For those of you with more than one dog

[Chrisanne]

Oh and btw....

Dena, that is exactly why everyone here has shots at different times. Gazoo goes in Sept, Daytona will be Dec, Smoke will be Jan, and Maverick is Feb

[Denise]

Chrisanne, it does make sense. The good thing is, the American Bulldog girl is 10 months so she is already housebroken.

[Chrisanne]

Quote: Originally Posted by Denise Chrisanne, it does make sense. The good thing is, the American Bulldog girl is 10 months so she is already housebroken.

That in and of itself is a bonus!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Denise]

I forgot to add, her name is Icee.

[HappyDancer]

I have 3...and I love them all lol...the 2 smaller ones are togather all day, then crated at night (seperate crates...the large one sleeps on my bed with me lol...during the day they all play togather and are often left home alone...they are all still alive I would have alot more if I had the room for them...

cons...well as said before theres the mess (my mom or Ken do that) thats the only real draw back...unless they all get sick at once, the vet bill can hurt...but besides that I love it

[Scarlette]

Ok, I'll throw in my 2 cents.

There was a little issue when I first got Riley. Scarlette wants no part of puppy antics. She got a little upset when Riley jumped on her wanting to play, but never growled. She would just get up and move to another area of the house to nap. The same happened after Riley died and Mirra came along, but Mirra wasn't as an aggressiver player as Riley. Anyway, Mirra gets crated because she can be very destructive and mischievious and since Scarlette roams free, we didn't want Mirra picking at her while we were gone and a fight break out. I trust Scarlette 100%, but why tempt fate?

I've pretty much been staying at Jeff's since Mirra broke her leg since we usually work opposite shifts. Now that I have Sydnee, she stays there too. Mirra doesn't like to share toys, and now that she's getting a little more mature, she wants to play less. There's no way I would ever leave Mirra and Sydnee alone together. Even though Mirra hasn't actually bit Sydnee, she does snap at her when Sydnee tries to sniff the rawhide Mirra is chewing on (even though she has her own, Mirra's usually looks better to her!)

So, to make a long post short......The 2 younger dogs stay crated when we're not around.

And I've also heard that you're never supposed to have 2 bully breeds of the same sex together. If that's the case, then how can these breeders have 3,4,5 or more females together in their house? I think it's a bunch of baloney. As long as the dogs are supervised and are taught proper behavior, then there shouldn't be a problem.

[Denise]

Rhonda, I always hear how wrong it is to have 2 Bully breeds of the same sex under one roof. The dogs are probably supervised all the time or have kennels outside.

[Dena]

Well my two throw that theory right out the window. I seriously think if one of mine died (heaven forbid) the other one would too, out of a broken heart.

Chrisanne, we are probably going to have to do the same thing this year if we can't find another mobile vet. My husband just hates seeing me have to make two trips, the vet is about 45 minutes away.

[Scarlette]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dena Chrisanne, we are probably going to have to do the same thing this year if we can't find another mobile vet. My husband just hates seeing me have to make two trips, the vet is about 45 minutes away.

What if you had a friend go with you, or if you went alone leave 1 in the car and go get him right before it's your turn? I took all 3 of mine to the vet last Monday and had Jeff go with me. Scarlette stayed in the truck until it was our turn so she wouldn't have a nervous breakdown in the office, I held Mirra's leash and Jeff held Sydnee.

[Skycat]

I have had two dogs since May, other than that for the last 25 years there has only been one dog in the household. We decided to get a second one for two reasons, one was that Derek needed an adventure race training partner so we needed a dog that could handle trail running at high altitudes, and the second was that Fox was getting old and I knew if she passed away I would be looking for her in every dog at the shelter.

So last January we started the search for the right breed of dog which turned out to be a Belgian Malinois, then I started looking at what my options were through the rescues since I don't do puppies, not that I don't love puppies, but I don't have time for a small puppy I needed one that was around a year old that could start formal obedience. Well we had pretty much decided to wait until spring of 2006 to get one cause we would be in a house by then, but one night at yappy hour (humane society fundraiser) we met Sherpa. We adopted him the very next day.

He stays in a crate while I'm at work during the day, but Fox has freedom of the house cause she is trust worthy. Right now he is earning his trust worthiness by being left loose when I leave on short trips, but the other night he was loose for 4 hours with me gone and didn't do a thing. He was crying on the other side of the door when I came home which he never does in the crate so he may actually not be comfortable having the freedom of the house.

Right now Fox is 12 and Sherpa is 15 months, so there is a large age gap, but when I'm tired and don't want to play with sherpa he will go bug her and they will play for hours and hours, which gives me a break. So when she passes away I will probably go ahead and get another female dog so he has a playmate.

[Mygala]

Both my dogs are crated. They can be very bad when left to their own devices. It's for their safety as well as all of the other animals (3 cats and 5 birds)....

bob

[Chinchilla_Girl]

Hey Denise, Long time no see, I know I could never leave Kali and Orion separated. Of course they are opposite sexes. I was in Michigan over the weekend and had the dogs in boarding. Even there they were kenneled together in a large run. At home, they are uncrated and have free run of the house together. Bringing in a dog of the opposite sex should be okay if it is young, same sex is not advisable most of the time, but then again Shane's mom has 3 males and a female (all pits) who are never crated and always together whether they are home or not and she doesn't have any problems...of course they are all severely obese and it's probably too much work to bother arguing over anything

[Sasami]

We have three dogs, two that are mine (both adults) and a puppy who is my mom's.

When we are all gone then they are crated...all in different rooms. If we're only going to be gone for a short time then my Cocker Spaniel, Sophie, can be left out of the crate and confined to the dining room and living room since she's well behaved.

The pros would be that they can play together and therefore don't get in as much trouble and they aren't lonely if I'm busy doing something. And it's alot of fun having multiple doggies .

The cons are that it can be more difficult to do things like go away for the weekend and taking them all to the vet is hard. Last weekend my two dogs went to PetCo for vaccinations and it was a NIGHTMARE. But still, I love them both .

I will always have multiple dogs but it's not something everyone can do.

[LoveMyStaffies]

I've always heard the baloney about keeping two bull-breeds together as well. This is my experience personally.
For 12 years we had Sif (AmStaff/Pittie mix) and Shar (Bull terrier/Pittie mix) together, never crated them, never separated them. They even stayed in the same run at the vet's kennel when we went on vacations.
When Sif passed due to stomach cancer last January, Shar was so heart broken that she literally did nothing but mope for weeks. We couldnt even get her to wag her tail!!!
Now we have Shar and Banshee...an almost 2yr old Pittie/???? mix. Oh my lord. We dont leave the house unless Banshee is crated. She simply has too much energy for the now elderly (between 14 -17 yrs old...shelter adopted, best guess) Shar to handle the 'play' wrestling and romping that Banshee -has- to do.
Shar still has free range of the house at all times. Not fair to Banshee I know, but Shar doesnt eat my couch to the tune of $300 in repairs.
I would keep two dogs close to the same age like I did with Sif and Shar again. However with the age difference and Banshee still being in the process of learning the rules of the house...if she ever does! ....I wont give her free reign until then or until Shar passes...a long long time in the future I hope!!!
Like someone else said, its a matter of knowing your dog(s) and adjusting the routine of the 'alone time' to fit their temperments.

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I totally agree with LoveMyStaffies. It's not really about the breeds you own, it's all about knowing your dogs and how they fit into the pack. Usually, if they know their place and are comfortable where they stand, you'll have few if any problems. Like I said, Kali and Orion are together all the time. Both are pitties, Kali is 5 and Orion is 3. But if I have to take Kali somewhere and Orion can't go, he does need to be crated. If I don't crate him and Kali's not around to keep him out of trouble, he'll eat things he's not supposed to (ie: mattresses, chairs, doors...etc.) Yet if I have to take Orion somewhere and Kali can't go, she has free roam of the house.
The cat is a different story...if the dogs aren't around to keep HER out of trouble, everything in the house ends up on the floor...including the Christmas tree topper! So if the dogs aren't around, we have to confine her to the bathroom.