THE CANINE BEHAVIOR SERIES By Kathy Diamond Davis Author and Trainer

Adding a new dog to your family means, in dog terms, adding a new dog to the pack. Dog packs are social units. Dogs are much more the victims of their own instincts than humans when it comes to relationships with their own species.

If the dogs you put together in a pack are not compatible with each other, the results are stressful for everyone involved. The violence that can result from dogs not being able to work out their differences can cause grave injuries or death. These factors make the choice of the right dog to join your pack an important one.

Must They Be a Pack?

One way to keep multiple dogs who are not compatible as a pack is the method kennels use: keep the dogs separated. This requires an organized set-up that minimizes the risk of accidentally putting incompatible dogs together. Families with young children in the home or without adequate physical facilities may decide against this option.

Some kennel operators want their dogs separated from other dogs rather extensively, while others simply separate the dogs into groups that get along. It depends on the dogs being kept as well as the purposes for which they are there. Whenever you consider adding another dog to your pack, consider whether this addition may take you into an entirely different category of dog-keeping.

What works for the family with one dog, or with two dogs of opposite sex, will eventually not work any longer when you add enough dogs. Just exactly which dog will put you into that next category is not always apparent in advance. It depends on breeds and individual personalities.

When you go from two dogs to three, you'll have at least two dogs of the same sex together and those two will be forced to determine which of them is dominant over the other. When you go from three to four, pack dynamics are greatly complicated, no matter what the mix of sexes. At four to five dogs, the likelihood of fighting becomes high. But this varies with breeds, some being likely to fight when you have two of the same sex, and others possibly getting along somewhat peacefully in a fairly large pack.

One thing that takes most people by surprise is that puppies usually get along fine. The fighting starts later. Growing up together does not prevent two dogs of the same sex from starting to fight as the younger of them matures.

Be sure to carefully research pack compatibility with any breed you are considering. Knowledgeable breeders in that breed are generally your best source. One way to find these breeders is through their national breed clubs, and most of these clubs have websites as well as volunteers who answer inquiries.

If you want to manage your dogs in a kennel, you'll be able to select the dogs you want for your own purposes, without necessarily making their compatibility with each other a priority. (You'll also need to make sure your property is zoned for the number of dogs you're keeping there.) If you want dogs who can live together peacefully with your human family, your priorities in dog selection will be different.

The Easy Way

Dogs are individuals, with exceptions to every rule! In general, though, if you have a male dog and you bring in a female dog of similar size, the chances are good that they will get along.

There are some things you may need to change in how you've been managing your one dog. Multiple dogs need to be separated for food and highly desirable toys, because it's dog nature to compete for these items. Your family and dogs are safest not to let this competition ever get started in the first place. So you may need to resituate your single dog's food dish to keep his new sister's nose out of it, and stop leaving his toys out all the time.

You'll also need to make more of an effort to give each dog individual attention away from the other dog, in order to maintain a full and satisfying human-to-dog relationship with each of them. The dogs can benefit from each other's company, but they also need individual time with you to be able to function in a human world. This tends to work out to it being more than twice as much work to properly train and manage two dogs than just one!

If your first dog is a female and you add a male, she may exercise "a woman's prerogative" and knock him around a bit at first. This tends to smooth out over time, if you're able to protect them from themselves while they work it out.

They may deliberately "fight" in front of you, so they can act out while feeling that you'll protect them from themselves. While you want to break things up before anyone gets hurt, you don't want to give them attention for fighting, favor either of them, or intervene with bad timing that escalates the conflict.

If the dogs are big and you're not an experienced dog handler, you may need expert help. On the other hand, introducing them on neutral territory may be all it takes, especially if they can have a few play meetings before moving in together.

If you find yourself in a bind with two dogs acting testy at each other, one tactic that can help is to let them take turns being crated. When they stop reacting to each other through the crate walls, you might try a wire fence. If that goes well, they might be ready to run together in a large area that's not home territory to either dog. A relationship that starts off with the need for this level of caution will likely require a knowledgeable dog person to integrate the dogs into a peaceful relationship. This stuff can be tricky.

The size factor is critical if two dogs seriously fight. It is a little less critical if they are opposite sex, especially if the larger one is the male. Males are somewhat inhibited about beating up females. An extreme size difference can be dangerous for a tiny dog, though, no matter how genial the much-larger house companion. The power of a large dog running is enough to injure and sometimes even kill a tiny dog. If you decide to keep dogs of greatly differing sizes, plan some separations to protect the tiny one.

In some breeds, two dogs of the same sex may get along okay together. In other breeds, putting two of the same sex together is a pure recipe for disaster. Male dogs seem to be somewhat more likely to work out a pack order successfully than females. Females seem to be more likely to fight to the death. Be sure to do your breed research homework and think very carefully before putting two dogs of the same sex together.

Number Three, or Four, or More…

A lot of people successfully keep three dogs together, when the dogs are the right dogs and the people manage them well. Think about what you want to do with your dogs. If you want to breed dogs, participate in dog sports, do therapy dog work, or follow some other working pursuit with your dogs, it may make sense to carefully add a third dog at the right time to continue your chosen activity with dogs.

The right time can vary greatly, depending on the temperaments of your dogs, their health, your family, and other factors. Adding a new dog is a bigger decision than people realize, and usually the best idea is to wait until you can't wait any longer! The longer you wait, the more likely it is that the perfect dog will become available to you. The more impulsively you act in adopting a new dog, the higher the risk that you'll choose a dog who isn't right for you or for the rest of your family-especially your other dogs.

Think about what is important in your dogs' lives. Consider whether adding a dog would mean your dogs losing things in their lives that are important to them. One or two dogs riding along in the car or going with you on vacation may work where one more dog won't. Adding another dog will likely mean that high-value toys will be available to your dogs less of the time, to prevent fighting over them.

And of course your time and finances will have to be divided into smaller pieces. We all have limits, and each dog needs consistent human attention as well as financial support in order to be healthy and happy. You'll need to factor in the time and expense of grooming. Grooming neglect of a long-haired dog becomes inhumane when  mats cause pain and skin damage.

The Future

During the life expectancies of the dogs you have and the one you're considering to add, what is ahead in your own life? Are you planning to marry, have children, retire, or enroll in college? Are you facing a move into less dog-friendly housing? The physical facilities where you live make a big difference for your dogs. Do you currently have really good facilities for the dog you want to add?

It's a sadly small percentage of dogs who live out their lives in the homes that adopt them in puppyhood. No one expects to be the person who gives up a dog because they can no longer provide care, but too many people indeed become the ones who do.

Think carefully about alternatives to adding another dog, if your situation is less than ideal. If it's a puppy, you can be sure someone else will come along who is capable of giving the pup a good home. If it's an adult dog, perhaps you could help by making some phone calls, getting involved with an adoption outreach, or fostering for awhile. Helping a dog find a great forever home is a wonderful thing to do for the dog, and terrific for you, too.

Decisions, Decisions

Adding a dog to your family may not be as big a decision as having a human baby, but in some ways it compares. It's a bigger decision than buying a car or a house, because unlike these big-ticket purchases, a dog feels pain. Bringing a dog into your home is an adoption rather than a purchase. With forethought and love, it can be one of the best decisions you've ever made.

Date Published: 5/28/2004 7:25:00 PM

    

Kathy Diamond Davis is the author of the book Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others. Should the training articles available here or elsewhere not be effective, contact your veterinarian. Veterinarians not specializing in behavior can eliminate medical causes of behavior problems. If no medical cause is found, your veterinarian can refer you to a colleague who specializes in behavior or a local behaviorist.