Living with multiple dogs can be a fun and incredibly rewarding experience, but it also comes with unique challenges that differ from having just one dog. When you have more than one dog, you’re not just managing your relationship with each dog individually—you’re also navigating the relationships between the dogs themselves, as well as the dynamic that forms within the group as a whole. In this blog, I’ll explore best practices, tips, and techniques to help multi-dog households thrive and ensure harmony among all dogs in your household.
At the start of this year, in January, I transitioned from a one-dog household to a two-dog home when rescue dog Fernando joined my home. It has been an incredible journey watching the relationship between Chester and Fernando grow and evolve over time. Out of all the dogs I’ve had in my life, I’ve never experienced such a strong bond between two dogs. They share everything—including the highest-value food—without any conflict. They seek comfort from each other through touch, often cuddling and intertwining when resting. Their daily play sessions continue to change and evolve, and they naturally seek each other out for comfort during moments of nervousness or uncertainty.
I am no stranger to multi-dog households, having lived with multiple dogs for the past two decades. At one point, I had four personal dogs, usually alongside a foster or board-and-train dog. I vividly remember one holiday where I had 12 dogs in my living room! This past year, after losing my senior dog, I was down to just one—my small Chihuahua mix, Chester. But with Fernando joining us in January, we’ve re-entered life as a multi-dog household, and it’s been a fascinating experience watching these two form such a close and unique relationship.
The first thing to consider when living with multiple dogs is that each individual dog still has their own unique needs that must be addressed by you. Never add a second dog—or any additional dogs—to your household solely as a way to give your current dog a friend. Any time you bring another dog into your home, it should be because you want that dog and are motivated to train and develop a relationship with them. Each dog will come with their own set of needs that will require attention beyond those of the group dynamic. It’s important to ensure that every dog in your household receives individual care, training, and attention, regardless of how well they may get along with each other.
It’s important to teach and reinforce individual names for each dog, as well as a group name for when you need to address them collectively. For example, I use a very generic term like “dogs” when I’m calling them both to come at the same time. If I need to address a specific dog, I use their individual name. This helps ensure that each dog understands when they are being spoken to directly versus when the group as a whole is being called or given a cue.
Another useful tool in a multi-dog household is teaching and reinforcing a “cut-off cue.” A cut-off cue is a word or phrase you’ve conditioned to act as an interrupter for behavior. You can condition this by saying your chosen cue—such as “take a break”—and then jogging over to the cookie jar to reward the dogs with food. With enough repetition, you’ll develop a reliable cue that can be used to break up interactions between the dogs when necessary.
It’s normal to need to ask your dogs to “take a break” for a variety of reasons. Play might be getting too rowdy, one dog might need a break but the other isn’t reading that signal correctly, tension could be starting to form, or excitement may be escalating too much. A solid cut-off cue is essential for maintaining harmony in a multi-dog household and ensuring interactions stay positive.
It’s important to ensure you still spend one-on-one time with each dog, rather than always interacting as a group. Every individual dog needs personal time with you to work on training skills, cognitive games, play, and important tasks like cooperative care (handling, grooming, nail care, etc.). It’s easy to fall into the habit of interacting with the dogs as a group full-time, but one-on-one time with each dog should be a priority in your daily routine. This not only strengthens your relationship with each dog but also ensures the second dog gets practice being alone, which is a valuable skill in itself.
Set your dogs up for relationship success by proactively considering their individual needs. What do your dogs require when it comes to mealtimes and sharing space? How do they handle sharing toys, your attention, or engaging in play? What about managing hyper-arousal or reactivity? Addressing these questions allows you to use antecedent arrangement to your advantage—setting up the environment in ways that help prevent conflict before it starts.
For example, some dogs may need individual space during mealtimes to avoid tension or resource guarding. This can be easily arranged once you understand their needs, and it’s a principle you can apply to many aspects of their daily life. By proactively managing situations like meals, play, and interactions, you can maintain harmony and minimize the chances of conflict erupting.
Relationships are fluid, constantly evolving and changing—and this is true for the relationships between your dogs. You can help foster positive connections between them by creating opportunities for the group to associate being together with good things. A simple exercise is to call all of your dogs over and ask them to sit or lie down, then trade off feeding them treats one by one, switching up the order of who gets the treat first or second.
The idea is for them to learn that when they come together, resources become more plentiful, and it’s a positive experience to have the other dogs nearby. When they’re close together and sharing a resource like treats, they’ll associate those moments with good feelings. This helps to build strong group relationships while also preventing problematic behaviors like resource guarding over food, attention, or other valuable resources.
Train your dogs together as well as separately. Before asking them to practice cues as a group, make sure each dog fully understands the cue in one-on-one training sessions. I always ensure that my dogs have received individual lessons with me and understand the cue before asking them to practice it together.
Once each dog is comfortable with the cue on their own, you can start practicing in the presence of the other dog(s). An easy and effective game I like to play with my dogs during group training sessions is called “Cheese Time,” which you can read more about here.
The same principle applies when walking your dogs together. While it’s definitely possible to walk more than one dog at a time, make sure each dog has already been individually trained to walk on a loose leash and has been reinforced for basic skills before adding a second or third dog to the walk.
For some people, adding a second dog may require adjusting how they manage the walk to ensure everyone’s safety. Additionally, some dogs may do better when walked individually rather than together, depending on their needs and how they handle being part of a group. Again, it all comes down to understanding what each of your dogs requires when they’re alone or interacting with others.
Lastly, enjoy all the amazing benefits that come with having multiple dogs! Instead of one dog to cuddle with, now you have two. Instead of one dog to play with, you have double the fun. And when it comes to teaching tricks, you can explore cool options like having one dog lie down while the other jumps over them—Leapfrog is a great example of a fun skill to teach when you have more than one dog. The possibilities for training games and tricks are endless when you have multiple dogs to work with.
The joy that comes from sharing your life with dogs only grows when you have more than one, bringing even more love, laughter, and learning into your home.
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