Pet Tip of the Week Structuring the Multi-Pet Household

You didn’t mean for it to happen. The situation developed without warning: your best buddy, Fido is housetrained, quiet, a pleasure to your family and then BLAM! You find another dog or another dog finds you and your quiet home becomes a noisy, chaotic, multi-pet household!

Photo: Dawn Watson with Tasha

Fido suddenly begins marking (urinating everywhere), barking, and growling at Fifi. Short of splitting each room down the middle with a barbed-wire fence, what can you do about these behaviors? 

There is no short answer on this one but you can make the process less stressful if you follow a few simple rules:

• Do not allow either dog together without human supervision.
• If you catch Fido in the act of marking make a loud sound and immediately take him outside. Offer praise when he has ‘finished up’ outside. Clean the place where he marked with a product such as ™Nature’s Miracle.
• Take time to work with both dogs individually but not within sight of the other dog.
• Keep leashes on both dogs until they can interact acceptably.
• Keep rewarding the dogs for offering calm behavior.
• Never feed the dogs, together.

There are lots more suggestions on this topic but some of them are situational. I encourage clients to bring the entire household of humans and dogs for training so that everyone can work together to restore peace in their home. Most of the time the effects are immediate; sometimes the problems require months of behavior modification.

In addition, Mr. Cleary encourages dialog between readers of Cleary’s Notebook so don’t be afraid to comment.

Next week’s topic will be all about breeds. I’m sure it will either reinforce what you already knew or perhaps enlighten you about your favorite breed of dog!

Wado, udohiyu (thank you very much)

Dawn Watson