Saturday, February 13, 2010
Dogs teaching dogs
We often get phone calls from people who are thinking of adding a second dog to their family. One of the most frequent questions is whether an older dog can teach the young dog the ropes. The answer: Yes! Definitely. Which is why the best time to add another dog is when the older one has developed a predictable routine which includes appropriate behavior. Older dogs make wonderful teachers, usually better than the humans in the family. However, be aware that they can also teach a young dog bad habits as well. Car chasing, barking, digging, excessive fear or guarding habits are all examples of behavior that a young dog can learn from an older one. We had a dog here for train and board that would chase cars through the fence when we would put him out to potty. During that time we made the mistake of letting him hang out with some of our dogs. We had a fairly new addition to the family at that time, our Pug Jack. Jack learned in a very short time how to do the same thing. It took one for Jack to learn this habit from the other dog and took us a year to fix. Our mistake was putting our new dog, who hadn't yet learned the rules around here, out with an untrained one. A mistake we won't make again. On the other hand we have several dogs that are wonderful teachers and are very helpful with train and board dogs in teaching them calm and appropriate behavior in the house as well as outside with the pack.
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I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately I'm glad you posted about it! April learned from my cat how to paw her dog friends when she plays with them, which is hilarious since her best dog friend doesn't mind. April is an only dog but loves playing with Mango, her best friend who is very neutral and doesn't react negatively to any behavior April may pull out to try to push her buttons a little. But what I find really interesting is that April is more relaxed when Mango is over to play. She is less likely to bark at the scary people outside, and watches them in a more relaxed manner. April does enjoy the company of other dogs that she gets along with, which has tempted me to get her a companion to play with and perhaps help her be more relaxed. But aside from the fact that I probably shouldn't adopt another dog right now, each time April has a minor set back it brings me back to reality that just as Tubby the cat taught April to paw at other dogs when she wants to play, April could very easily teach another dog that people and other things can be scary. Maybe a few years down the road April will have progressed far enough that she is ready to have a little brother added to the family. It certainly looks promising, the past few weeks in her intermediate obedience class she has walked up to men to check them out on her own initiative!
ReplyDeleteAdding a second dog is always a hard decision and I think a lot of the success depends on the personality of the 2nd dog, and the match he/she makes with the first dog. Puppies are definitely more impressionable and more likely to develop the habits of an older dog. But adopting an adult dog that is has already learned to be friendly and comfortable around people and other dogs could be a great influence. As long as continued socialization occurs with both dogs. Keep us posted on April's progress in classes!
ReplyDeleteWe have another train and board dog here right now, a young Shih Tzu. When he arrived his owner said that he hadn't been around many dogs before so she wasn't sure how he would react to our full house of big dogs. After two weeks it's hard to tear him away from all his new doggie friends. Tonight he and Noel were playing in the kitchen, Noel on her back with all four legs in the air as he "attacked" her. He will leave our house at the end of the month very well socialized! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's adorable! Maybe I should send April to live with you for a while :-p
ReplyDeleteThat same dog, the Shitzu, has very quickly learned the routine at our house. It makes our job so much easier when working with a train and board dog to have the dog around other dogs that already know the ropes. I took them all for a walk off leash the other day--something I would never have done if the Shitzu was my only dog--he's only been with us for 3 weeks--but since the others were there and would come to me when I called, he quickly followd suit.
ReplyDeleteScott