How many things can you do at once? (photo courtesy of Ianuiops)

Dogs have an innate sense of fairness. In their minds, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander, and the third gander as well. Enough with the metaphors. Let me explain clearly with some examples.

If one of your dogs comes to you for a pet, and dogs two and three are in the same room, as soon as you pet the first dog to approach, two and three will immediately join the mix for equal attention. Even worse, they will compete for your attention using the principle of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” If you try your frantic best to pet all three dogs at once, two things will happen: 1. your dogs will jostle and shove each other to vie for the most attention, or worse, they might even fight; and, 2. you will wish you had a third arm. There are some exceptions.

Most dogs hate being physically manipulated in any way that does not bring immediate pleasure. Examples of activities that do not bring immediate pleasure are: getting a bath; being brushed or combed; having nails trimmed; taking medication by force. If dog number one is picked up and put in the bathtub, I can guarantee you dogs two and three will not rush in for equal treatment.

In almost every other case, you simply cannot give one dog in your pack a special treat without the other two expecting the same. This does not mean you have to immediately give in to your pack’s desires. Part of setting boundaries for your dogs is expecting and maintaining orderly behavior from all dogs no matter what is being offered. For example, at feeding time, just because all three of your dogs are jumping up for their food bowls does not mean you have to immediately drop all three bowls on the floor. In fact, feeding time is a great opportunity to teach discipline and order in your pack. You can do this by placing down the food bowls in response to good behavior. Wait until all three dogs are sitting quietly and calmly before you place the food bowls down. You can even take it a step further by feeding each dog separately in his/her own kennel crate. The quietest dog should be given his/her food bowl first. Dogs in a pack are naturally competitive. If Dog “A” gets fed first because he is quietest, it will not be long before Dogs “B” and “C” realize being quiet equals getting fed. Feeding time can become a contest between all three dogs to see who can behave the best.

This method of built-in training for your pack can carry over to almost every activity. For example, preparing to go for a walk is another great opportunity for training. The quietest, best behaved dog in your pack can be rewarded by getting his leashed attached to his collar first.

The distinction I want to make is this. When you own more than one dog, you will have to treat all dogs in your pack in the same manner. This does not mean that you have to let your dogs’ expectations of fairness control how and when you dole out the good stuff. You are the one who controls the rewards. Use each of your dogs’ natural competitiveness as an opportunity to train orderly behavior. Otherwise, your pack will train you to meet their expectations immediately and you will need to sprout a third arm to satisfy their demands.

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A second small dog.

May we have the contestants at ring center? Alright gentlemen, I’m Mr. Kanarish, your referee for this match. Listen closely because I am only going to say this once. I want a good, clean contest. If I tell you to break, I expect you to break apart immediately or I will give one of you a warning. On the second warning, I’m giving one of you a mandatory one point penalty. Now, I’ve just got to say this while we are all here. I don’t like this situation any more than you do. I wish your owner had thought about the consequences of keeping two males from the same litter in one household.

I wish your owner had spoken to me first before taking on two small dogs. I would have told him that fighting is inevitable between two dominant male dogs kept in the same house. I would have told him having two males from the same litter is even worse because the rivalry between you two was established before you were even weaned. While I’ve got you here, let me also say that two females placed together in the same household will probably fight as well. Hey, hey Chico, quit sniffing my crotch and pay attention! This is important, so listen up.

You two are pack animals, right? That means you boys are going to want a clear pecking order in your pack. Most of the time, the two of you are going to get along, especially if your owner is a strong pack leader. But if you are left alone for a while, or if your owner does not keep a strong rein on you two, you are going to test that pecking order by fighting with each other. Each of you would have been better off if you had been paired with a female dog, and preferably a more submissive female dog. That way, the pecking order between the two of you would always be clear and there would be no need to fight. Now, if one of you was naturally submissive, then it would have been good to be paired with a dominant female.

To summarize, here is the key to keeping two small dogs in the same household, boys: one of the two dogs should be naturally dominant and one should be naturally submissive. Ideally, a match of this kind should be one male and one female. This is absolutely the best combination to ensure peace and harmony in a household with two dogs. Of course a calm and assertive owner can keep the peace with any combination of dogs, but with an ideal pairing of two dogs, everyone can just relax and enjoy being together.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kelsey’s Dog House regrets to inform you that tonight’s match-up between X-ray and Chico has been cancelled. We are disgusted by dog fighting and do not condone fighting under any circumstance. The imaginary scenario we presented here was purely fictional and designed to place the problem of pairing mismatched dogs in a novel context. At Kelsey’s Dog House, we do have to separate dogs from the same household when we notice tension building between them. Almost always, the dogs that we care for who have a strained relationship are of the same sex; and both display dominant behaviors. Food for thought if you have a small dog and you are thinking about getting a second.