Getting a Second Small Dog

Posted on Jan 28 in Owning Multiple Small Dogs, Small Dog Behavior, The Right Small Dog for Youby Jeff K.Print

Ladies and gentlemen, Kelsey’s Dog House is unhappy to bring you the featured bout of the evening. In this corner, with a record of 14 knockouts and 2 draws, standing 1 foot, 5 inches and weighing in at 24 pounds, wearing the brown and white fur trunks, the challenger, X-ray Farnsworth . . . Farnsworth! And in this corner, with a record of 21 knockouts and no losses, standing 1 foot, 6 inches, and weighing in at 25 pounds, also wearing brown and white fur trunks, the undisputed welterweight champion of the world, X-ray’s brother, Chico Farnsworth . . . Farnsworth!

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.

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