Before there was Lucas, before there was Cooper, there was Emmett. He was an only-dog, and he was spoiled. We took him everywhere. We showered him with toys and treats. With no one to compete with over goodies, he got his very own bones that were never stolen from him, that were never chewed on by anyone else. And then came Lucas. And, of course, Cooper. And Emmett no longer got all the time, attention, and presents.
But then! When Lucas passed his trial day at doggy daycare, it became possible for Lucas and Cooper both to be gone at the same time. As an aside: I don’t normally have one dog home by himself. It just never happens, really. And they’ve gotten to the point where they don’t do well when they’re all by their lonesome. They’re just not used to it.
Anyway, this was the first time Lucas and Cooper both went to doggy daycare, so Emmett and I had the whole day to spend together! We went to the dog park where we had the whole place to ourselves.
We went to the pet store where he behaved rather poorly – he jumped up on the checkout counter and gobbled up all the treats in the little dish – demonstrating to me that we don’t do this one-on-one stuff enough. But I bought him a squeaky toy despite his bad behavior because he loves to chew on plush toys, but Cooper always destroys them before he gets a chance. He napped while I worked, then we went for a walk in the afternoon, and he got a Busy Buddy all to himself when I went to pick up Lucas and Cooper.
It was a great day – so nice to spend it focused entirely on Emmett. In the new year, Lucas and Cooper are going to go to doggy daycare together one day each week, so I’m excited to have more of this one-on-one time with Em!
Those of you with multiple dogs: How do you manage one-on-one time with your herd? Does anyone get individual attention or is it all a group activity?
It sure does sound like you two had a Most Wonderful day! Pretty much it’s just a whole group thing at our house. PLUS we have to share mom and dad with the kittehs, too. Sometimes me and mom go to doggie classes together by ourselves but we haven’t done that in a long time. Maybe next year!
Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie
I love this! Our oldest dog Kobi, one of four, is the one who gets some one on one time. Originally, we had him and one other dog, but when we lost the other dog, somehow we ended up getting three more around the same time. (that wasn’t the original plan). So the other three are hard to separate, but Kobi loves his time alone….he is the only one who really loves to ride in the car and I often take just him by the lake for a walk. He gets to go run errands with Dad too. I had to chuckle when Emmett gobbled the treats at the pet store! Kobi would so do that! I think the “first dogs” sometimes deserve that special treatment.
We adopted Nikita from the APL two years ago and she was our only dog. We adopted our second dog, Bella, who looks exactly like Emmett in September of this year. With that being said, I am glad to see your post about this subject, because I do find it important to give that special “one on one” time with each dog. Nikita sleeps at the foot of our bed and that will NEVER change. This is HER special thing to do with us, but I cannot see sharing a bed with two dogs – no way! I don’t have enough room as it is now! LOL Since Bella is still a pup at five months now, when she sleeps – I give Nikita special one on one time, whether it be brushing her, snuggling with her, walking her, it is our time together and I feel that is important. Bella gets her full attention too, as all puppies should! Great article, thanks for writing it! By the way, have you check out our blog yet to see the photo’s of Bella – she looks so much like Em!
My dog has also ‘jumped up on the counter’ at the pet store, to take all the treats from the treat bowl. At home he is not a counter jumper, so when he did it in the store, I started laughing like crazy. Prob not the typical response that accompanies bad behavior but oh well!
We have separate times for each dog too. Our bed is a “No Monty” zone, so Sam knows his toys are safe up there and that’s where we play. We try to do things with each of the boys every day. For Monty, he loves rough housing in the living room and Sam loves being chased around the pool table.
Sam