Training When You Have More Than One Dog

[Vickie]

What do you do with the others while you are training?

Can they see? Hear?

Do they care? Carry on? Wait quietly?

Does it matter what you are doing? What reward you are using?

Pros & cons of letting them watch/hear?

[ChristineX]

This is where the crate comes in.

Fantastic piece of equipment and we have traffic jams of dogs trying to get in - because when they get out it is their turn!!

ChristineX

[OSoSwift]

I have mine either crated or in their dog yeard depending on where I am training. Yes they can see and hear what is going on. I use clicker training, mainly with treats.

They are quiet as a general rule although Lewis will whinge and whine when I am training Rommi at dog club sometimes, but he does that just because he is locked up and she isn't - doesn't matter wether I am training or not!!!

Them watching seems to make them want to train more and they have more enthusiasm. If I am training and they are a little flat I put them away, bring out the otehr dog and train them for a bit then swap back. Usually that works, if not I stop training the unenthused one and try and figure out why they are training as they are.

[Vickie]

Noah can be loose or locked away. He no longer has an interest in training, unless we are rewarding with food (which we don't do often) & then he's crashing into equipment & generally acting like the fruitloop he once was.

Trim HAS to be part of it & HAS to be locked away. Once she is restrained, she is quiet. If not restrained, she will hold a stay for a while but squeaks a bit & will break the stay at some point. Doesn't matter what the reward is or even if there is one.

Shine makes a noise like she is being murdered if she is restrained but will generally hold a stay indefinately & watch silently or just with a few squeaks if not restrained.

Peppi, happy to watch silently if restrained, but a nightmare if not!

[The Spotted Devil]

There's never as much barking as when Em can see that she's missing out! Zig whines but is not a barker. At home one is in the wire crate or eating dinner in another room. They can see and hear a bit depending on where I am training. At club or a trial they alternate in the soft, covered crate as I don't want them disturbing others. Mild complaints but not too bad. At the oval they are in the car and swapped over several times. Em goes a bit nuts. Zig whines.

With Ziggy his enthusiasm goes through the roof which is fabulous. Em is always desperate to train so it's hard to tell. She is still young and doesn't have the mental staying power yet so I prefer her to have quiet rest between multiple sessions. It's great letting her watch the older dogs retrieve though - amazing how keen she is then!!!

[Kavik]

I have them either in the other section of the yard behind a fence (if training in good weather) or crated (if raining and I am doing something inside or outside under cover). If outside and behind a fence sometimes one of the ones not being trained will bark or squeal.

[J...]

I put one on a bed, mat, camp chair or just in a drop on the ground in close proximity, rewarding the one who's not being trained for sticking their position. I do a few minutes with each dog and then switch. They each have a camp chair at club training.

Reward - I use food for stationary and toys for moving (as a general rule).

Edited March 31, 2011 by Jess.

[Sayreovi]

If I am training in my backyard, they are tied up by sticking a tent peg into the ground and attaching their leads to it. Both the adults will lay and watch quietly regardless of reward or what training I am doing, the puppy will make a bit of a fuss and then eventually settle. I am hoping their calmness will rub off onto her a bit and she learns to settle as soon as she is tied up!

If I am out and about, I either have a crate or they are left in the car.

They are definately more focussed and eager if they know there is a chance that I might swap them over

Only con I can think off at the moment is mainly handler error, as when swapping between the 3 sometimes my signals/commands are wrong for that dog or I try to do something with one dog that I haven't yet taught to that level

Edited March 31, 2011 by tollersowned

[Ptolomy]

My youngsters scream blue murder when I get the older ones out to train - it doesn't last long, but it indicates to me that they know what is going on and they really really want it to be their turn. They are on lead in the back of the car.

The older kids just chill out waiting for me to call their names to say its their turn.

I have started tugging with the youngest and I noticed last night the next one up the age ladder started squealling. Might have to start tugging with her too.

[Cosmolo]

At home, all of mine are in a stay on their bed or the couch depending on where we are and i call them one at a time. The 2 boys who both have lower threshold to drive find it more difficult to wait but are pretty good and i find that they are all very motivated if they are second (or third or fourth..) dog in to train. This is typically when using food rewards- things get a bit louder if i am using a tug or fetch reward or they have to wait their turn at agility!!

[ness]

Ok why is it my 10.5 year old SCREAMS the car down if I leave her in there to train and go and train the youngster but the youngster is good as gold (well mostly she started barking the last month or so because she is fed up with not getting a turn because her shoulder is injured).

At home if I am using food to train I have both dogs trying to get in the way but if I train using a tug then my older one just wanders around the garden ignoring what we are doing.

Edited March 31, 2011 by ness

[alpha bet]

I like to train mine together - if they have the basics down then this is easier for me and for the dogs. - lots of off-lead quick sessions for some exercises but then for others I may drop two dogs lead over a pole and move them back and forward one at a time. Love them all in sight of each other.

However if Teaching a new exercise then i work one dog at a time.

But then we don't work in your standard obedience format.

[TerraNik]

What do you do with the others while you are training?

Can they see? Hear?

Do they care? Carry on? Wait quietly?

Does it matter what you are doing? What reward you are using?

Pros & cons of letting them watch/hear?

Jed and Soaks will both happily just hang out and watch (unrestrained) if we are doing trick training or obedience at home. They understand when it's not their turn and will usually just lie down and watch until it's their turn.

If we are out at a park or club doing training that's a whole different story, though I think it's because they are crated or on a tie-out. If they can see or hear what I'm doing with the other dog they can get pretty revved up and noisy. It doesn't matter what we are doing or what type of reward, they just want to be the one training! If they were unrestrained I don't think they would care as much and would probably just hang out like they do at home. I sometimes use this to my advantage by using one dog to rev the other one up - works a treat!

[fuzzy82]

I usually have the other dog loose in the same room. Can't remember how I went about it, but the dog not being worked waits quietly and doesn't interfere. I usually work with each a few minutes at a time and then swap between them.

I prefer to work with them one at a time though, I sometimes train my adult dog while the puppy is crated in the bedroom. I close the bedroom door and put the fan on in there so he can't hear the clicker, because then he would feel excluded and carry on.

[koalathebear]

Crate one then train the other, or OH takes one and I take the other in different rooms but always near enough so that they can see/hear each other. If we go to the oval to train, then again, OH has one and I have the other and they train several metres away from one another. When they both know the tricks/commands, we let them 'perform' them together.

I've found that it really helps with training to let them see what the other is doing. For instance, I've been teaching Elbie how to point - I hadn't even started trying to teach Hoover but two days ago when I was telling Elbie to point, Hoover also pointed and wanted a treat.

Also, I was teaching Hoover 'drop dead' but still just in stages - drop then roll onto side, then lie there. I hadn't put it together or given it a cue word. OH mistakenly thought that I had already 'finished' the trick so went 'bang' one day and Hoover toppled over dead - he must have learned it from Elbie.

[BMAK]

What do you do with the others while you are training?

Can they see? Hear?

Do they care? Carry on? Wait quietly?

Does it matter what you are doing? What reward you are using?

Pros & cons of letting them watch/hear?

Out at training on a field, one is on a post tethered

At home they are on a stay and i switch regulary between them.

They will watch me at home as i have food but at training they will have a bark or two then stop laydown sniff and just wait until it is there turn to be off the post.

if i am playing tug-o-war they start to get excited at training i let them carry on as when it is there turn they seem to want to work better.

pro of letting them watch not sure?

but for me,

the dog that doesn't always performs to his best performs better when he gets freedom and rewards after watfching the older dog play.

con's distraction to the dog working and other people if the other tethered, crated dog is crying and barking

ETA for spelling

Edited March 31, 2011 by catherine.b

[Dogs4Fun]

I usually have one in its run and one out working. They an see the dog working. I am having issues with my younger dog barking and carrying on when working my older one. This way I can mark and reward her when she is quiet, and she is getting much better.

[B-Q]

Buster doesn't care what I'm doing unless he thinks he might get a treat then he's busy getting in the way.

Quinn CAN NOT handle being left out. I'm trying to work on it by taking the crate out into the yard and putting her away to do some work with Buster, she can generally deal with watching me treat him with food but she flips out if another dog is playing tug. I don't know how to curb this, I don't know if it will get easier for her with age but she's gotta learn to deal with other dogs being around and tugging, I can't trust her offleash if there is a chance she will see another dog tugging or she'll be off and jumping around them barking and wanting to be in on it. Its her only flaw and its a doozy for a dog I'm getting into agility.

[W Sibs]

Charlie and Emmy are pretty good at home when I do one-on-training with them at home. They just hang out and watch each other and don't get involved. As long as Emmy goes first. She can be a pain if she doesn't go first. She rarely whinges but if she gets annoying and interupts Charlie's training, she get sent to her bed and she just lays there whinging as though her world is ending. It goes for a few minutes and she quiets down when she isn't getting attention or getting released though.

Edited April 1, 2011 by CW EW

[Bubitty]

Bubby LOVES to watch Bitty train! We train in the lounge room or yard. Bubby has his spot where he sits and watches his Bitty perform. He looks like he is watching a show to me. And when we are done he will wander off to do other things but will remain watching while we are still training.