Monkey see monkey do!
Dogs speak dog… ‘Well duh’ I hear you saying!
They are ever so in tune with what the others are doing and will more often than not copy all the worst stuff – very rarely the good.
Anything that involves excitement, adrenaline etc. such as barking, chasing, jumping and such like the other dogs are hard-wired always to join in – it’s fun!
Fun for them maybe, but not for us and it makes life so much harder.
Taking on a rescue dog I think it’s pretty safe to assume they will likely have some issues, and things that we try to help them with when we bring them home.
Often the dogs you have at home may have some minor issues that niggle you, but they are just that – niggles.
No dog is perfect, I would never expect perfection. I am far from perfect, but I truly believe that there are dogs that are perfect for us.
I titled this blog Monkey see, monkey do, and I say that with a smile – it’s not derogatory.
Dogs copy, they join in with their own species, and that often works against us if we aren’t careful.
The following issues with existing dogs are the most common that if not dealt with before a new dog is introduced, will become a problem when the new dog joins in.
I cannot stress this point enough as it’s the most common category I am faced with professionally with multi-dog households.
Any of the following may only be mildly annoying with one dog but guaranteed to become a real nuisance when adding more dogs to the mix.
• Barking at the doorbell
• Pulling on lead
• Not coming back when called off the lead
• Barking in the garden
• Barking at people passing the house
• Any inappropriate barking other than listed above.
It’s worth mentioning that all dogs need to express normal behaviour, and this includes barking, usual barking would be barking to alert you of someone at the door or to alert you to an intruder or visitor, barking in excitement (within reason) and vocalising during play. The more dogs you have, the more barking and noise you can expect, this is fact, but we do need to be mindful of visitors, neighbours and the dogs’ excitement levels.
• Barking, lunging, aggression or frustration toward or other dogs when on lead or off. The same goes
for the opposite issue – your dog being fearful and trying to run away from other dogs when on lead
or off, same applies to people or livestock
• Chasing lunging or fear of traffic, people, cyclists, joggers, children
• Jumping up on people, either out on walks or visitors to the house
Solutions and management pre new arrival.
If your dog has any of the issues I have described, I would urge you to get help from a qualified professional trainer or behaviourist to at the very least improve it before newbie comes home. Honestly, the money, time and effort you put in now will be well worth the investment and save you a dog’s lifetime of stress and frustration. And if the issue you are facing is a real bugbear, whatever you have been doing to ‘fix’ the problem apparently hasn’t worked so far, or it would not be an issue now… harsh I know but true.
Proper dog training means setting a dog up for success, and not setting them up to fail.
You will be setting yourself up to fail if you don’t tackle whatever issues you are currently faced with.
You are the company you keep. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link…
Yep, some old cheesy quotes, but this is your furry family we are talking about. Guaranteed if just one dog likes to bark more than the others, the new one will join in, because that’s what dogs do! They will not look at the calmest dog and follow that one and copy its behaviour. Having calmer or nice role model adult dogs will give you the best chance to train your new rescue to do the same.
Management
Better to be alone than in the wrong company
Management is about manipulating the environment/situation and protecting the dog or puppy from being exposed to unwanted behaviours performed by the other dogs. Or protecting the dog that is being managed from performing unwanted stuff.
Management is not training, but it is an extremely useful tool. In some cases, a management solution to a dog not coming back off-lead would be to keep the dog on lead, or if a dog is reactive or barking at other dogs, the management solution would be to avoid other dogs.
While none of these solutions are ‘curing’ the dog of the issue, it is preventing the dog from practising the wrong behaviour. This provides a window of opportunity to work on replacing the unwanted behaviour with a new and desirable behaviour as and when you can control the environment and set the dog up for success. Without management, as part of any behaviour modification plan, you will fail.
Just like us if we want to break a bad habit, it isn’t productive to go back to the old habit between practising the new habit.
For example, let’s look at smoking, when a person quits smoking, they try to replace the time that they would smoke with something else, this may be having a mint, or distracting themselves in some other way while the cravings are at the forefront of their mind. If they sometimes had a cigarette and sometimes didn’t, you wouldn’t consider them to be an ‘ex-smoker’ would you?
A dog who has practised a behaviour just a handful of times is a lot easier to train to do an alternative behaviour, than a dog who has had years and years of practising the wrong thing on what could be a daily basis.
Patience is key, remember that training takes time and management solutions will help you in your journey to success.
Here are my top tips to ensure success when introducing a new rescue dog to your existing dogs.
1. Before you bring your new rescue home take a towel or blanket to visit them, rub it all over them (if they are happy with this, if not leave it with them for a day or two so they can lay on it) before bringing it home to your dogs. Leave it on the floor for your dogs to investigate and sniff (please do not put this on a bed for them), and do the same for the new rescue dogs, they can investigate each other’s scents and learn about each other without the pressure of being face to face this way. Although yes you will be carrying the scent both ways on your clothes, by doing this you are also making the scent familiar at home and setting all dogs up to almost know each other without meeting.
2. Don’t rush the initial meeting with your established dogs at home! Take the dogs for a walk first, before bringing the new dog into the house. Ideally, have another person to handle your existing dogs, and you walk the new one. Don’t bring them nose to nose, walk them parallel with a gap between the dogs, ignore any barking or frustration from any of the dogs initially – remember we are not letting them sniff our meet each other that this point and they will soon settle. Walk them parallel so they can get a feel for each other out of the corner of their eye while they walk and sniff at their surroundings.
3. Set up your home to keep the dogs separate initially when you are not present or able to watch them. This might mean baby gates, crate, puppy pens or just in separate rooms. Plan for your new rescue to sleep apart from the other dogs.
4. Allow yourself, the new dog and your existing dogs time to adjust, you wouldn’t expect to have a new housemate and be bosom buddies straight away, you can’t expect your dogs to do this either, it’s a little unfair.
5. Allocate time to dedicate to the new dog individually, separate walks, training and play, you need to bond with them individually, this makes training and managing multiple dogs so much easier. While you are doing this be mindful to ensure your existing dogs still get quality time with you without the new dog and you keep their routine as much as you can.
Remember, things will be difficult at times, give yourself a pat on the back for doing something so amazing and remember that things will take time to settle down.
The more dogs you have, the harder this gets, and the more management you will need.
Don’t forget your new rescue could pick up bad habits from your existing dog too – it works both ways.
Get to know your rescue individually on walks first before taking them out with the others, for a couple of weeks.
Bond with them without the presence of the other dogs so you can set yourself and your furry family up for success.