Is 2 really better than 1? How to thrive in a multi-dog household.
Up until about 3 months ago I had only ever had one dog at a time. But I knew I wanted and was ready to add a second dog to our pack. Finn, my 1.5 year old pit mix, is so friendly and loves being around other dogs so I thought it would be a great idea for him to have a companion. Selfishly though, I really just wanted another dog. Twice the fun and twice the love. Turns out having 2 dogs can be extremely difficult to naviagate.
The first reason is that there are no 2 dogs who are the same. Both of my dogs have extremely different personalities. Finn is sweet, gentle, sensitive and loving. Fionna is outrageous, free spirited, high energy and affectionate. Before I go any further I want to point out that my dogs get along BEAUTIFULLY. They snuggle together, they look to each other for comfort, they share toys, and they love being around each other. It is a very peaceful existence, but this isn’t always the case.
Having 2 dogs with different personalities means that they will each require different things from me. They require different levels of affection, exercise, and training. This can be difficult to juggle. For example, Finn is trained so he requires very little training time, but Fionna is still in training so she requires a lot more. Finn is very sensitive and enjoys lots of petting, belly rubs, and massages whereas Fionna would prefer I play tug-of-war with her favorite toy. Being in tune which each dog’s individual needs is the basis for existing in a multi-dog household.
However, I don’t want to just exist, I want to thrive and I want my dogs to thrive as well. One of the biggest mistakes I see people making in multi-dog households is they allow the dogs to bond to each other and never establish a bond with each dog themselves. Although this may be difficult when you have 5, 6, or more dogs, if you want your dogs to look at you as their leader and provider and you want a bond with them, making sure you spend one-on-one time with each of them is extremely important.
You may be wondering how this works. I’m not saying that you have to spend 3 hours every day with each dog…that would just be impossible. There is for sure not enough time in my day to be able to do that. If you have another family member living with you, this can make things a bit easier. Each night I go into my bedroom at about 8pm to watch some TV and play some games on my phone. This helps me wind down after a long day and get some much needed time alone after having to be a social butterfly all day. At this time, my dog Finn is usually ready to go to bed as well so I’ll take him with me, but Fionna is not ready to go to bed so she stays up with my husband and enjoys some one-on-one time with him. This gives both dogs one—on-one time with both of us. It lets me bond with Finn and my husband to bond with Fionna. Then during my training sessions with Fionna I get a chance to bond with her, or if Finn is feeling like he wants to stay up late I might take Fionna to the bedroom for a bit. This time one-on-one is precious and I enjoy every second of it.
Having that time to bond and connect with each dog one-on-one even if it’s just taking a nap on the couch is crucial to having dogs that look to YOU for their happiness rather than to each other. Now, I want to finish by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a dog enjoying their time with other dogs more than their owner, this is simply something that some owners prefer and THAT IS OKAY. Every human just like every dog has their own set of needs and wants and some people do not enjoy being the center of their dog’s world. Just know that this can make a household a bit more chaotic and can make it a bit more difficult to train your dogs. But some people thrive in chaos.
If you want to know more about making your multi-dog household peaceful, feel free to email me any time. Until next time, stay pawsitive friends!
