Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:20 am Post subject: Training Two Dogs at Once?
As many know, I am owned by a two year old male lab (Charlie) and an 18 month old cocker spaniel bitch (Topsy).
I get conflicting opinions on whether taking both of them out together is a good idea, but some days the time factor means it has to be done that way, especially in school holidays when the kids are with me (mine are still not all of an age where I can leave them home alone).
What do all the rest of you multi-dog families do?
Can you successfully train two dogs at once, or do you always do them separately?
If you take them out together then do you find them better and more responsive to commands, or do they become "partners in crime" so to speak?
I am asking partly because of the temperament problems I sometimes have with Charlie, which I have been working hard on, and partly because of Topsy. As a full grown lab Charlie can now appear relatively large and sedate until he launches into one of his barking/growling tirades. Topsy, on the other hand, as a young spaniel, can be very flighty and barely has the attention span of a gnat, although she seems to be improving a little now. She was 16 months old when she came to us from brother-in-law, and had been given virtually no training before then.
Opinions may well vary here, and all will be gratefully received.
Think i have read that its best to walk one at a time if your still doing training due to behaviour issues. I may be wrong though, hopefully some others will be along to give you better advice soon
I have 3 dogs, and 90% of their walks they are togther, and have been from day one - however Izzie has a few behavioural problems so she will often get a walk alone and likewise with Paddy I dont want him picking up bad habits so probably twice a week he gets an individual walk as well.
I would love to walk them all seperatly, but time does not allow me to do so - instead I have compromised and made sure that they all get at least 20 minutes/30 mins indivually in the garden (we have a 3 acre field) with just me, doing plenty of 1-1 work and training.
I want their walks to be their time to blow off steam and relax, but I also want them to behave appropriatley - it would not be easy for me to constantly train 3 dogs whilst out and about, therefore working in the garden 1-1 with them is the best way to give them extra specific training tailored just for them, so we can take all that behaviour out on a walk. I have to be honest when we are out they are not really fussed with playing with each other. Izzie is a scouter so always on the lookout, Charlie just wants to play ball and Paddy does everything he is not supposed to do but then he is only a youngster
If you are having problems with your Charlie with hi behaviour then to be honest I would probably be walking him alone, at least 4/5 times a week so as not to influence your other dog. But as we all know, time constraints have to be taken into consideration. I would say though that the most important thing is that they do at some point every day get some individual attention.
I also have three dogs. 90% of the time I walk them together, I do not have any behaviour problems with any of them.
However, I do spend time with them individually for training, 3-4 times a week and also go to dog training club once a week with each of them. The youngest (4 1/2 months) a do bits of training every day. Also with the two elder ones I do take them on the school run individually so they can practice their lead walking, as they never normally go on a lead except at dog club.
I have your problem too Helen, having three dogs. I tend to walk Doobs and Gracie toegther as they don't have any real training issues apart from retraining them on the lead together (they are fine on their own) but Mills still needs one to one as she gets over excited around other dogs and I find that she really doesn't take any notice of me when she is with the others. But its really hard when you have to take the children with me, they get the dogs excited too and when I tell them we have to go back out for walks - well the looks they get!!!! I feel really bad, as the dogs only get one really long walk a day, which done twice can take up a lot of your day! If I did two/three walks a day with all the dogs, its all I will end up doing!!!! I am hoping that by the time Finlay is old enough for the longer walks he can go out with Mills. I quite like taking two dogs out at a time. But until he is old enough, it will be three walks (I am gonna get sooo fit!!!)
hehe Luckily summer is just around the corner so the dogs can play out in our garden more and I won't have the guilty looks all the time which I keep getting from the dogs. Which is what I am getting right now, but no walks at all today coz I think I have broken/severly bruised my toe and it kills to walk on it!!!
Thanks for the replies. Very useful, and confirmed much of what I was thinking.
I do try at times to take the dogs out on a one to one basis, but with the demands of three children things do not always go to plan .
On the days when I cannot get them out separately I will start making more of an effort to do some short training sessions/games with them at home.
It would be nice eventually, though, to be sure that when I do need to take them out together they will behave and walk nicely on the lead side by side and both respond instantly to the same commands (well, I can dream on anyway ).
One more question. Recently, Topsy has started to respond to the clicker training I have been giving Charlie, often walking to heel better and doing the similar things to him. By that I mean often alongside him whilst I am aiming my commands/clicker at him. Its not something I have consciously tried to train, but it seems to be happening now. I have not discouraged it because I only click & treat for behaviour I am happy with so she also gets a reward after the click. Am I doing the right thing there?
I will also be trying to clicker train both of them individually when I get to take them out separately. I guess it can do no harm to clicker train them both at times? Am I right or wrong there?
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