Multiple dog management

Ebony, Grace, Gracie and Garrett hanging out on their Bases

     Someone asked me what I do at my home when I have multiple dogs.  I always have multiple dogs: I own two dogs, and when I board dogs they come to me for a variety of reasons.  A few dogs stay with me on a regular basis to keep their training fresh and occasionally add more skills.  Others are dogs with very low thresholds that the owners know would be extremely stressed in any other environment.  There are dogs who come for basic skills, such as crate conditioning, simple commands, or leash work.  But as a Behavioral Consultant I also have dogs that are from questionable backgrounds that need to be temperament tested around other dogs and people in a home environment (versus the high activity level of a shelter or other holding facility) or that are here to work on larger issues such as fear, aggression, separation anxiety.

     There are several key factors that make my business successful for all of these instances.  First and foremost, I work from my home by appointment only.  There is not a public storefront or attraction.  No pretty display areas.  Just a regular house that I live in with my husband and our two fur kids.  This means when I schedule time to work with another dog/dogs they are the only ones I am focused on.  There is minimal chance for distractions.  I do a lot of classical conditioning, which is less popular mainly because of the necessary repetition.  In addition, when I am shaping a behavior with a dog, it can cut training time in half or better when I work directly with the dog- as I only have one student to show and reward for new skills, instead of having to explain each new adaptation to the owner. 

     I am very careful to balance my appointments so I will always be mentally and physically ready and able to devote all of my attention to the goals of the canine directly in front of me.  Each lesson is a personal bonding experience of the dog to whichever humans are guiding it.  Creating my business from my house was a deliberate choice designed to limit clientele numbers to yield higher quality results in the cases I choose to take on.  Paws Then Play LLC will never have multiple employees, have a huge facility or turn into a franchise.  I do what I love to help where I can.  I have a small enough roster that I can be available to any of my students who call me at any time of day and I know who they are, who their dog is and how I can help troubleshoot without having to shuffle through papers or pull up a database.

Riley, Brutus and Grace practicing down/stay.

     The most crucial element I have here is structure.  I don't mean the frame of the house, I mean the consistency in the day to day workings with my dogs, whether there are others present or not.  Every day my dogs know and expect to have to work for their meals.  There is no "Free Lunch" served and thus it cements the state of mind in my dogs of my role as the provider (this is part of my preferred non-confrontational methods which I will write more on in another entry).  Every day has multiple training opportunities since dogs are continually learning and I am strict with my "house rules."  The dogs are never allowed to run amok in the fenced-in enclosure (about 1/2 an acre) like a doggy daycare.  They are here to learn to control themselves, and see the inherent reward in self control as opposed to the constant barrage of forced interaction that is the root cause of many of my clients' issues.

     Both of my dogs went through months (in Brutus' case years) of on-leash training and observation before earning the freedom of being leash- and collar-free by becoming reliable to voice commands at a distance and with distraction.  Any new dog will always be wearing a lead when it is out of the crate in my home until it has proven its reliability off-leash.  Not only does this allow for the greatest amount of guidance (and thus, learning potential) but dramatically reduces the chances for any undesirable behaviors to be learned or any misunderstandings that can result in a bite.

     I presently have two four-legged house guests.  Holly and Stormie are keeping their training skills current while they await their fur-ever homes.  *(For more information about these wonderful girls, click on their names above for pictures and information, or click HERE for a link to the Greater Charlotte SPCA site.)  This morning they waited patiently in their crates for their turn to go outside for potty.  Holly was outside on leash while Brutus finished his time outside.  Grace had wiggle time solo off lead.  Stormie also had one on one potty time but on a long line.   Breakfast is served one at a time, so each dog has time to really shine working on their specific training goals.  Water bowls are freshened next as everyone settles in for quiet time (I feel rest is very important after meals or training).  Potty breaks are spaced sporadically throughout the day, whenever I am switching from one dog to another (or others) and water is always freshened after a dog has been out.

Theo and Tia after a nice long walk in the woods.

     Throughout the day I rotate through the dogs finding ways to relax or challenge them in turn.  Sometimes I have only one dog out training, other times I will have all four.  Everything is gauged by how much the individual dog can handle (what can it perform with minimal stress and retain) and its particular goals.  Grace and Brutus are "control dogs" or examples mostly.  For groups of dogs out together I assign particular areas for each dog, called "bases" to prevent the possibility of aggression. My two dogs are very used to this structure and so will almost immediately relax and take a nap. Monkey see= monkeys do for the most part! Other dogs are much more inclined to relax when they see my two doing so.  When I am working on the group stays on "base" my two simply relax and snooze, showing the newbies what is expected and possible.  Once a new dog has mastered "base" sometimes I will practice basic heeling exercises with one of my dogs where they can see which makes it easier for the dog learning the new skills.

     In a nutshell, what I do with multiple dogs is handle multiple work loads.  Each dog deserves not only to be exposed positively to other humans and dogs (socialization), but also one on one training time, and time to themselves for rest.  It is a matter of being able to accurately determine each dog's threshold, and balance the possible stress of learning new skills against the progress and coveted results, while managing the environment constantly to ensure each dog's success in any given exercise.  I live for the difference I see in the dogs I work with.  Knowing that the self relaxation skills I taught a dog helped to de-escalate a potentially aggressive situation, or seeing that a handler understands their dog more fully and has taken steps to make that dog's life better gives me fulfillment and justifies any physical or mental strain I may have exerted to get them there.


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