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Living With Multiple Dogs

Caring for more than one dog under the same room is a lot like spinning plates - everyone's needs must be considered and carefully balanced. Building a sense of trust between housemates is key in preventing conflicts, and sometimes our dogs need a bit of guidance to build and maintain healthy relationships.

This presentation explores the basics of how to create a household dynamic where every member feels happy and safe. We discuss how to understand what the dogs might be feeling about their housemates, and how their innate social temperament and history of experiences with other dogs could affect their basic needs for safety, space, and predictability in their home environment when adding a new dog to the household. We discuss how to teach your dog the crucial skills that make living with multiples exponentially easier, as well as offer advice on how to structure your home and routines to maximize enjoyment of your time together. In addition, we talk about the things that should be considered when thinking about adding a new dog and structures to have in place to keep everyone safe and happy through that transition. We also talk about common issues like an increase in excitement and barking that tend to feel contagious when you add more dogs to the scene. We cover simple ways to prevent resource guarding feelings and managing the valuable things that dogs feel strongly about – including access to you!

The goal for this presentation is to describe what is normal and healthy among dogs who live with other dogs as housemates, how to prevent potential problems, and help you decide exactly what you need to focus on in managing your house to contribute to a happy, peaceful existence! An outline of the topics covered in the video presentation is provided below: