Debunking Myths About Having More Than One Dog

Are you contemplating adding another furry friend to your household? Join me, Dale Buchanan, on this episode of Puppy Talk as we examine the pros, cons, misconceptions, and truths about owning multiple dogs. Discover whether an additional pup could bring joy and companionship to your current dog or if it might just add to your responsibilities. We'll discuss common myths like the idea that an older dog will train a new puppy or that dogs need another canine companion at home to be happy and relaxed. Through real-life examples, like my own dog Dixie who thrives solo with the help of daycare, we’ll debunk these misconceptions and offer a realistic perspective.

Managing a multi-dog household isn't all fun and games; it comes with its own set of challenges. From financial responsibilities to time management and training difficulties, you'll get practical tips on how to navigate these hurdles. Learn why you must train each dog separately and how to handle the logistical aspects like walking and transporting multiple dogs. If you're on the fence about adding another dog or struggling with the ones you already have, this episode is packed with insights and strategies to help you make an informed decision and maintain order in your dog-loving home. Tune in and equip yourself with the knowledge to create a harmonious multi-dog household!

RESOURCES:
Podcast Website: http://puppytalkpodcast.com
Sponsor Website: http://www.topgundogtraining.com
Dale's books: https://www.amazon.com/author/dalebuchanan

Chapters

• 1:26 The Pros of Getting a Second Dog
• 2:03 The Cons of Getting a Second Dog
• 3:53 Misconceptions of Having Multiple Dogs
• 6:03 The Facts of Owning Multiple Dogs

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

I'm Dale Buchanan and this is Puppy Talk, the podcast that offers free advice and tips for raising a happy, healthy and obedient puppy. For more information on this podcast, visit us online at puppytalkpodcastcom. Welcome to Puppy Talk, episode number 101. I'm your host, dale Buchanan, and on this episode I want to talk about whether you should get another puppy or not, or another dog, whether you have one dog already or two dogs. Maybe you've got three dogs and you wanna get another dog. I'm not gonna tell you what to do in this podcast. What I will do is I'll highlight the pros, cons, misconceptions and the facts of owning multiple dogs. Before we get started, make sure that you refer to the last podcast that I did regarding financial responsibility for pet ownership. I go into the cost of owning a dog and also touch on owning multiple dogs and how expensive that can get. Also, consider the podcast that I did in January 2024 right here on Puppy Talk about litter mate syndrome. This episode highlights the importance of being well informed about getting two puppies at once.

Speaker 1: 1:23

Let's get started with this episode. There are two pros to getting a second dog when you already have one. The first is that your current dog will have a playmate, a friend and a companion. This is usually the number one reason why most owners get a second dog. The next pro is for personal reasons, that you will have the love of multiple dogs. This is very comforting to a lot of humans to have affection from more than one dog. This is another reason why a lot of dog owners get more than one dog.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Let's talk about the cons of getting a second dog. First of all, consider the financial responsibility the food, the vet bills, equipment. Refer to the last podcast episode I did discussing this in great detail. The second con is the time it takes to manage and train multiple dogs. Most people think you can train both dogs together, but in the facts that I list at the end of this podcast, I will explain that you have to train each dog separately. You have to walk two dogs at once and this can be challenging for most owners. Most of the people that I train have multiple dogs and they don't know how to walk two dogs at once in a civil manner to where they are following them and not playing all the time. The next con is that you have to think about transporting two dogs at once and this can be a challenge. One dog may be bigger than the other dog. One dog may be in the back of the SUV. One dog may be in front seat. You might put both dogs in the back seat and they might play all the time. And dog may be in front seat. You might put both dogs in the back seat and they might play all the time. And this can be very challenging, very frustrating to the owner and also a liability if you are driving and this could be a safety hazard. So you have to think about that. The final con to owning multiple dogs is that they will always want to play, even when you want them to be disciplined, and 70% of my clients are people that have multiple dogs and all dogs are out of control. No dogs are trained, they just don't know what to do. Everything is chaos is chaos. So I have to go in creating a plan and structure, train each dog separately and teach them how to use management techniques to keep each dog calm and relaxed while in the house.

Speaker 1: 3:53

Some of the misconceptions of having multiple dogs One dogs will not necessarily teach other dogs. A lot of people get a dog thinking adult dog will teach my puppy how to go potty outside because I'll let them both go together outside and the puppy will watch the older dog go potty in the grass. So the puppy's gonna go potty in the grass and never have an accident in the house. That is not true. It's the owner's responsibility to train a puppy to go potty outside, not your other dog. Misconception number two Dogs need a companion at home. This is absolutely false. I have Dixie. She's four and a half years old. I've had her since she was 10 weeks old. She does not have a companion at home because when she's at home she's relaxed, she's on her bed, she's chewing her deer antler, she's always calm and she has a daycare that she goes to three to four days a week where she can have play, enrichment, socialization with other dogs. This is her outlet and she doesn't need a companion at home because she's getting plenty of companionship at the daycare.

Speaker 1: 5:10

The final misconception is that you can train one dog and the other dog will follow along, and this is absolutely false. You cannot train one dog and expect the other dog to watch and learn. Every dog is different. Every breed learns differently. The age of the dog will learn differently. Training a puppy is completely different than training an adult dog. Adult dogs have brains that are more developed. They can learn faster. Puppies need to learn very simple, foundational things first and foremost, such as stopping the jumping and the play, biting and being rambunctious. Adult dogs are going to be much sharper, much more focused, so you don't want to have one dog teach the other dog or train one dog and think that the other dog is going to be able to be trained. No-transcript.

Speaker 1: 6:03

And finally, the facts of owning multiple dogs. Like I've already said, each dog will need to be trained separately. 70% of the clients that hire me are people that own anywhere from two to four dogs, and I explain to them on the phone before they hire me each dog needs to be trained separately and then we can start working with them together once they have a good level of basic obedience and discipline. The next fact is owning multiple dogs is a lot harder than it seems. This is always true. People think that if I raise one dog, I can put another dog into the mix and raise them both. It's going to be as easy as one dog. It's not. It's not double hard if you have two dogs. It's 10 times harder if you go from one dog to two dogs. There's so much to do with two dogs that it's almost borderline stressful to most people if you don't have good leadership skills and have everything set in place with management and have the dogs be trained immediately once you get both of them into the house.

Speaker 1: 7:13

The third fact is that all dogs do not get along. The first thing you want to do when you bring a dog into a house where you currently have a dog is to make sure that they get along. For example, let's say you have an adult dog that's four years old and you want another puppy. You're thinking if I get another puppy, this puppy will be the companion of the adult dog and the adult dog will mentor the puppy and teach the puppy a whole bunch of good stuff. Chances are that's not going to work very well because you've got an adult dog who's calmer and more laid back and the puppy is very rambunctious, very outgoing, overstimulated all the time, has ADD just all over the place and this puppy wants to play and romp around and the adult dog wants to take naps. So how well is that going to work out? You've got to think about this. Naps, so how well is that going to work out? You got to think about this If you get a three-month-old puppy and a four-year-old dog, the age difference is going to be, in human years, about 30 years old to about four years old.

Speaker 1: 8:19

That's a big difference. What are those two going to do together? Not a whole lot. In review, having an older dog and getting a younger puppy usually does not work very well. In review, having an older dog and getting a young puppy usually does not work very well.

Speaker 1: 8:35

Like I said, most of the calls I get are people with multi-dog households and they don't know how to manage it. They don't know how to train each dog separately, they don't know what each dog needs based on their breed and so on and so forth. And finally, I'll just say that if you're going to get another dog when you already have one dog, put a lot of time and a lot of energy into thinking about the exact breed, the age, everything about the dog that you're going to bring into the house. When you already have a dog in your house, everything can go wrong very quickly. Very rarely does it work out 100% perfect and smoothly from the get-go. I hope this information was helpful to you. If you have any questions, you can contact me through my website, puppytalkpodcastcom. Have a great day.