The Commonsense Dog

Training one dog can be challenging all on its own, but training two dogs offers a whole new set of challenges. Many people like to own more than one dog, and many people ask me when they should introduce the second dog into their family dynamic. I like to start by asking questions.

Are you financially prepared to care for the food, training, and veterinary care of a second dog? If the answer is yes, then we can move forward.

Is your current dog aggressive toward other dogs? If the answer is yes, we have work to do. If the answer is no, we can move forward.

Do you have the time to commit to two dogs? Feeding two dogs takes more time. Walking two dogs takes more time. Training two dogs takes more time. If their training, exercise, or stimulation needs are not met, we can have big problems.

Does the new dog have a similar energy level and personality as your current dog? If so, is it too similar? Sometimes two high energy dogs can lead to issues down the road. Are they too different? Having a very lazy and mellow dog live with a very wild and energetic dog can also cause problems. It’s important to have a healthy balance.

Are the dogs the same gender? Owning two dogs of the same gender is possible, but you need to be knowledgeable about these relationships, regardless of the age of the dogs. Consult a trainer before bringing same-gendered dogs into the home.

Is your current dog’s training complete? Despite popular belief, dogs don’t really train one another. Owning an untrained dog, and then bringing in another untrained dog will make your training efforts much more challenging.

Trained dogs rarely share their good habits with untrained dogs. It is usually the untrained dogs that develop bad habits in our trained dogs.

I had this happen with my own dogs. I had never heard Lumen bark until we adopted Genesis two years later. Gen’s wild energy escalated Lumen to the point of becoming a pretty consistent barker. We had to work diligently with both dogs for a while to balance the energy in the house and eliminate the barking.

Sometimes it is tempting to bring in a second dog before we are prepared. Sometimes we want a playmate for our current dog. Sometimes we love dogs and want to own as many as possible. Sometimes our children or other family members want a new addition. For the overall success of the dogs and ourselves, it is critical that we take into consideration all of these aspects and prepare ourselves for the journey.