Different Rules For Different Dogs

[megan_]

can i ask multiple dog households, if you give both dogs a chewy treat and one finishes it first, and tries to steal off the other do you allow them to steal? or do you teach them this is unacceptable?

mine eat in crates. So many dog fights are caused by food - not worth it IMO. Your older dog most probably puts up with it because the other is a puppy - this might not last forever.

Mine live by the same rules, but that doesn't mean "what I do for one I do for the other". Fergus goes to agility training twice a week, Lucy goes once. Lucy does obedience and Fergus doesn't. They go for seperate walks at least a few times a week (with other walks being together). They train seperately.

Fergus goes off leash almost every day because he has a great recall. Lucy has a great recall too, but has a high prey drive and is "spechul", so she doesn't go off leash at public parks. The same rules apply though - behave and come back when called, then you get to go off leash. Fergus complies, Lucy doesn't, so she doesn't go off leash.

However, they have the same house rules. They are fed at the same time and whoever complies with my criteria first (sit and focus on me) gets their food first.

[W Sibs]

can i ask multiple dog households, if you give both dogs a chewy treat and one finishes it first, and tries to steal off the other do you allow them to steal? or do you teach them this is unacceptable?

Completely unacceptable in my house!

Similar rules here as although I find them to be very different in personalities, they both seem to behave in relatively similar ways.

This for me too.

[whiskedaway]

No way is the one who finishes first allowed to steal the treat off the other. They eat treats outside and are supervised, so the one who finishes first goes back inside when they're done.

[Bubitty]

ok i better start teaching the puppy thats not acceptable, i just wasnt sure if it was doable

Definitely doable!

I have a pig of a puppy who if left to develop based on her own natural tendencies, would probably have stolen everything off the older boy!

But she has been trained now that when she finishes dinner, she must line up at the back door and wait for Mummy who will ensure “good” things happen to her! So no matter what, she lines up and waits like a little trooper!

[Henrietta]

My older dog has never been difficult, whereas my younger tends to push boundaries and become anxious if I'm too lax. Different set of rules. I'd like to say that my older dog has the 'granny' rule, but truth be told she has always had pretty relaxed rules because that's just the type of dog she is. Cruisy.

My little one will probably still have the same rules when she is 20 years old. It's certainly NILIF for her, but I cannot say she misses out on anything - she is allowed on the bed/couch invite only. But she thrives on having clear boundaries, whereas the older girl is just a really content dog.

[saradale]

Multi-dog household here. All same breed, roughly same age group 3-7yrs, none have any special care requirements, so all follow the same household rules.

All are crate trained, so makes it easier for individual training sessions and exercise time. Some go to training once a weeks, others twice a week. Generally they take it in turns to spend weekends away, if I'm going to visit parents, etc.

All eat together and are all told to sit and wait while dishes are put in front of them. They then get the "ok" to eat. Once have finished, they go back into sit & wait until all are finished, then bowls are collected. No one sniffs others bowls to try to get left overs. Same goes with treats/bones, etc. Definately no stealing allowed.

[Diva]

can i ask multiple dog households, if you give both dogs a chewy treat and one finishes it first, and tries to steal off the other do you allow them to steal? or do you teach them this is unacceptable?

No, no stealing allowed ever. They need to know they can eat in peace and that they need to allow others to as well.

My youngest eats treats veerrry slowly and doesn't entirely trust the other 2 when she has a high value chewy treat, so if they get them when inside she will come over and eat it next to me. She knows I won't let anyone take it off her and to their credit they don't ever try, she's just finickity about it.

If she doesn't really want it but doesn't want them to have it either, she will give it back to me, sometimes half eaten (yuk!).

Edited April 19, 2011 by Diva

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Similar rules, but with exceptions!!!

Emma is old and perfect - she can pretty much do what she wants! She is allowed offlead anywhere and she is usually always allowed inside if that is where she would like to be (there have to be some perks to being older!!).

Kenzie is young and excitable - her rules are much firmer and more clearly defined. Only a couple of places she can be offlead, she must wait for her dinner until I'm ready (I like to give Em a headstart seeing as though she sometimes can't see where her food is!), she is relegated to outside/her crate if she can't be calm when there are people over, etc.

But there are also many rules that are the same - although I'm starting to wonder if the rules that are the same are the the things that Emma just does naturally/prefers and I make Kenzie fall into line with her!!!

[Jetty]

I only have the one dog in the household at the moment who as he has gotten older has less boundaries in regards to what he can do in the house etc as he has become pretty obedient in everything. We are planning to rescue a puppy when we move and will probably then have seperate rules like others have stated due to age and the personality of the dog. I don't see anything wrong with most rules being different.

[DeltaCharlie]

Yes different rules here. We have the granny rule, where old dogs can do pretty much as they like in reason. And then there is the little dog rule, so trips in the car just to go to the supermarket or other short trips, more inside time.

That sounds like our place (except our old dogs are our little dogs so they get it doubly as good). Little dogs (old dogs) no longer have to sit for a treat, eat in a crate etc. They are allowed on the lounge beside us while we eat (they just lie there so no problem at all, would be different if they showed interest in the food on our laps) and they get to sleep on the bed. The only other dog allowed on the bed with my flatmate is Sweep, one of the border collies, coz he is her heart dog and is just allowed so many more privileges LOL.

No dog is allowed to sleep outside of a crate until at least 2 years old coz they just annoy everyone else during the night. Link is 3 1/2 and still in a crate coz she was annoying them all night and nobody was getting any sleep.

We have a lounge that we sit on and an opposite lounge that the dogs are permitted on. These rules are for all the border collies (we have 7), the 2 little dogs can lie on the lounge with us. When we are not sitting there though it doesn't matter, and Charlie will often sleep out on the human lounge at night. It just stops 9 dogs trying to sit on our lap LOL.

Everyone eats in crates (except the little dogs), Link and Dash share a big crate to eat in though. Not only does feeding them in crates prevent dog fights, it also stops them from being able to run around or roll around with a belly full of food. The rule is that you don't do anything physical for at least 2 hours after eating.

The only other rule we really have that doesn't apply to everyone is that no matter what the little dog is doing to you (one of the terriers has a tendency to ambush collies and bite them for no reason lol) you are not allowed to lay any teeth on them. Your Mummies will deal with it, you just lie there and take it until we get there. Yes, the little dogs know that they can get away with murder BUT I would rather that than the alternative if one of the big guys thinks they can deal with the situation themselves.

There are definitely inconsistencies with how we treat each of the dogs (some dogs just have to look at us funny and they get in trouble for staring and begging LOL whereas the next dog can do it and it is simply "looking at us with love in its eyes") but each dog knows what it can and can't do and it all works relatively smoothly. I have never seen any of them decide that something isn't fair

Mind you, the dogs seem to have the same rules for us which is a little annoying at times. My flatmate is the pack leader in their eyes and I am second in command. It is pretty much how it works with us too, Im naturally more submissive (to use a dog term) and if we were both like me nothing would ever get done, if we were both like her we would probably clash a lot. Its a good match for us living together but the dogs know it too. If she is not around then the dogs will do whatever I ask of them without hesitation because I am the "stand-in leader". If she is around and I ask them to do something, they will glance over at her first with a "well she isn't asking me to do it so I'm not sure if I have to" look. Even my own dogs do it and they were adults when I moved in with her I find myself having to be more forceful when she is around so that they know I really do mean it

Edited April 20, 2011 by DeltaCharlie

[dandybrush]

this is a very helpful thread im going to teach both doggies to leave the other alone when given a treat, not let them sniff each other bowls,

what about crates? little miss will wander into raz's crate to look for goodies and raz will steal goodies out of willows crate...should i teach them to leave the others crates alone? or is that a tough one?

re: raz i've become pretty lax on his training cause he is just so good i have to make willows boundaries stronger till she is clear on the rules and shows the same manners as raz i forgot what it took to raise a pup