Case History: Multi Dog Households

As a dog trainer in Fort Worth, I regularly work with clients who are struggling to manage their multi dog households. Whether it’s general chaos, or there is discord amongst the different canine personalities in their home, it begins to feel unmanageable. One dog can be difficult to control, so when more than one dog gets out of hand, it can be extremely overwhelming.

For Lanna’s family, this was exactly what happened.

Lanna is a Doberman Pinscher who was purchased from a breeder at about 13 weeks old. Her new family was excited to introduce Lanna to her new canine “siblings”, a 6-year-old Shih Tzu and a 10-year-old Boxer. Lanna appeared eager to meet them, too, but they weren’t so excited to meet Lanna.

See, Lanna’s breeder breeds and raises their dogs in a kennel environment (not a home). She had never experienced a home environment, so she wasn’t familiar with the ins and outs of life as a family pet. Most dogs figure it out and adjust before we ever really notice what’s happening, but Lanna was a different story. Had Lanna been their only dog, her family may never have felt the need to reach out for help; but Lanna’s interactions with her new canine siblings were getting worse, not better. Since she was raised in a run with her littermates, it’s likely that she had never really experienced human guidance, which may partially explain why she completely ignored her human family’s attempts to communicate with her.  

Over the week following her adoption, Lanna got into several scuffles with the Shih Tzu and managed to stress out the usually laid back Boxer. One of these scuffles escalated into an actual fight, which resulted in an accidental bite to Lanna’s owner’s leg. Life in their home experienced an overnight shift from peaceful to stressful, and they knew they needed help.

When I first met Lanna, she was like a wild animal! It wasn’t her fault, nor was it her family’s fault – Lanna simply didn’t know any better, and her family had never experienced this situation. To make matters worse, Lanna was shaping up to be an abnormally large Doberman – she was nearly as tall as the 100 lb Boxer! As I watched Lanna interact with the Boxer and the Shih Tzu, two things were clear: Lanna is a very assertive personality, and the other two were extremely stressed. Lanna’s human family did not want to give her up, but they worried it was impossible for her to safely remain in her home. They worried that at the very least, her presence would continue to stress out their old, sensitive Boxer, and that at the worst, Lanna was an aggressive dog who would end up hurting the Shih Tzu.

I told Lanna’s family up front that as long as they’re willing to do some work to achieve peace in the household, there is no reason to send Lanna back to the kennel! Sometimes a dog needs some guidance to understand how to live as a family pet; this is exactly the situation Lanna was in. Lanna had never experienced family life, and as a rather tightly-wound canine personality, she wasn’t exactly a go-with-the-flow dog – she was more of a “take charge” kind of dog. Many dog trainers would mislabel Lanna as a dominant dog, but I never felt that was the case. Lanna’s tendency to take control isn’t motivated by dominance – it’s just a product of her personality. When presented with a new situation, she will almost always take the initiative and move forward.

I also told Lanna’s owners that at this point, there is no reason to assume Lanna is an aggressive dog. I had learned that the Shih Tzu is a resource guarder, and that their altercation had occurred as she took a bone from Lanna and then guarded it. This is enough to trigger a fight for most dogs, but Lanna’s owners had never run into this before; their other dogs had always accepted this behavior from the Shih Tzu without issue. Lanna, being an assertive personality, was not about to take this lightly.

Although this was certainly a problem, this was not the most significant factor. The factor with the greatest influence over Lanna’s behavior was her complete lack of manners and lack of familiarity with life as a pet. We set a plan in motion to teach her these new skills apart from the other dogs, and then after Lanna was less of a wild animal and more of a family pet, we’d reintroduce her to the other two dogs and reevaluate our plan from there.

Lanna began this learning phase by spending lots of time with her human family. During this time, she received clear and consistent feedback about which behaviors were acceptable and which were unacceptable. She readily accepted their guidance and began to calm down significantly. Much to her family’s surprise, Lanna very quickly acclimated to life as a family pet! I reassured her family that she is learning quickly because they are doing such a phenomenal job applying clear and consistent feedback. When you communicate with a dog in this way, behavior change can happen quickly! Dogs do not understand exceptions, so the more consistent you remain, the faster change happens. The fact that this communication and guidance is coming from Lanna’s own family members means that her relationship with these family members is reaping the benefits. This process delivers a strong bond of trust and respect between dog and handler, which is exactly why I only do in-home dog training! It doesn’t matter if the dog responds to me – they need to respond to their human family when it matters most.

Lanna learned her basic obedience commands (and how to perform them reliably), but more importantly, she learned how to relax and be calm in the house instead of running around like a bull in a china shop. We taught her the place command (go to your bed, lie down and be calm and quiet) and used that throughout the day to help Lanna develop the right kind of lifestyle within her new home.

Less than two weeks into training, Lanna’s family felt so comfortable with her behavior that they began to let the older dogs mingle nearby. We continued to teach Lanna good behaviors apart from the other dogs, and a funny thing happened: Lanna was slowly but surely able to reintegrate into the household without any special attention from me! Once Lanna’s canine “siblings” were no longer overwhelmed by her wild, assertive behavior, they were much more accepting of her presence. They even caught the Shih Tzu sharing a dog bed with Lanna! Best of all, the dogs were now stress-free.

Weeks later, Lanna has mastered many new skills, from every day manners and pet behaviors, to reliable obedience commands. She is fully housebroken, crate trained, waits politely while other dogs accept treats and toys, takes her own treats and toys politely, greets new people politely, has mastered the place command and down stays, loves to snuggle with her human family, can run off leash on their property without issue, shares sleeping spaces with the other dogs, reliably sits, lays down and stays, and is currently mastering a completely reliable recall!

Lanna’s relationship to her new canine siblings is improving every day and has yet to require any special attention from me. Her family feels so confident handling and communicating with Lanna that they’ve been able to integrate Lanna into the family on their own. They’ve also learned how to apply the communication techniques and theories they learned from their training experience with Lanna to the other dogs in the household, which has improved their relationship with their dogs across the board. I’m always here if they need help, but so far so good!

This is just one example of the difficulties a multi dog household can face. If you’re struggling to manage the canine relationships in your home, please reach out to me! I can help you regain peace in your home and eliminate the stress on both your human and canine family members. I offer in-home dog training to the entire Fort Worth and mid-cities areas – contact me at 800.649.7297 or email me via my website contact form.

Change is possible!