For some reason when you live with one dog, you just assume that a second dog will be just as easy as the one. Sure you have to feed them twice as much and love 2 dogs instead of 1. Maybe it was just me who convinced myself that bringing home a second dog would be easy and only marginally more work. Boy, was I wrong! Adding a second dog to the home somehow quadrupled the amount of energy I expended to keep them exercised, trained, fed, and happy. Then the moment of realization when you come to terms with the fact that at least one of them is reactive. Walking 2 dogs when just one is sensitive is, to put it bluntly, like walking an alligator and a zebra at the same time. It’s freaking hard. When you have a multi-dog home and one or more is a reactive dog things can get out of hand and quickly. Here are my top suggestions for keeping the peace.
5 Tips for Dealing with Reactivity in a Multi-Dog Home
Separate Walks
Walking 2 dogs by yourself is hard, when one is barking, lunging, and pulling toward dogs, people, or cars, it becomes a complicated Olympic sport. It’s not good for you and it’s not good for your dogs. You know that dogs feed off each other. If both of your dogs are more sensitive to things in their world then they’ll amplify each other's behavior. If one of your dogs is reactive then your “non-reactive” dog may learn to bark at triggers too simply because they are going with the flow. Pretty soon you’ll avoid walks altogether because no one is having fun anyway. Walk one dog at a time to avoid behaviors getting worse. I know it’s not as easy to go for 2 walks but I promise it will bring out the very best in your dog. If you only have 1 hour each day to dedicate to walks then split this in half. Each dog gets 30 minutes. Sure, it’s less exercise, but it’s of a better quality if it keeps them under their threshold.
Train Skills Separately
I grew up with 3 siblings. I have 2 older sisters and a younger brother. When I went to school I was surrounded by my peers and, for the most part, I focused and did my work. If I had been learning with my siblings I would have struggled significantly to focus. (A solid example is when I almost failed a gym class I took with one of my older sisters. I know, who fails gym class? Me, I almost did because I was having WAY more fun goofing off with my sister.) See what I’m getting at? Your dog likely won’t learn well if their attention is divided between your lessons and what their sibling is up to. Train your dog separately at first. When you introduce a new skill, teach each dog in an isolated setting. For example, you could teach one dog while the other is out in the yard. You can train one dog while the other is at home waiting for their turn for a walk. Or, if you have help, split up the tasks and each person takes a dog and their lessons for that day. Once a skill has been taught and it’s reliable you can try it with both dogs together.
Supported Down Time
If your dogs are used to doing everything together, learning to do things apart will be a challenge. There are several reasons why siblings need to learn to be apart from each other. What if one needs to go to the vet and the other cannot go? What if one is taking a training class? What if one gets injured and needs to be kept quiet? Learning to feel safe when apart will lead to a happier, more relaxed dog. Downtime away from their sibling should be supported though. Set up success stations that keep the dogs apart. Use baby gates, crates, or exercise pens, and give each dog their own delicious activity. Using enrichment puzzles can help occupy your dog’s mind and build independence at the same time. Eventually, you could give one dog a busy toy while you walk or train the other.
Build Self Regulation
As I mentioned above, dogs feed off each other and their energy together multiplies very quickly. Teaching each of your dogs how to down-regulate when they become aroused will help keep them more even-keel when they are together. Self-regulation is like a muscle that can be exercised and worked in supportive ways. Teaching your dog to get excited in play or another exercise but to then “turn it off” to go again, will help significantly when you're out in the world with your dogs together and they get excited. Start with the On-Off game for self-regulation.
Have a Re-Entry Plan
Now my goal isn’t for you to always do things with your dogs one on one. It truly can be more fun to do things as a family! Create a plan for re-entry into their normal world together. Bring a friend to help you. When you venture out with all your dogs, be sure you have extra hands. One adult person per dog will help them stay successful even when things get dicey. You can also try your hand at managing multiple dogs on your own in safe, secure spaces. Try exploring a Sniffspot with your dogs and see how they do when there aren’t other dogs and people around before you try going to the public park.
Whether you have 2 dogs or 5, these suggestions will help you keep the peace and maintain just a little bit of sanity in your multi-dog home. Sharing our world with dogs takes work and effort, like any lasting relationship, and if we want their behavior to change so too must our own. It takes extra effort to see the results in training but with time and consistency, it all pays off! If you’re still overwhelmed by all the options before you let me help you zoom in on one resource that can help you get started right. Grab your free copy of our Beginner’s guide to dog reactivity here. This guide will show you the first steps of the reactive dog journey and help you take back your walks again!
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