Unequal Footing Among the Crew

Mobility Issues for Injured, Sick, and Infirm Dogs

It happens to everyone who has a multiple dog home. Inevitably, a crew member will get injured, sick, or simply grow older and have a mobility issue of some sort. This can cause a long or short term problem depending on the situation. Injuries need to heal, whether with or without surgery (which can increase recovery duration). Getting older happens and sadly, there is no long-term reverse to that situation. This means that you have to make adjustments to established routines.

But these scenarios do not have to be more difficult than they need to be. If a good foundation of manners is already in place in your home, you’re already a long way towards preventing the majority of problems. Minimizing pushing and shoving should be the first item on the agenda of any multiple dog household. With an infirm crew member, manners should become the required norm on a daily basis.

Establishing your role as benevolent leader is more important now than ever. Making it clear to the crew that politeness rules in the house is imperative when one of it’s members cannot be jostled. You are the one who is in charge of keeping your infirm/older crew member safest.

We will tackle the issue of an instance of illness/injury first. If it is safer to separate a crew member for the duration of his recovery, then try to do so at least for the majority of waking hours. It will mean more work for you in the short term but a faster recovery in the long term for your mobility-challenged pup. It will also ensure that safety comes first.

There are a variety of ways that separation can be done that are dependent on the seriousness of the injury/illness involved. Creating a special area for the one in need is one possibility. An x-pen or a crate cordoned off in a portion of a room can be creatively arranged to form an area for your recovering pup. With this option, the other dogs can see and interact with him in an appropriate manner while preventing jostling.

If you have the space, a separate room is another option. You can place a baby gate between areas to allow the recovering pup to interact with the others here as well.

Using x-pens, crates, and baby gates can provide a safe haven for a sick or infirm dog

You do have to be careful to not create jealousy between your injured/ill crew member and the others. It’s important to make sure that everyone gets attention. It’s a given that you need to tend to the one in need but please take care to not short the others during this stressful time. It will go a long way towards keeping the crew calmer as a whole.

You can allow whole crew interaction at times you feel it is comfortable doing so if you take control of the situation. Examples of this are leashing the one in need for combined potty breaks. This way, you can be right there to block interaction as needed. This also allows you to retain control of the activity level that your recovering crew member has. Sometimes a dog in need of recovery and calm behavior doesn’t realize that being active is a bad thing, An example of this is heartworm positive dog. He may feel mostly fine but too much activity can have detrimental effects that you definitely want to avoid.

It can be helpful to your recovering dog to get some small amount of exercise to relieve mental anxiety but this exercise must be gentle. By gentle exercise, I mean slow short walks that are more a change of scenery than strenuous in any way (while following instructions from your vet). A situation such as this may necessitate separate exercise jaunts. It’s more work for you, but it is time well spent. You may be more tired in the short term but you will ensure a faster and more solid recovery for your pup. You will also get more exercise yourself and that is rarely a bad thing for us humans!

For the aging crew member, depending on mobility issues, some of the same considerations may apply. But usually, the rest of the crew is already used to behaving mannerly towards their elder so they just continue to do so. Many older dogs don’t hesitate to give warnings when a youngster jostles inappropriately. You should support the right to offer these warnings, provided they’re not excessive.

Is some cases, younger dog might treat an aging dog differently. This can come in the form of bodily rudeness and even outright attacks. It is very important that you be on the lookout for this possibility. The early elimination of this behavior makes it less likely to continue. Making it clear to the rest of your crew that your seniors safety is very important to you sets a precedent. Be consistent with this stance.

It may become necessary to create a new sleeping area for your aging senior. Stairs can present a problem, especially if your dog is large. You cannot simply pick up a large dog and tote them upstairs where they are used to sleeping! If a sling is a possibility, it’s worth a try. If your senior is used to sleeping where you sleep and you sleep upstairs, then it will help him to continue this practice if possible. But do not cause more stress getting your dog up stairs than he would feel sleeping elsewhere.

There are many ways to help keep your special dog as stress-free as possible sleeping in a new location. D.A.P. Comfort Zone is an option, either a plug-in if you have a small space or sprayed on bedding if the room is an open setting. If other family members sleep on the main floor, it would be best for the senior to sleep as close as possible to them, provided he feels comforted by them. A special routine at bedtime can also set the tone for calm. Investing in an inexpensive baby monitoring system can enable you to be available to attend to him should he need something in the middle of the night. It is very comforting to a dog to know that his needs are met by you, no matter where in the house you may be. It encourages calm.

All of these ideas can help you to take the best care of your mobility impaired pup that you can. Using common sense and fairness can also help you. Safety first is always the best motto!

Different Day, Different Dog Activity

Playing fair with with the dogs left home alone.

If you are like most multiple dog owners, you are a dog geek, participating in a variety of dog related activities. In the case of a multiple dog home, activities done with one dog probably are not the same as activities done with the others.

This requires that you sometimes or even frequently take one dog and leave the others at home. If you are a dedicated multiple dog owner (and I know you are or you would not be reading this), then you probably spend more time than you should feeling guilty and wondering if your dogs understand why they don’t all get to go sometimes.

There are rules about playing fair, but there are also rules about life not necessarily being fair at every moment. That is to say, just like with people, all dogs can not always have the same privileges or get the same treatment at the same time. It is inevitable that one dog needs a med and another doesn’t, or one dog needs extra training (which results in extra one-on-one time) and another doesn’t. This could easily be a cause for jealousy among the rest of your crew.

Preventing these situations from being an issue is easier than imagined. First, the crew needs to learn that they don’t decide who gets what and when. You do. There should not be a pecking order other than you as the leader. Of course, there are always leader dogs and follower dogs. But if you regularly reinforce positions that you imagine to be set in stone, you can cause chaos in the crew. Status among dogs is fluid and dependent on the situation at hand.

On a daily basis, vary who gets what first. Take care to make it the status quo that no one knows in advance who goes first. This levels the playing field and sets the tone for everything else, including when one gets to go and the others don’t.

Three dogs who know it's not their turn this time.

So it’s more like this: life is fair today but may not be tomorrow. One day one dog goes to a dog show and the next day another dog goes to agility class. Maybe you have a dog or two that is not involved in any dog sports or the like. That dog should get a solo walk or something else one-on-one with you. This is another way of leveling the playing field.

Practicing this makes it easier when you take one dog somewhere and leave the rest behind. Not doing everything as one big crew also helps your dogs to have time away from each other. It’s very important that your dogs learn to function as individuals and not just as part of a crew. There will come a day when you will lose one before the others. It’s inevitable unfortunately. Having a history of being able to function without a particular crew member present, even if for a short time, is helpful to emotional survival.

It may be even harder when you have just two dogs since there is only one left when you take the other somewhere. And if you’re a single person, this makes things harder on the one who is home alone. So make sure it’s not a sad or scary situation. Making the home alone situation as safe and special as possible is more important with a crew of two. A special Kong along with some soothing music can make all the difference in the world to the one left alone.

If you have done your homework and set the stage for success with your crew, then you should feel comfortable with the dynamics of any combo of dogs left alone. And it’s a lot easier when your dogs have learned that life is not always fair. If you have taught that, then all should be well. If you have any worries at all about leaving certain dogs alone together, then always pay attention to your gut and make the proper provisions. Safety first.

Now back to guilt. Work on letting it go. Your dogs will easily pick up on any unease that you feel about leaving any of them behind. The more you make sure that each dog gets special one-on-one time on a regular basis, the better off you will be. Every time you take one dog on an outing act as though it’s a natural activity and your dogs will think of it as perfectly appropriate. Just be on your way and your remaining crew will treat it as any other outing without them and simply eagerly await your return.

Rescue, Fostering and the Multiple Dog Home

Those of you who already foster dogs for rescues or shelters successfully can probably skip this. But if you have any issues with foster dogs and your own crew or if you are thinking of taking in fosters, get comfy, this is for you!!

Bringing a revolving door’s worth of foster dogs into your home can be very rewarding but it can also create a multitude of problems….or not. This can very much depend on you and your relationship with your crew. If you maintain a leadership position with your crew, fostering dogs can be much easier. If your dogs are used to looking to you for direction, you already have a good foundation.

If you have any dog aggressive dogs, then you probably should not be fostering! This should go without saying. Maybe you think that you can keep them separate at all times? Certainly, if you have a set up that makes this possible and you are confident that you can keep everyone safe, then you may be an exception. But accidents happen, doors and gates can get left open. Always remember the potential and respect the danger and plan accordingly.

Back to fostering, maintaining your crew’s normal schedule as much as possible is your primary goal. If your dogs get to perform their usual routine, there is much less reason for problems to occur.

Depending on the demeanor of your own crew, you may want to introduce the newbie to them one on one. A locale that is away from your own home is best for neutrality but intros can also go well in home. I personally bring my new foster dogs out into the yard to meet my crew en masse but I am a professional and am usually very sure of the foster dog’s personality prior to bringing one home.

Allow plenty of time for the first meeting so that everyone can feel comfortable on their own time schedule. If you have any doubts about your ability to recognize potential trouble, then ask a body language savvy friend to attend. I make sure that my schedule is very open on the day that I bring a new dog in so there is enough time to help things run smoothly.

I believe that you should feed foster dogs separately from your own crew but I know of rescuers who feed everyone together successfully. You have to learn what works for your own situation. When in doubt, separate.

Sleeping arrangements are the same. Your own crew deserves the privilege of maintaining the status quo as far as bedtime is concerned. Forcing them to sleep close by a new dog can be stressful. Minimizing stress in your own crew will minimize stress all around. Be sure to make safe sleeping arrangements for your foster dog so he can also sleep as stress-free as possible.

Pottying everyone can certainly be done together if everyone gets on well. To ensure that exits into the yard run smoothly, the first thing I teach a new dog is to “wait” at the door. I have only ever had one dog take longer than five minutes to learn this behavior. This is one of the most useful behaviors that your foster dog can learn. Potential adopters will be impressed with a dog that has some impulse control skills.

Walking your foster dog with your own crew will depend on how you presently handle walks. If you walk everyone separately, then continue that practice. If you combine walks, you might want to consider walking your foster dog with your easiest to walk dog. Your new charge will likely need some walking on loose leash lessons so using your easy to walk dog as a walking partner will help you stay sane. Of course, management tools such as a front clip harness are your friend in this scenario.

When it is time for your foster dog to go to his new home, consider whether your crew has become friendly with your ward. I have discovered by trial and error that if my own dogs get to see the adopter leave my home with my soon to be ex-foster dog, it gives them closure. I always sensed their confusion when I left with a foster dog that never returned. When handling an adoption straight from my own home, I noticed that my own crew are now much more relaxed about the whereabouts of the exiting foster dog. I baby-gate the kitchen and handle the contracts and instructions in the kitchen while my crew watches from the next room. I find this to be a win/win situation all around. Of course, you may not have this option. If not, try to be very upbeat about your departure with your foster dog. Reassure your dogs that all is well. Act happy that you have time alone again with your own crew and they will follow your lead.

Fostering rescue/shelter dogs can be a very rewarding experience if you plan for it well. One word of caution though: if you keep your foster dog, you will be less able to foster another dog in the future. Be realistic about your limitations. Collecting is not rescue. Stick with a manageable number for you for your sanity’s sake!

Resource Guarding in Multiple Dog Households

In any multiple dog household, odds are there is a crew member who resource guards in some way. Whether the guarding is minor or major, it can be a problem. To resolve this, establishing yourself in the role of benevolent leader is more important than anything else. A leader creates boundaries for behavior that should be respected. Establishing a pattern of these boundaries will help your crew know what is and isn’t appropriate.

If one of your crew members guards to such an extent that you fear for your own or your family’s safety, you should get in home professional assistance ASAP. The same goes if any of your crew is guarding something from another crew member to such an extent that the offending dog attacks the other predictably at certain triggers. But if the guarding starts with a growl, you can likely work on this yourself. In all cases, the training methods used should be based on positive reinforcement only—force-based training techniques will only exacerbate the issue.

The first step in this process is to teach your crew that all good things come from you and you can just as easily take them away. Always deliver any high value items directly to your dog’s personally. Never permit one dog to take another dog’s high value item away. Retrieve the item (using the “leave it” cue below) and return it to the dog who it was taken from. Make this action evident to all involved. It is important that your dogs understand that you make the decisions about who gets what.

Having an abundance of things available for your dogs, such as toys, dog beds and other items, typically reduces guarding behavior. Reward your dogs when you notice that they are sharing nicely.

An important thing to work on with all of your crew members is a strong “Leave It” cue. You will need to work on this with each dog individually at first, adding a dog or two as appropriate. Be sure to practice this cue with many different items and in several different areas of your house. Reward lavishly for compliance. The value of the reward should always be higher than the item you’re asking your dog to leave.

Another option for managing guarding of only certain items is to simply tether or crate the dogs in question when the high value item of choice is in use. If you only have battles over bully sticks, then just make that brief separation a part of the bully stick experience. However, if you have guarding of multiple items, it is in everyone’s best interests if you work on minimizing the guarding.

“Time outs” can be invaluable in assisting with modifying guarding behavior. Implementing a time out properly is imperative. The timing of the time out is everything. Time outs are meant to be negative only in the fact that there is a removal of attention. The cue word or phrase that is chosen for the time out should be said in a happy tone. Time Outs should not exceed two minutes typically, but there are exceptions to every rule.

Modifying resource guarding in a multiple dog household is not always going to be an easy feat. But it is well worth it for everyone’s safety and sanity.

Raw Feeding a Multiple Dog Household

Raw feeding can be a volatile subject in any circle. There are firm believers in the benefits and there are those who are equally firm about its drawbacks. I am in the benefits firm believer camp. What if you are in the middle? Maybe you are interested but terrified at what the cost or the logistics would be with a multiple dog household?

Two of the Author's dogs eating a raw breakfast

I am here to tell you that not only can it be done on a budget; it can be done with little challenge, provided you are a person who is willing to do a bit more than toss kibble in a bowl.

The pros are fewer vet visits, better coats, far less smelly poops, less doggy smell to the crew’s coats, whiter teeth, I could go on and on! The cons are more time to set aside at meal times, more stores to go to for a balanced diet and a supplement shelf that solely belongs to the dogs!

If you currently feed a premium kibble, then a raw diet is typically more affordable if you do not go the pre-made raw route. What does that mean exactly, you are wondering, right?

Well, I purchase whole meat parts in bulk and feed those for dinners. I feed pre-made ground raw for breakfasts. Typically, breakfast is when we are all more strapped for time so this is my solution and compromise. Of course, some raw feeders grind their own. That lowers the cost but increases the time commitment.

It does take some planning in the time department to get into a routine for this kind of feeding method in a multiple dog home. But once you get into a routine, it becomes second nature. It will never be as easy as tossing kibble into a bowl. But the rewards are well worth it.

If you have any resource guarding among your crew, you will need to separate their feeding areas a bit more than with kibble. But the drawbacks are such a small price to pay for the benefits.

Even if you choose to feed only pre-made raw, the benefits are sill so notable that you will never be sorry you went this route.

With my own crew, in the morning, they get pre-made raw fed in bowls in four different areas of my large kitchen. At dinner time, they eat from towels placed in the same four areas. Breakfast prep includes additions such as various dairy products such as yogurt, cottage cheese or kefir. This is also when I add any supplements that each dog gets. Dinner time seems like it would be easier because there are no supplements or dairy add ins but that is when the whole meat pieces sometimes need trimmed. My crew gets a low fat diet and I remove all obvious fat. So I allow for trimming time when I meal plan. It depends on what is on the menu that evening as far as how long it may take..

I would be lying if I said that it was always easy. Dinner time trimming can be a pain at times but I would never go back to kibble. As I said, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

If this is s lifestyle you are interested in, please do your research. Make sure that you understand the finer points of raw feeding before you take the plunge. It’s important that you learn why variety is important and how to achieve nutrient balance. There are a number of websites that can be of assistance to you. One of the best sources of information for al things dog is www.dogaware.com Avail yourself of it’s information. Seek out like minded people and accept support. You won’t be sorry that you made the change.

Responsible Multiple Dog Ownership

Recently in my hometown, there was a very disturbing incident involving three Pitbulls that jumped their fence and attacked a policewoman known for her animal rescue efforts, along with her five year old daughter (who was not harmed) and two of her dogs that they were walking. Everyone ended up okay physically after some minor cuts, bruises and bites, but mentally, they will remember this for a long time. This is not a commentary about Pibulls. I love Pitbulls. My Trent is a Pitbull mix. This incident could have happened with any breed but it’s always worse when it happens with a breed that some people find scary.

In addition, this incident happened in a good neighborhood and the owner appeared on the surface to be responsible. But appearances are deceiving at times as in this case.

The first problem here was that this occurred in a front yard situation with a four foot chain link fence when the owner was not supervising her dogs. There are several red flags here. Front yard, chain link see through fence, urban neighborhood, multiple reactive dogs, no supervision: take your pick which was the final trigger. They all contributed to this very scary incident.

The dogs in question were also not neutered. This makes a difference in some cases. I strongly believe in spaying and neutering, especially in breeds that are over bred such as Pitbulls. Responsible multiple dog owners alter their pets when they are pet homes. (I am not going to expand upon the exceptions but note that there are always exceptions.)

If you have multiple dogs that can be reactive, then you MUST supervise all outside visits, with no exceptions; especially when your outside environment offers a view to multiple stimuli. A front yard with a neighborhood view is a prime place for reactivity to occur. Life happens. You cannot stop people and animals from passing your yard unless you own the perimeter to it as well. It is unrealistic to expect your dogs to police themselves.

Training could have prevented this. Supervision could have either prevented or minimized this. A different venue such as a backyard, may have prevented this. Any number of things done differently can make a big difference in whether your dogs are declared dangerous and must be euthanized. It is a big responsibility to maintain a household with multiple dogs. Please respect that responsibility.

Training is even more important when you have breeds that others perceive as scary. You should not accept this responsibility lightly. Training can make the difference in how your neighbors view your dogs. Training can make a difference in whether your dogs are viewed as scary or not. Please be responsible and train your dogs. Be aware of what can happen in any circumstance and be pro-active. Your dogs’ lives may depend on it someday.

Dog Breed Concerns in Multiple Dog Homes

Does your dog’s breed make a difference in home alone set-up?

The answer to this is, it depends. As discussed in the book, sometimes you have dogs that you will always have to separate for safety’s sake when you are not around to supervise their interactions. This is especially true when you add a new housemate to your crew. More info on the details of this can be found in the chapter “Since You’ve Been Gone”. But breed differences are not discussed in as much detail as I will talk about here. I have a Pitbull mix among my crew. It is the opinion of many Pitbull advocates that Pitbull owners should always separate when unsupervised when there is more than one dog in the home, even of the opposite sex. Although I strongly disagree with blanket statements, I do support this train of thought when all the dogs in the home are Pitbulls or of primarily Pitbull ancestry.

However, I can say the same thing about several other confident breeds. Dobermans, Rottweilers, Akitas, and some mollosser breeds also come to mind. Some can be same sex aggressive and some can be simply easy to anger when jostled, regardless of whether the jostler is the same sex as they are or not. But one thing these breeds don’t share with Pitbulls is that Pitbulls were originally bred to fight among themselves. This means that for many, it is easier to stay aroused inappropriately and to take a simple disagreement further than it would normally go with some other breeds. So with a multiple Pitbull home, my on record advice is to separate when unsupervised. It will help you have peace of mind.

However, like most other breeds, Pitbulls have been mixed a plenty. A lot of people have a mix of a Pitbull and some other breed among their crew of multiple dogs, just like I do. I don’t believe that separation in this case, is always necessary. My take on this is to know your dog, plain and simple. I have separated my Pitbull mix, Trent from the rest of my crew when home alone, when he was new to the home. That lasted for about a year. I gradually tried him with the others for small periods of time and eventually, he was integrated into full time. My concern was not that he is a Pitbull mix. The concern was that Merlin, my Dobe mix, is not terribly tolerant of rudeness with other males and I needed to be sure that he fully accepted Trent as a crew member before I took a chance. Trent is deferent to my other dogs. That may not be the case if he were not a mix. Or yet again, it may.

Mixes can display the primary traits of the breed that they most resemble or they can just as easily not. This is true regardless of whatever bree(s) they are a mix of. If you are in any way unsure of whether your dogs will get along without your presence, then err on the side of safety, whatever their breeds. But don’t assume that just because you have a Pitbull mix among your crew that you must always separate. But what you MUST do ,it be capable of being truthful to yourself whether there are ever issues between your dogs, even a slight one. Some dogs need an audience to have a spat. Some don’t. You need to know which kind of fighter you might have. Even a raised lip from one that the other would not back down from, if you were not present, is cause for worry. So my own blanket statement is this…when in doubt, separate. Integrate with care and honesty within yourself. And stay safe.