I recently took an informal survey of the questions I get asked most often. One theme emerged: How do you handle multiple dogs?
There are variations on that theme, of course. How do you walk 3 dogs? Do they get along? How did they adjust to each other? And, even more often, how do I know if I should add a third dog?
I definitely don’t think I have the “right” answers, but I’m happy to share how it’s gone for us. The funny thing is, a lot of people have asked how we manage it all “successfully.” HA! Well, I’m not gonna lie… we’re not usually always successful. In fact, some days are downright difficult. So, for the sake of complete honest, here are a handful of my multiple-dog-home confessions…
Confession: Adding a second dog was much harder for us than adding a third.
Emmett had been a spoiled “only child” for a long time, and when Lucas came into our lives, it was a huge transition for me and John. Emmett, too, but… mostly us. Our attention was divided. Emmett’s behavior changed a bit, which we weren’t prepared for. Lucas was such a challenge, which we weren’t prepared for. All in all, it was a difficult transition. However, the two never got into a fight – not even a skirmish. They were two peas in a pod from the get-go, which really helped John and I find our way through the transition.
Tip: Try to maintain all your regular routines with the existing pup during the transition. If he’s used to a walk every morning at 6, walk him every morning at 6. Slowly make adjustments. For instance, take him with the new dog for your 6 am walk a couple times a week, then slowly build to every day. Your goal: No jarring changes in routine.
Confession: Adding a puppy was probably a mistake.
Obviously, it was worth it because Cooper is my itty bitty little puppy love, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world. However… as I discussed when I originally wrote about our transition of adding a third dog, adding a new dog has its inherent challenges. As does bringing home a puppy. Combine those, and it’s a recipe for some tense moments. Maintaining routine for Emmett and Lucas became impossible as we worked on puppy stuff like potty training and chewing. It was stressful for John and I, of course, but it was stressful for the big boys, too. And as Cooper got older, he tested his limits with them regularly, which resulted in some fights,
Confession: You can’t predict what you’re going to “get” in a new dog, but there will definitely be surprises!
Whether it’s dog 2, 3, or 7, you have no idea what’s going to happen. Even if you buy your pup from a reputable breeder who has a good sense of the health and behavior off the line, you still can’t control and predict everything. We had no idea the depth of Lucas’ reactivity. We had no idea how many weird health issues Cooper would face. When adding a new dog, you need to be prepared to tackle a host of health or behavior issues… that means emotionally and financially!
Tip: Calculate how much you’re spending on your existing dog and double it. Then pad that number. Adding a third? Take what you’re spending on your two dogs and double it! Three dogs = more vet bills, more monthly meds, more food, more treats, more toys, more beds, more Nature’s Miracle, more, more, more!
Confession: I can’t walk all three dogs at once.
I’ve talked about the challenges of a three dog herd before, one of which is the amount of time it takes me to exercise them all since I can’t take the three of them together. Someone once said that she wouldn’t have multiple dogs if she couldn’t walk them all together. That comment bummed me out a bit – what’s wrong with me that I can’t exercise my 3 together? – but then I realized that walking them individually (or, even sometimes, in 2s) is better for them in the long run because I can focus all my attention on that one pup and work on his unique behavioral challenges. For Emmett, he likes to meander, to (literally) stop and smell the roses. Cooper needs to MOVE. And Lucas, well, he takes a whole other set of strategies for a successful walk. If I take Emmett and Lucas, Emmett gets cheated out of his walk-time enjoyment, and Lucas is more likely to react to something if I can’t pour my energy into managing his behavior. To me, it’s more important that they get what they need to out of their walk… and it’s just extra exercise for me!
Confession: Three dogs are CHAOS. Like, all the time. Seriously.
Someone is always barking. Right now, for example, the neighbor is mowing his lawn. Lucas is barking at the man; Cooper is barking at the mower. There is major wrestling that goes on. Furniture gets rearranged daily as they slam each other into the couch and coffee table. There is a lot of poop to pick up. We blow through bags of dog food. Now there’s the whole cat training situation with Lucas. They occasionally get into fights, which usually end without intervention on our part, but sometimes not. There’s fur everywhere. You can’t find a square inch of our house without fur on it.
But it’s worth it. Oh, so worth it!
Do you have multiple dogs? Anything you want to confess? No judging here, that’s for sure!!
I have always had multiple dogs, but haven’t had a puppy among the mix for over 15 years until late last year, when my husband presented me with a rough collie, making her also my first pure bred in nearly two decades. So, your article really resonated with me. I found myself thinking, “Yep, that’s just like us” several times. My long time alpha dog really struggled when we brought in the puppy, and a pure bred dog tends to be a little less mellow and harder to train I find. There were days when I just wondered what I had gotten myself into. As I write this, I’ve got three of them together (we have four total) lying asleep on my office floor – but it took nearly ten months of patience to get them to this cooperative point. I am glad we stuck it out and I love them all more than I can say, but I confess I’m not looking to do it again soon!
Cheryl, I completely agree! I always tell John: Next time, no puppies! But I wouldn’t change it for the world either. 🙂
We just got married at the end of may. I have 1 dog (4 year old female pit bull I found on the side of a country road) and my husband has 2 (a 10 year old male Great Dane/German shepherd mix and an 8 year old female lab mix). It has been the most stressful thing. His dogs still don’t like Scout. They growl and bark at her every time they see her. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and is so confused at the aggression. Now we’re almost 3 months in and we still have to keep them separated all of the time. I was hoping it would all work out but at this point I see no end in sight. So frustrating!
Oh, Anna. I feel your pain. We’re in an identical situation with introducing Lucas to the cat. The other two dogs were fine almost immediately, but nearly 3 months in, and we still have to keep her upstairs and him downstairs. It’s incredibly stressful. All I can say is… baby steps! And I’ll be thinking of you! Best of luck!
We now have multiple dogs for the first time as a family and wow, how many times do I need to say “no more puppies?” Julius, though much older than Ray was when adopted, constantly pushes his boundaries with Ray. Though I sometimes reflect back on our quiet times in a solo dog home, I wouldn’t trade the chaos for anything because I love my baby boys.
I agree – wouldn’t trade it for anything! I love my guys, too! But there are definitely days when I remember when it was just us and Emmett… Quiet. Peaceful. The pushing boundaries thing is what causes skirmishes around here. Cooper wants to see just how far he can push the big boys before they clobber him. Emmett’s tolerance level is sky high… Lucas’ is not! But, it’s all a learning process. For everyone!
This is a very timely post for me as I just scheduled Titan for a Bordatella so I can take him to the shelter to pick a friend. I just thought I was ready but seeing it laid out like you put it, scares me. Titan is so ME ME ME! Meaning, he’s my shadow and I’ve wondered how he would like sharing me with another dog in our house. The walking 2 at a time is a worry too, as well as sleep time and all that other good stuff. Argh….puts things back into perspective.
I think you’ve done an excellent job thinking through your decision from all sides. Your blog post was really thoughtful, and I know you wouldn’t get in over your head. If the time is right, you’ll know! Titan probably will change a little bit… Emmett did. It broke my heart at first, but on the flip side, so many new sides to his personality came out. I have faith that you’ll figure out what’s best for your family!
When we met, my boyfriend had two dogs (both male) and I had two dogs (one male and one female). For the last year and-a-half, we have lived together as a blended family. One of his males and my male don’t get along at all. Like you, we let them work it out and it rarely escalates to having to turn on the hose. Our dogs are all rescues and I would rather deal with their hair on the floor (and my furniture) and tripping over them constantly in our tiny house than imagine the lives they had before they were ours. Having multiple dogs, much like having multiple kids, means choosing the love of your pets over a perfectly clean and orderly home life.
But I did have to hire a housekeeper for the first time in my life. I just can’t stay on top of the dog fur/dirt/destroyed toy messes by myself.
YES: “choosing the love of your pets over a perfectly clean and orderly home life.” I so completely agree!! We had a housekeeper in Indiana, too. Haven’t found one in Louisiana, but it is definitely a HUGE help to stay on top of pet messes.
Oh good lord, this post describes us to a T. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve never had a fight, not even a serious skirmish. I think that’s where adding our third as a puppy worked in our favor. We knew Maggie would struggle accepting another adult dog into her pack but would embrace a puppy.
We too don’t walk all 3 of them. Maybe when they’re super old & mellow! I really enjoy the one on one time I get with them and it’s my way of making sure each of them gets special alone time.
Oh, my gosh. I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who can’t walk my brood. I love keeping up with your adventures simply because they remind me so much about what we have going on. And I can’t help but think… thank goodness we have central air! 😉
Great post- I will call on your experiences again later on this year. We’re moving into a house which already had two adult dogs, and Del will be integrated with them, which makes me really nervous. I’m sure it will be fine (it will have to be), but it’s good reading about other people’s experiences as I’m generally new to being a dog owner:)
All I can say is time and patience! I failed to mention that the email that sparked this post was from a gentleman who had added a third dog to his home, and they just weren’t getting along… he was about to throw in the towel…. after one week! It definitely takes longer than that! I’ll be thinking of you. Keep us posted on how it goes!
First: Aww. Look at your cuties! Second: This is a great post, Maggie. Thanks for sharing it! A very helpful resource for those considering becoming multi-dog households (like us, cough, cough).
Ooooh!!! That sounds exciting, Abby! I’ll be keeping an eye on your blog for any announcements! 🙂
You are describing a typical day in my house. Life with three dogs is chaos for sure, but I would not have it any other way. I am glad to know that I am not alone! The main challenges for us are the fact that one of them is the constant barking and walking them all at the same time.
Barking and walking… I’m with ya’ Angela! The barking problem, at least around here, is become one of them barks, so the others join in out of solidarity, regardless of whether or not they’re barking at anything REAL. A total domino effect!
PS. The first photo with the three boys is adorable!
Thanks! 🙂
We’ve got 4 dogs and 2 cats, and yes, its usually semi controlled chaos, dog hair and noise at all hours. For the sake of our sanity and the house we do keep the dogs crated at night and when we are not home. We keep the cats separate usually, our newest kitty addition is not shy about smacking a dog nose that’s too pushy, but we still don’t leave them alone yet unsupervised. We try to work with or walk two dogs at a time, that way we try to give everyone equal attention. It’s a lot of work and can get expensive, but I don’t think I would trade a minute 🙂
HA! Semi controlled chaos. LOVE IT! We currently have Newt the cat separate because Lucas just can’t handle himself around her. Do you let them mingle when you’re there to supervise? Or are they separate all the time? We’re still working toward an integrated home, but… whew! It’s frustrating sometimes!
My big chicken kitty is happy living in our bedroom and the extra bathtub (he’s a little strange) so we don’t push it with the dogs, he has had some interaction, but he mostly ignores them. Our newer kitty is much more social with us and the dogs, but we supervise when she’s out with them. They are pretty good about leaving her alone after the inital sniff, but any harrassing and we can stop it. I don’t quite trust them not to chase her yet if she gets kitty zoomies. The funniest part is our big pitbull mix boy, he could squash her like a bug, but one swat on his nose from her and he now gives her LOTS of room.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. The last bit cracked me up – my Cooper gets clobbered by little Newt, the cat. He’s starting to pick up on her “signals,” though, so hopefully he’ll learn! 🙂
I also have three dogs. Three large dogs. I agree completely. It is chaos. All the time. I cannot walk all three, by myself, at once. But I would not trade any of it for the world.
Right there with you, Rebekah!! 🙂
I’d have a house full of dogs if I could. Husband puts the brakes on two though. One of the vets told us (when I was saying I wanted another one) that two was a good number to stick with because, if we brought in a third, two of the dogs were liable to develop a closer bond and pick on the third dog. Husband has never forgotten that, and since he’s the one paying the bills, I can’t see it ever happening.
I’ve never heard that before. In my experience, it’s actually quite the opposite. Lucas and Cooper are best play buds. They romp, wrestle, run, basically beat the crud out of each other. Cooper would never play like that with Emmett, and Emmett would never allow it. But Cooper and Emmett are two little peas in a pod in that they love to cuddle at my feet and hang out in the kitchen while I cook. Then, Emmett and Lucas, who have been together for years, have their own relationship (Emmett licks Lukey’s nose while he gets his nails clipped, for example). No one is excluded. They’ve just formed their own unique relationships among the group. And every night, all 3 of them snuggle with us for tv or reading or whatever. It’s a whole herd!
My confession is that after having 4 dogs, I would never do it again. Now we are down to 3. I haven’t figured out yet if 3 is going to be a good number (we only lost Moses a couple months ago), or if in the future only 2 would be better (it will always be at least 2, I would never go back to just 1). Ours are all seniors now, so they are fairly easy though. I think what bothered me the most about multiple dogs was when the fighting broke out. That was scary for me, and it took us time to finally figure out what worked best to keep it under control.
I can’t walk all three of mine either. They are at different activity levels so that makes it difficult. Other than the time factor though, I do enjoy walking them individually as you said. I think they enjoy getting some one on one time too and being able to go at their own pace.
The fighting definitely is stressful. At first I was upset about it, but a very insightful trainer asked if I had ever fought with my brother and sister when we were growing up. Well… hmmm… guilty. 🙂 I’m with you, though, in that I don’t know what the “right” number is other than what I can financially and emotionally handle, which is these three for now. In the future, who knows…
Was reading your blog and I feel very inspired. I see it is quite old now. Do you still converse with people about dogs?
Was reading your blog and I feel very inspired. I have an eight year old dog, Sophie and a one year old rescue Boxbull, Chance. I want to adopt a five year old pit mix named Tucker
That being said, Chance has issues with protectiveness with me. He doesn’t want anyone else near me, dog or human.
I took him to the shelter to meet a dog and he went completely postal. Scary stuff.
How can I add a third dog to my home? If Chance is calm when meeting another dog, Sophie is fine. But if he gets upset then she tries to break it up and will end up fighting with Chance. Am I crazy to want to add a third? Please help!
This is really interesting to read as I’m about to adopt a 2nd dog! My current pooch is around 16 months old and absolutely LOVES other dogs; we’ve been staying with friends the past few weeks who have 2 little yorkies, and she’s been having the most wonderful time playing with them every night, shares nicely, plays appropriate to their size, and generally does my very proud. Here’s hoping the new pup will be as compatible – time will tell! 🙂
Good post! I’m gonna share my dog experience. So first I bought a eight week old German Shepherd he was a male called Sammy it was hard with all the puppy training but well worth it! When Sammy was 2 I adopted a one year old Staffie another male called Jake. It was pretty easy but Jake was a year old and not toilet trained by his previous owners and Sammy kept trying to eat it yuck! But they were two peas in a pod for starters I think Sammy benefited the company! When Sammy was 4 and Jake was 3 I bought a eight week old female border collie puppy called Lily. You guessed it this time round it was difficult! First off Jake got all whimpery and scared of Lily and it took a good couple of months to bond them. And also Lily would push her buttons far enough that Sammy or Jake but mostly Sammy would snap at her. But by the time Lily reached six months old they were all the three criminals! When Sammy was 7, Jake was 6 and Lily was 3 I adopted this 2 year old Border collie who was a male and we called him Bertie. As he was yet again not a puppy the dogs adjusted to him more than ever.
Now Sammy is 10, Jake is 9, Lily is 6 and Bertie is 5 I want to ADOPT a fifth dog but don’t know if its right what do you think?
If you have the time and money, I say go for it. You are passionate about your love for dogs and what better way to give and receive love!
Let us readers know how you get along!
If you have the time and money, I say go for it. You are passionate about your love for dogs and what better way to give and receive love!
Let us readers know how you get along!
I love your articles. I recently lost two of my senior beagles.Molly in June and Ranger in July. I decided never to get dogs again because of the pain of losing them. A month ago I got a male beagle 4.5 yrs old. He’s still at the stage he’s not too sure about me yet. I am thinking of getting a 1 yr old rescue of a German Shepherd mix. Not a large dog. He is getting over demodetic mange. I have been hesitant about it. But after reading these posts I might get him. His foster mother says he us starved for dog companionship. My beagle played with him but after that ignored him. I hope they will get along. I like the idea of a third dog now just because of the different personalities working together.