Managing A Multi-dog Household

[Guest hankodie]

Yes another vote for structure & routine. Find what works for the 2 pups & yourself & stick to it. It might take a while but it will be worth it. Mine are like little robots :laugh:

They know the drill. What is expected of them & when. They just are where they have to be when I need them. I rarely have to call them to do anything eg put their leads on, meal times, grooming time. Bath time they put

themselves in our out door bath & wait for me after our daily beach run. The mornings here belong to them basically. Thats when they are exercised, train etc & we are usually home by around midday. The arvos are for them to rest/sleep

& I do whatever I have to do.

Your gorgeous Hank is only a baby so life is going to be organised kaos for a while. You do need to be firm but fair & consistant I have found. Good Luck. Get them into a routine & life will be a bed of roses :)

Your routine sounds perfect BC Crazy, I'd love to do the same with them (except maybe not devote all morning to them but I don't know whether or not that's avoidable at this point :laugh:)

Geez, what's the problem with spending 98% of your time with the dogs? And a puppy dog at that . Sounds pretty okay to me.

Sorry, I'm just being silly, imagining how difficult it would be to get anything done around a gorgeous 13 weeks old fluff ball. Hard to take your eyes off him, I would think.

Agree with the others that stucture and routine are necessary, but also taking on board that some days you will have chaos and interruptions by the dozen no matter what you do.

Regarding your having velcro dogs. This is part and parcel of working from home, I believe. I am retired and so my dogs (5 littles) are used to having me around. A couple of them are velcro, a couple are on a string in that if they haven't seen me for a while, they come looking and one is where any patch of sun is.

Looking forward to cyber sharing your journey.

DD I'm with you, I'd spend 100% of my time with them but my husband is already close to staging an intervention he's come home early one to many times and found me in the backyard playing tug instead of working Hank is very hard to leave alone though! All he wants is some belly rubs and cuddles it's very hard to say no :laugh:

[Daisys Mum]

I have always had two dogs so I haven't noticed any more work.... they both have different needs , one is quite young and needs lots of play and attention where as the other one is quite happy to be by herself but will occasionally want to play and our time is our nightly walk :)

[Guest hankodie]

I have always had two dogs so I haven't noticed any more work.... they both have different needs , one is quite young and needs lots of play and attention where as the other one is quite happy to be by herself but will occasionally want to play and our time is our nightly walk :)

I feel bad, you all make it sound so easy :laugh: that's lovely that they both get alone time with you, do they not sook if you take one and not the other?

From the sounds of it I think I just have to get on with it and try to not succumb to any sad puppy eyes! :laugh:

[BC Crazy]

My 2 are the very best of friends . My girl goes off if she if left at home & I take Sonny out. I can hear her screaming 3 blocks away Oh but if I take her & leave Sonny, she's all good with that & she doesn't look back. She doesn't put a foot wrong . Hence, I usually take them both out together & train each one while we are out. I might tie one up & work the other. I play retrieve or tugs with both, taking turn about. That way they learn to wait quietly. Also my 2 have very good off switches. When I end the play I thank them for the game & they know it's game over. Border Collies are very smart & will very happily organise you so you have to set boundaries & stick to them. They will manipulate you first chance they get ;-).

It hasn't been all plain sailing my girl has challanged me every step of the way. Just haven't given up or given in ;-)

Edited September 2, 2013 by BC Crazy

[Loving my Oldies]

From the sounds of it I think I just have to get on with it and try to not succumb to any sad puppy eyes! :laugh:

Well, that's part of it of course. But I really believe we can over-think these things. You have a gorgeous young puppy and he will be very quickly out of puppyhood, so enjoy it while you can.

When Husband stages an Intervention, hand him a tug toy and hide the bills - LOL.

I'm so clever and managed so well :D :D :D when I first brought home two little Maltese puppies (8 weeks and 9 weeks of age) a long long time ago, I took two weeks off work, was a nervous wreck when I had to go back to work, hired a doggy walker to come to the house 3 days a week just to check they were okay and spend some time with them. I also asked my vet if puppies could die of cot death . I could hardly bring myself to leave the house on weekends except to do necessary shopping.

You are not alone !!

[Nekhbet]

5 dogs, work about 55 hours a week, renovating a house plus other animals ... you learn to manage your time. The trick is to you don't get another dog until you have ironed out the kinks with the ones you have. What I say goes, I have 5 bitches in the house, 3 working Malinois that need attention and eyes on. I don't have time for problems and slow learners :laugh: you learn quick what I want, and the I don't have problems. They sleep with me, come renovate with me on a rotational basis as the house still needs guarding and they come training with me.

[Guest Clover]

I have 4 dogs, 1 x two year old, 1 x seven year old and 2 x ten year olds. All their exercise needs differ so they get individual time for that, along with their individual training requirements as well. I guess I am also lucky and I don't need to separate anyone when I'm not home, they all get along well together.

Once you get into some form of routine it should be second nature. And as someone else said bringing a new pup home is not always easy, they are babies and need certain needs met.

[ESCS]

I have 2 tibbies with very different personalities and exercise needs. While I would much prefer to walk them together, it doesn't really work as one is energetic and reactive (to other dogs) and it is too difficult to manage him when I have the other one as well. One loves to walk while the other much prefers spending time at a café! I work 3 days/week and on work days, they make do at home with access to the garden. They are great friends so I don't need to keep them separate. On my days off, I take my energetic tibbie for a long walk where I can concentrate on just him and do some training along the way. The other tibbie stays home with a Kong wobbler or treat to soften the blow of being left behind. I take her with me to do the school run in the afternoon while the other stays home. The short walk from car to school is enough for her and she enjoys meeting the other dogs that also do the school run. It took me awhile to figure out a routine that works for everyone (family, tibbies, work) but once I established a routine, life became easier a little easier. However, I have to admit that even with a routine, it often feels like life is one big juggling act! Your deck area is lovely. Your dogs must love it out there, lucky guys!

[Guest hankodie]

I also asked my vet if puppies could die of cot death .

Too funny DD!

5 dogs, work about 55 hours a week, renovating a house plus other animals ... you learn to manage your time. The trick is to you don't get another dog until you have ironed out the kinks with the ones you have.

goodness Nekhbet now I just feel bad for complaining, holy cow! It sounds like you have it all running like a well oiled machine :D Do you live on a property?

I know the general rule of thumb is to wait until the older dog is at least 3 and well trained before adding a puppy but Odie has a liver disease and there's no telling how long she'll be around. It's definitely an effort as they are both still a work in progress but I keep telling myself it's a good learning experience :laugh:

and ESCS, your routine with the tibbies sounds very much like the kind of routine I hope to get down with my 2... they can't be walked together at all as my frenchie Odie is soooo full on, definitely not the type of dog who can just sit quietly at a cafe while I enjoy a coffee but hopefully Hank can fill that role!

[Beckybecbec]

We have a 4mth old staffy and a 5 1/2mth old Mini Schnauzer. We both work FT and have no kids.

People think we're crazy but I think we manage ours and their time well. Routine wake up and feeeding times... we're starting to introduce walking in the evenings and soon to be morning walks too. They've both completed puppy classes and both going on to intermediate training soon.

We know they are as obedient as they can be, social and loved.... and thats what matters to us :D

[mixeduppup]

Currently have 7 dogs here now. It's amazing how the dynamics can alter so much with just one dog added. I have the 6 dogs worked out really well with everything they need and then the 7th adds a whole new element. I always get comments on how quiet they are considering how many I ahve, we only hear them when we get a visitor or it's play time. I like to challenge myself obviously :laugh: .

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Currently have 7 dogs here now. It's amazing how the dynamics can alter so much with just one dog added. I have the 6 dogs worked out really well with everything they need and then the 7th adds a whole new element. I always get comments on how quiet they are considering how many I ahve, we only hear them when we get a visitor or it's play time. I like to challenge myself obviously :laugh: .

I second that ... I have fosters coming and going, currently have 3 fosters and the dynamics can be challenging sometimes.

The worst thing for me right now is the constant cleaning - none of the fosters were housetrained, as per usual but having 3 at once is not something I will do again.