lay a good foundation for their relationship. And sometimes what happens is six months, a year, 18 months down the road, your dog finally goes, okay, you're grown up now and I've kind of had enough of your crap. So now we're gonna fight it out like adults.

Speaker 1: So just don't let them get off on that foot. Step in intervene, tell your puppy not to do that and show your dog that you will advocate for them and you will protect their space, right? So always, always be ready to advocate for both of them. Next question. My dogs, I have multiple dogs and they had a spat. What do I do? Most people, this really scares them when their dogs have a little spat. Um, and it should because although it's not a particularly big deal and it's very natural for dogs to kind of tell each other off, sometimes

Speaker 3: You

Speaker 1: Have to understand there exists a very real chance for this behavior to start to characterize their relationship. So once it happens, once, even though it might not have been a big deal, it is much more likely to happen again. And then once it happens again, it's gonna happen again, right? So what we see usually is the frequency starts to really increase, right? We might not see it at all for four years and then all of a sudden they have a spat, right? And then we see it again like six months later, and then we see it again a few weeks later.

Speaker 1: And the next thing you know, they're just fighting. Um, so it tends to increase in frequency. And as it increases in frequency, unfortunately it will probably also increase in intensity. So it'll get more serious.

Speaker 1: Now, sometimes these things sound a lot worse than they look. A lot of dog quote unquote fights aren't really proper dog fights. They're just dogs kind of telling each other off. They're very, very vocal, they've got their mouth open and it sounds terrible, but at the end of the day, there's no puncture rooms. No one really bit anybody. It was just a lot of, Hey, don't you do that <laugh> and that, and that was all it was. Um, however, I would not take that with a grain of salt. I would be all over that. And I think it's really, really important if that happens to go, okay, am I lacking in my dog ownership here?

28:00 — Clear leadership requires the owner to set standards, make decisions, and enforce consequences for…

Speaker 1: Am I not paying enough attention to the dynamic between my dogs? Am I not intervening when I need to intervene? Am I becoming one of those people that's just let assuming my dogs are fine and just letting them iron things out and maybe there are little problems here and there and they're just ironing them out themselves and that's gonna escalate and get worse. You don't wanna let that happen. It's soup. The more dogs you add to your household or the stronger their personalities, the more important it is that you have clear leadership in the home,

Speaker 1: Right? And three is where we normally see the shit really hit the fan. People won't even know they have a problem until they or they add a third dog <laugh>. That's really common. Um, but it can happen anytime of course. So really, really important when you start adding more dogs, eat two dogs, three dogs, especially four dogs, five dogs. Like holy cow, you guys, you need to be in charge of your household and your dogs need to know that, especially depending on like what kind of dogs they are, what breed they are, what personality they are, right?

Speaker 1: So if there's no clear leadership, and leadership means you make the decisions, you set the precedent, you issue all the consequences, positive and negative, and you iron out the spats, right? If somebody wants to fight, they fight with you. They don't fight with each other and fighting with you isn't good either. <laugh> for the record. Um, but like, that's kind of my attitude is like, oh no, no, you got a problem, you got a problem with me, you don't have a problem with each other,

Speaker 1: Right? And I'm just gonna put the kosh on that shit. And it's so, so important. No matter how small or big your dogs are, they need that, right? So things are just so much more likely to go off the rails when we don't have any clear boundaries, no clear path to walk, no clear rules, no clear consequences, no tangible consequences for specific behaviors. Your dogs know that they're living in chaos more or less, right? And if you have one dog or even two dogs, that might not be that noticeable, but the more you add, the more noticeable it becomes, right?

Speaker 1: You get different personalities, they mesh differently. These little conflicts pop up here and there and you're not intervening, you're not advocating, you're not punishing anything. Um, and then you get dogs that are like guarding you or guarding toys or guarding space, right? This is my couch, this is my owner.

Speaker 1: Um, or you get a dog that decides they're territorial and they guard the house from the general public, and then maybe that rubs off on the other dogs or maybe the other dogs don't like it and then they're biting that dog because they're like, Hey, you need to knock that off. I don't like that. And then they're fighting, right? Maybe one dog doesn't like it when one dog gets a lot of attention or one dog gets really excited and starts doing zoomies. Maybe one dog is a sheriff. So there's all this stuff at play and all these personality dynamics, and if we don't have one person who sets a standard for each dog and enforces it for each dog, then they start working that stuff out themselves.

31:00 — Feed dogs in crates and control access to toys and food to reduce resource…

Speaker 1: And it can be ugly. It can be ugly. So if you see a little spat, it's usually, it sounds worse than it really is, right?

Speaker 1: It sounds like a lot of noise. It sounds really violent, but most of the time it's not. However, I would take it very seriously in the sense that I would absolutely, if my dogs aren't well trained, I'm gonna start training them. If I can afford it, hopefully I'm gonna get into a good training program. If I can't, I'm gonna do some research and I'm gonna start doing my DIY training, right? And I'm gonna get my dogs trained to a level of high reliability where when I tell them to do something, they do it. But at the very least, I'm gonna start establishing real boundaries in my household around like resources, furniture, food, toys.

Speaker 1: I'm not gonna leave toys laying all over the place. I'm not gonna leave food laying all over the place, right? There's gonna be some order. My dogs will all eat in their kennels, right? I can give them toys when I want them to play with toys and then I can pick them up, right? Or maybe there's only toys when I'm playing with them and then I put them away, right? But leaving that stuff laying around is inviting conflict when you're not paying attention. So if my dogs have had a spat, I'm not gonna do that.

Speaker 1: I'm not gonna take the chance and leave that opportunity there for them to create conflict over a resource,

Speaker 1: Right? And I'm not, I'm not saying you should like manage that situation by just not teaching your dog not to guard resources, but guarding resources from other dogs is a very natural, normal behavior, right? It's normal for dogs to say, Hey, no, this is mine, leave it alone. But the problem comes in that some dogs are really over the top right? And they'll just kill you over the rope toy <laugh>. And then also some dogs, like, it'll just be laying there and nobody's playing with it. And then one dog goes over to it and the other dog goes, Hey, no, that's mine, right?

Speaker 1: So if you don't have any way of knowing for sure that that's never gonna happen, we just don't leave that. But it just, it also, it just puts the dogs in the state of mind. Like, this is my castle, right? And these are all of my belongings, like these are all of my assets and they're just scattered all over the room. No, it's my house. And it's not scattered with your toys, right? You can have toys, you can have bones and all this stuff, but it's when I give them to you and then I take 'em away.

Speaker 1: So it's a different, it, it creates a completely different dynamic in worldview in your dog's eyes, uh, which I think is so important. Order, think, order. When you have multiple dogs, you need more order, right? Furniture. I'm probably not gonna just let my dogs choose when they get on the furniture. They can get up there if I invite them. If I don't invite them, they may not get up there. Which means if they do, there will be a punishment for that. There will be a correction. And I think this is really the biggest piece is providing corrections for unwanted behaviors, right?

34:00 — Allow furniture access by invitation and consistently correct pestering, guarding, or boundary violations.

Speaker 1: So you're gonna have the same standards

Speaker 1: Most likely for every dog, and you're going to enforce them for every dog. And they're all going to see that. And they're all going to know, Hey, I get whacked if I get on the couch and so does bubba, right? Because that guy, that lady, they're making the rules and they enforce 'em. And I know that they don't put up with any monkey business. I know that because whenever I give them monkey business, there's a negative consequence and there is when my brother does it or my sister does it or whatever, right? And they all experience that and they all see it.

Speaker 1: And that creates a different dynamic. And then of course, advocating for everybody. If one dog is pestering another, there's a correction for that. Don't pester the other dog. He doesn't wanna play. Leave him alone, right? You can't go over and take his bone away from him, leave him alone. So you have to do that stuff. And if you don't, I mean, it might be fine, it just depends on the dogs, right? But it very well may not be fine. So I think it's great when people are, um, proactive about the stuff from the start. But if you're not and you've been kind of loosey goosey and your dogs have had a spat,

Speaker 1: Now is the time, right? Don't waste any more time. You really have to establish order in your home and leadership in your home and learn how to set some real boundaries with your dogs and enforce them so you can start getting, um, some different stuff and, and get your dogs into a different head space. Next question. I feel guilty about putting one dog in a crate, but he is a nutcase when we leave him alone or he's not good when we have people over or x, y, z, you know, any number of things. But most often it's, well, I have one dog that'll either potty on the floor or chew the couch or I have a dog that, you know, barks and jumps all over people, whatever it is.

Speaker 1: But then the other dog's really, really good. And so people say, well, I feel guilty putting him in the crate when the other dog is loose nonsense. So let me set you free of that guilt freedom is earned and if your dog pees on your rug, chew your couch or harasses your guest or threatens your guest, your dog has not earned the right to be out of the kennel and be free,

Speaker 1: Okay? And I love the crate and I recommend your dog is in there when you're not home. And unless your dog is very well behaved, I recommend they're in there when people come over, they don't have to be in there all the time. But if you are telling me your dog has behaviors you don't like in certain contexts, then you really don't have a choice. That dog needs to be kennel and you have nothing to feel guilty for because the other dog doesn't have those behaviors.

Speaker 1: Also, your dog really isn't going to have like the jealous thing like, oh, she put me in a crate and not my brother. They, they just don't <laugh>, you're overestimating your dog. Okay? Yes, they might see the other dog running around and be like a little distressed by that, but they're not having the whole, oh mom, love so and so more than me. It's not happening <laugh>, it's just not happening. Um, so you, you have some work to do, right? So take some responsibility for it too. It's like your dog behaves that way because you've not done the work to change it

Speaker 1: Most likely, right? And there might be some behaviors that we can never trust them a hundred percent, especially when we're not around. So they'll just go in the kennel because that is the safest place for your dog. It is the biggest favor you can do them. So nonsense about feeling guilty if your dog hasn't earned their freedom yet, put them in their kennel 110%, even if the other dog is free, that's totally fine. Last question, the dogs I have walk pretty good on a leash, but when I try to walk them together, they are worse.

Speaker 1: We hear this a lot. Um, and you know, when you're training your dogs, it's really, really important to train them one at a time. But this is a good example of how I said one dog can seem fine and seem well behaved and then when you add more dogs to the group, right?

39:00 — Train dogs individually for walking, then use well-fitted tools and clear leash communication.

Speaker 1: Or even just add one more dog, suddenly you realize things aren't easy anymore. Like suddenly it's hard. Um, and that's because even if your dog is a pretty good dog and pretty good natured and pretty well behaved, they're not actually well trained. And so you don't actually have control over things, right? And so now you add a second dog and of course things are harder to control because you didn't actually have any control in the first place. It just didn't matter right? Now that you got two dogs, it matters a little more and then if you get three it matters a lot more and so on and so on, right?

Speaker 1: So if you have one dog that kind of fits that description and your walk is pretty okay, uh, but then you add a second dog and now the walk is like difficult and they're pulling and maybe one dog is getting the other dog going and they're kind of competing for being in that front spot and getting each other barking at other dogs or something, it's like, okay, you need to go back to basics.

Speaker 1: So like I said, your dog might be pretty well behaved, but the fact is they're just not trained. So you're going to have to do that <laugh>. There's gonna have to be some training. Again, you're gonna have to set real boundaries. So, uh, if you're not already on a prong collar, learn how to use and fit a prong collar. Okay, we've got great videos on that on our YouTube, but prong collar high on the neck, nice and snug and learn how to communicate with it. So when your dog starts to pull on the leash, you can at least give them a good firm leash pop and ask them not to pull on the leash, right?

Speaker 1: So you're setting a boundary is all you're doing there. And then the rest of the time that leash is gonna be nice and slack and loose. The collar's not gonna be tight, it's not gonna be pulling or putting pressure or popping or hurting them in any way.

Speaker 1: It's just when they start to pull you, you can give them that communication that disagrees with that and says, Hey, don't do that. Right? So you're just setting a boundary. Um, same thing if they bark at somebody, right? You now have a communication tool where you can say, Hey, don't do that firm leash pop, right? So dog barks, you say no leash pop, right? But work with one dog first. Guys, don't make the mistake of trying to police two dogs at once. Again, you have to get one dog into a really good space where doing this stuff is pretty easy and natural for them.

Speaker 1: If you're having to nag your dog still, you can't add a second dog to that. So if you on a walk with your dog and you're constantly leash, pot, leash, pot, leash, pot pop, leash pop, you can't add a second dog. I mean, you're gonna have charlie horses in both biceps when you get home. <laugh>,

Speaker 1: Okay? Your shoulder is gonna be a mess or whatever, right? So first of all, if that happens and your nagging, that probably means that your leash pop isn't firm enough or your e eco correction isn't high enough. Whatever it is you are using to draw that boundary with your dog, it's probably not meaningful enough. Or maybe your timing is off. I don't know, right? 'cause I'm not there, but something's missing. So the idea is start drawing some boundaries with your dog. At least pick a couple of things that are the most annoying thing on the walk and start saying no when they happen.

Speaker 1: And then providing a real consequence. And once you have one dog able to go on a lengthy, nice walk and it's enjoyable and you don't have to constantly nag them, now you're ready to add the second dog to that mix, right?

Speaker 1: But they both need to be trained to that level before you put them together. Otherwise you just can't devote the attention. You don't have the bandwidth for two dogs. So you wanna have most of that initial training out of the way before you go for a walk together, right? But highly, highly recommend even after that initial training that they have prong callers on. So when they do start to get, um, a little amnesia, right? Kind of forget the rules, kind of push the boundary, they start moving a little fast, pulling on that leash, they're fixating and they're thinking about barking at something or chasing the squirrel and pulling you over like you've got two dogs now.

43:00 — Pair dogs on walks only after each dog is reliable alone, while keeping accountability…

Speaker 1: You wanna have this tool there so that you can communicate through that leash so that you do have maximum control and so that you can disagree with behavior.

Speaker 1: So, so important. It's gonna make your walk so much more enjoyable. Again, highly recommend you find the videos on that. Go to our YouTube channel, Kati Peppe, Diamond Canine Dog Training and look for the instructional prong caller videos. They're pretty thorough, um, and I think you'll find it helpful. But train one dog first, train the other dog first by themselves as well before you put them together. Okay? That was a lot of really great, great, really great questions. A lot of really great questions that we get about, um, multiple dog households and adding another dog to your household.

Speaker 1: Um, I think we were pretty thorough and uh, again, if anyone has any further questions on this topic or any other topic, please do feel free to send them along to me. Kati, Kati at Diamond Canine dot com. And that's D-I-A-M-O-N-D-C-A-N-I-N e.com. Happy to take questions, always looking for stuff to talk about. Thank you guys so much for joining us today, and I look forward to the next time.