“It’s Just The ONE Dog That Needs Training”…Are You Sure About That? 

In-home dog training in my specialty, but I am not averse to training in a group class setting. In fact, I have a couple of different locations both inside and outside the perimeter, offering my Practical Pet Protocol group class, which I like to jokingly say, “It’s like the pet store classes, but on steroids!” In all seriousness though, I always aim with my training, group or private setting, to take a step further where the behavioral issues are addressed and the training goals are achieved.

With group classes, some dogs may not flourish as well as others, as many dogs with a bad behavior track record need full attention and a controlled environment where initially, there are little to no distractions present. With in-home training, we can accomplish this type of set up, where we put the dog in more successful situations versus creating automatic failure.

Many times I have had dog owners call me and they have multiple dogs in their home. Pick a single digit, I’ve probably dealt with that number — two, three, five, even NINE dogs. However, within a multiple dog household, the owner sometimes singles out ONE dog from the pack, saying that this specific dog is the one that is causing the most mayhem in the home and needs the training over any of the others.

Now, there have been several instances where the dog in question is one that was recently adopted and is not adjusting well to the home and to the new family members. Sometimes the “new dog” causes fights with the “veterans”, or perhaps is the only one that is experiencing anxiety issues, housebreaking struggles, destructive behavior, guarding, etc. However, there are times where there is not only one culprit.

Take for example, two new dogs that recently got signed up for training. Missy and Hailey are two siblings around the same age,  though Hailey is the newest addition to the family. However, their owner called me for training, but wanted training only for Missy, the one that she’s had the longest and the one she deemed as being in dire need of a behavioral change. When I arrived at their home for the initial consultation, I saw the problematic behaviors described to me by the owner – high anxiety, excessive barking, leash pulling, and some accidents indoors! As we discussed further into what the training goals were and how we could reach them, I saw that while Missy had overt signs of behavior problems, I saw that Hailey was showing very similar symptoms.

Toward the end of the consultation, I advised Missy and Hailey’s owner to take on the multiple dog training, where both would be entered into the private in-home regimen. This was in no way to cause more grief or gain more monetary compensation. After explaining and showing that both dogs demonstrated behavioral issues, I made it clear that it was ultimately the owner’s choice. If she wished to pursue training solely with Missy because she felt she was the major troublemaker, we would follow that path. However, I said that we would need to occasionally isolate the sisters from potentially feeding off each others’ bad behavior, possibly influencing one another. After much deep thought, Missy and Hailey’s owner chose to enter both girls into the training.

For the first lesson, I arrived at the home and asked how they were doing since I last saw them. It was no surprise to me that more issues had popped up and that the owner was very sure now that it was not just Missy misbehaving, but also Hailey was picking up on her sister’s behavior and pushing more buttons herself. With both now training, we were able to keep both Missy and Hailey on a consistent, reward-based training program where they could both progress, and ultimately, address the issues quicker and more effectively.

This might not necessarily be the case with every client with multiple dogs. Sometimes there is just that one pup that is crossing the boundaries and is the only one that needs behavior modification, while the siblings are behaving and avoiding the household drama. However, it is important to remember that many dogs will feed off of each others’ energies and behavior. With Missy and Hailey, it was a situation where the “veteran” dog (Missy) had issues prior to Hailey’s entrance, and it was now being addressed after many months. With the new dog (Hailey) coming in, she initially acted fine, but as soon as she became more comfortable in the home and saw that Missy’s anxiety and poor behavior was allowed, she picked up on it and began to demonstrate it herself with no hesitation.

With one dog or multiple dogs, I always ensure that the dogs are set up for success, not for failure. That the dogs learn better behaviors and adopt them, thus dropping the former bad behavior and letting it fade into the past. I always ensure that all training goals are met, and that the ENTIRE family benefits from the training. The dog learns to be comfortable, confident, and happy – and so will the rest of the human and canine pack!