The answer
On film the trainers treat the household, not either dog, as what is being trained. Progress in a two-dog program is reported about the pair together - how they behave in the house now against a couple of weeks ago - and proofing is done on both dogs at once, in public and at home, because they need to be able to function together. The second dog is also used on purpose as the distraction: one dog holds place while the trainer works the other.
The mechanics said to owners are specific. Each dog's name goes in front of each command, and in front of the release too, because a bare 'okay' can lift both dogs; one trainer catches himself forgetting that he had trained the release as 'Ramsey okay'. One remote runs both collars, and at the go-home lesson the owners are told to keep both channels on the same setting so an emergency is one motion. Two leashes in one hand are held loosely and the voice does the work; the rule on the walk is that neither dog pulls. And some house rules exist only because there are two dogs: in one home indoor toy play is dropped entirely, because a toy one dog plays with alone turns into a romp as soon as the other joins.
The pair is still two animals. Rules and support are stated dog by dog - one dog wears the collar all day for a while, the other is 'up to you'; one gets a bathroom routine on a ten-foot leash and the other does not. In households with friction between the dogs, the trainers deal with both sides: the guarding dog is corrected, and the nervous dog who invades his space is told to knock it off in front of him. After the problem dog is fixed, the remaining friction can come from the other dog, and the house rule moves to him. And the trainers are careful about what they promise: the name-discrimination drill is called something they are working on and cannot promise will be perfect, and the call-one-dog-off-the-cot exercise is named as tomorrow's challenge rather than shown finished.
Friction at the food bowls needs one more distinction: herding is not resource guarding. In one three-dog house, the dog who pushes his housemate off the empty bowls after meals is read at a later private lesson as herding rather than guarding. Guarding would be a threat over the food itself ('get away from my bowl'); this dog pushes the other off, meets him when he circles back and pushes him back, the same control he shows over doorways and people. Read that way, it is 'not like true resources', and the same correction exercise used for the rest of the harassment should take care of it. Food during the meal is the one place the trainer does recommend management - feed apart - because correcting around eating does not work as well. The earlier go-home lesson had called the same behaviour food guarding and advised crate-feeding the likeliest instigator; the film does not say which advice stands.
The 30 Sep footage adds a stated order and two more households where the dogs fight. Pairs are built one dog at a time and then put together: at Kali and Kane's second owner lesson the trainer says he always builds both separately, 'because then it makes it easy to do it together', and an evaluation in a Spanish-speaking home ends on the same recommendation, 'primero separados y después juntos' (first separately, then together). Once together, both are expected to listen and whichever does not is corrected; on the pair's first joint off-leash outing the trainer finds he has to handle them in opposite ways inside one heel - firm with one, encouraging with the other. Where the dogs fight, the trainers again treat it as two-sided: in Sofia's home the trainer says 'No es un lado, es dos lados' (it isn't one side, it's two sides) and names supervised time together without fighting as the goal; at Chaparro's evaluation the nervous older dog is named as half of the problem and the recommendation is to train both. And where the second dog is not in training at all, as with Pepper's housemate Rosa, the lesson still walks both, because that is the family's real walk.
Two households sharpen the 'two animals' point. Cosmo's habit of making Simba 'stay put' by mouthing him is read as an obsessive correction rather than aggression, and the trainer warns that handled the wrong way it can start a dogfight - which is why both dogs ideally wear collars when they first walk together, so either can be corrected (watch 07:54). Apollo the Bully's trainer gives the target picture for housemates: they 'exist together' and pass each other without worrying about each other, and whether an old feud recovers 'depends partially on the other dog' (watch 12:14; watch 04:52). Milo and his sister show the stated order again: each worked alone, then both together, with a splitter for the family's walks (watch 03:37).
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Put each dog's name in front of every command and in front of the release. Hold two leashes loosely in one hand and do not let either dog pull. If you use one remote for both dogs, keep both channels on the same setting as your trainer set them. Decide the house rules that exist because there are two dogs (for example, whether toys come out indoors) and keep them the same whichever dog is involved. When there is friction, deal with both dogs, not only the one who reacts.
What the trainers say
so they have pretty much learned everything they need to learn so far and the behavior together in the house is much much calmer significantly better
but it's important to like proof this kind of stuff out in public and then also in um in the house because they need to be able to function together
so you can have two dogs in the house together and you can utilize the place command to make things a lot simpler for them but you can also just use cues and tell them to knock it off if they're being too much so you got both options
i will use the place tot as a way to help them to discriminate between who is being called and who's not right by using their name and by using the place tot is where they're supposed to be if they're not being worked with right now
ramsey okay see i keep forgetting that i trained that okay to be a ramsey okay not just okay which is good
I'm going to give him a release, because they'll probably both get up.
While she's on place, I'm going to be teaching Ramsey, which the retrievers are all recall. And that way, it'll be a pretty high-traction environment because I'll be, like, really engaged with the dog that's not her, and she's going to have to learn to just sit there and just chill out.
now, so another thing to make it easier for them is I'll ask, do you want them to play in the house at all? No. All right. So then like they can play with their toys on their own. So that's what I would say is if you don't want them to play in the house, it's much easier for them to separate the context.
Because it's going to be frustrating for them if you like let them play with a toy by themselves, but then as soon as the other one joins in, then it's like
like what I would actually do is just instead of trying to keep a like a really tight hold on these, since they both do respond off leash, is instead of caring too much about these leashes um, being like firmly grasped in your hand, like wrapping it and all that stuff
going to have to like really get on top of when it especially when it comes to two dogs is just never ever ever ever allow them to pull on the leash at all.
Um, the only reason I don't normally do it that way is because your dog's going that way. You need to turn the collar up to get your dog come back. Do you want to go your dog got hit by a truck? Like, you know what I mean? Like, you don't want that, right? Um, so like I prefer to just like, all right, it's for both dogs. Same thing.
Now the thing is and I'll work with them tomorrow. And then have them settle and then call one off if the other one stays on the cot. But that's tomorrow's challenge for them.
of him tell Bear to knock it off, or if you punish him like I just described, and then tell Bear also
okay go after Rocco like that's not okay um because what I'm seeing now is it's kind of flipped yeah where now Kodak feels uncomfortable and Rocco gets excited
this situation is one um one thing you should not do is just try to keep them from interacting with each other sure right because letting them interact and work things out is a good thing
the skills will transfer across dogs
well then that's just hurting it's not like get away from my bowl like i'm gonna kill you
but yes i think you can do the same practical exercise in that and that will probably take care of something like that
because i always build both both separately i do all their commands because then it makes it easy to do it together
like okay if they know the command they both should listen they both should listen so then if you put them together they both still listen they both still listen
this is kind of tough because with came i need to tell him like hey you have to heal and with callie i need to be like come on mama you know like it's okay and so i'm having like an opposite issue here
it's totally possible to get two dogs off leash like this you got to work at it but if both their training goes well and they're confident in their recall you can definitely take them off leash
so he's been able to live his life being nervous and nothing happened now he goes you're not supposed to be nervous so i'm gonna try to make you not be nervous and then it starts to play right so i mean we could just train him and like tighten everything up and like teach him how to deal with that the better solution would be at least training him and him together
Pero para tener un mejor resultado, sería entrenarlos a los dos, primero separados y después juntos.
si porque ella está haciéndolo también. No es un lado, es dos lados en esta situación porque ella también quiere cuando lo vea.
um and we can walk both of them together since that'll be a little more realistic for you
The reason I say we're going to work on that is because if you do it the wrong way, you can start a dogfight.
How it looks, dog by dog
Roxy
The pair is reported on as a pair - calmer together in the house, demonstrated against how they were two weeks earlier - and proofed together in public and at home. The second dog is deliberately the distraction: Roxy holds place while the trainer runs recalls with Ramsey. The name problem is shown live when Ramsey answers 'Roxy, come', and the fix is a place-cot drill in which one dog is called off by name while the other holds; the trainer catches himself releasing with a bare 'okay' and says he had trained it as 'Ramsey okay'. The trainer is explicit that this discrimination is something he is working on and cannot promise. At the owner lessons the household rules are set: no indoor toy play because the second dog turns solo play into a romp, one remote on the two-dog channel with both channels on the same setting, two leashes held loosely in one hand, and never any pulling. The rules then split by dog: Roxy wears the collar through the day and gets a leashed bathroom routine; Ramsey is 'up to you' and does as he likes in the yard. The trainer also reports, without explaining it, that each dog sometimes struggles to take a command when the other is right beside him.
On film
demonstrate the difference between how they were a couple weeks ago and how they are now when it comes to being together in the house and listen to commands.
his sister's name is roxy she's a just a puppy german shepherd and her name's roxy and anytime you say roxy come then he does too roxy come yeah see he'll do it too
It is not something that we always do, nor is it something that I can promise is going to be 100 perfect um however i am working on i'm not promising that it will be perfect or that it will be this way because there's a lot of work that goes into it
Especially Roxy. Ramsey, up to you. He does listen pretty well in the house already.
what I would do is make like a particular like potty kind of like routine with her where like what you do is you put her on the leash at that time and you go outside and you have the leash at a like certain length like maybe like 10 ft or something like that at the longest and like Ramsay gets to go do whatever he wants
i did notice that like both of them have this thing where if they're like right near each other they have like a weird thing about like doing the command like if they're out of space or something i don't know what that is
Lola
Lola and Archie give the only named forward plan for a pair on place: settle both on cots, then call one off while the other stays. It is announced as tomorrow's challenge and is not filmed in the record. The same household shows the bookkeeping two dogs force on a family - couch permission is settled per dog ('couch certified'), and a dog allowed on the couch still does cot work, because the cot is teaching impulse control rather than deciding who sits where.
On film
Now the thing is and I'll work with them tomorrow. And then have them settle and then call one off if the other one stays on the cot. But that's tomorrow's challenge for them.
And they are always allowed on the couch. Okay, okay. Absolutely. They are couch certified.
because it teaches other skills and concepts it reinforces things like impulse control
Sputnik
A three-dog household where Sputnik controls another dog's movement, space and bowls. The go-home plan works both sides of the friction: Sputnik is corrected for going at Bear, and Bear, the nervous dog who invades Sputnik's space, is told to knock it off in front of him - so the guarding dog sees that the owners handle it. The trainer reads Bear's nervousness as part of what provokes Sputnik. The bowls are where the two visits read him differently. The family describe it themselves: the dogs eat apart, and when Bear goes to lick the empty bowls afterwards Sputnik 'will immediately go to trying to herd him'. At the go-home lesson the trainer calls it food guarding, 'even if the bowls empty', says it is ingrained, and advises feeding whichever dog is likeliest to cause trouble in a crate on his own - management, but a small step. At the later private lesson Kelton, told that it happens after the meal rather than during it, reads it as herding, not resource guarding: Sputnik pushes Bear off the bowl, Bear comes around, and Sputnik meets him and pushes him back. That is 'not like true resources', so the same correction exercise used for the rest of the harassment should handle it. In the same breath he keeps food itself as the one area where management is an easy win. Which advice stands is left open on film.
On film
of him tell Bear to knock it off, or if you punish him like I just described, and then tell Bear also
right he lets it happen that's the best time to step in is if he's letting it go and bear's kind
And then Sputter will immediately go to trying to herd him and keep him away from the bowl.
tell them to knock it off food guarding even if the bowls empty food guarding is a little bit more of a behavior that's kind of like very ingrained in dogs
is what i would do that's the easiest way to fix it and the easiest way to do that is whichever one is most likely to cause an issue put that one in a crate
well then that's just hurting it's not like get away from my bowl like i'm gonna kill you
off the goal bear will come around and then he'll meet him there and push him back that's just a
but yes i think you can do the same practical exercise in that and that will probably take care of something like that
Kodak
Kodak and Rocko show the pair changing under training. Once Rocko's charging was stopped, the trainer reads the remaining friction as coming from Kodak - now the uncomfortable dog - and the one house rule moves to him: he may not go after Rocko. The standard for two dogs who may never be friends is modest and stated: greet and go. The owners are told to walk the dogs together with two people first, not to try too hard to keep them apart, and to watch.
On film
okay go after Rocco like that's not okay um because what I'm seeing now is it's kind of flipped yeah where now Kodak feels uncomfortable and Rocco gets excited
that could work that's workable right we can say hi yeah that's great yeah yeah greet and go cool
Murphy
The same visit separates problems with good management answers from those needing training - closing a bedroom door is not invasive; rotating dogs is another matter. It also records a mistake the trainer owns: a correction delivered while two dogs were face to face can be read as coming from the other dog.
On film
this situation is one um one thing you should not do is just try to keep them from interacting with each other sure right because letting them interact and work things out is a good thing
of times, um, there are problems within like the house, like living stuff that don't have great training solutions, but there are good management solutions.
Yeah, I should have, if I had done it when he was sniffing,
Wiley
Wiley's own board-and-train is aimed at his housemates. Impulse control built around the ball is justified as what lets the family call him off an amped moment with his brother at home, and an emergency down is the named tool.
On film
where he's amped with his brother, right?
then we should easily be able to use the condition punisher, do an emergency down, right?
Simba
Simba goes home as the passive half of a pair. At the go-home lesson what gets taught is the relationship: Cosmo likes Simba to stay put and mouths him until he backs off, and the trainer says it has to be addressed the right way, because the wrong way can start a dogfight.
On film
Cosmo does have this tendency to, like, he likes Simba to, like, stay put. And so he'll, like, start to, like, mouth him and stuff.
The reason I say we're going to work on that is because if you do it the wrong way, you can start a dogfight.
Anna
Anna and her sister Daisy show what a second dog can add to a nervous dog's problem and to its cure. The handler says the two feed off each other's nerves at home; in a group session Daisy is also the draw that pulls Anna away from the handler.
On film
well it doesn't help the dog she lives with too that dog is also nervous so they feed off of each
wants to go to Daisy because without Daisy, she ends up staying really, she stays pretty close to me most of the time.
Baxter
A private-lesson household with more than one dog. The plan is to walk the dogs one at a time while the owner learns, on the stated premise that the handler's skills transfer across dogs, and that more dogs mean more practice.
On film
the skills will transfer across dogs
you have plenty of opportunities to practice
Josi
Littermates trained side by side, where the owner reports the pair moving as one: when they see people, one dog runs to her and the other follows.
On film
When we see people, Miley comes to me, she runs, and then Miley will follow her.
Kane
Kane and Kali's first in-program lesson touches the pair only briefly: the trainer remarks that one dog brings the excitement out of the other. The record here is thin.
On film
that's not surprising she brings he brings the crazy out of her for sure
Poseidon
Poseidon and Hades were trained together and handed over together, with both dogs' sit, down and recall shown to the owners in one lesson, and both release words ('break' and 'okay') said to work for both dogs.
On film
so you can see like same thing with hades his sit and his down yeah then his recall is still it's here
Kali
Kali and her son Kane (the trainer's 'Mother and son') are trained as a pair for a family that wants to let both loose in the yard together, supervised, knowing they can recall both. The order is stated at the second owner lesson: each dog's commands are built separately, then the two are put together, where both are expected to listen and whichever does not is corrected; he plans to film them walking and working off leash together before they go home. One remote runs both collars, with a button for each dog. The first joint off-leash outing (29 Sep) shows the pair is still two animals: in one heel Kane has to be told he must heel while Kali, lagging, needs 'come on mama ... it's okay', and the pair's recall is tested off the truck the two of them run to together. His summary to camera: two dogs off leash together is possible with work if both recalls are confident; the joint heel still needs proofing, and meeting another dog together is still to come. The household's earlier record is under Kane.
On film
then I need to work the two of them together um ideally off leash so that they can take them out in the yard together off leash girl without having to be overly worried about what they're going to do and knowing that they can recall both of them
because i always build both both separately i do all their commands because then it makes it easy to do it together
it's a single dog but if i have to work two dogs at once and i'm like gonna like take them on a walk together just me i like to have one remote instead of two
this is kind of tough because with came i need to tell him like hey you have to heal and with callie i need to be like come on mama you know like it's okay and so i'm having like an opposite issue here
And here's a big test because I think Callie's going to want to run back to the truck, right? and they normally go together wherever they go, they hang together, so I need to make sure that I can recall them off of something like that and they'll come back to me.
Pepper
Pepper's household dog Rosa is not in training, but she is on the family's walks, so the second owner lesson walks both dogs 'since that'll be a little more realistic'. The owner names the weakness: with Rosa along, nine times out of ten Pepper 'thinks it's still time to play'. On the walk the trainer reports Pepper acting independently, checking on Rosa only now and then, and shows the owner the play signs to catch early - a look at Rosa, ears forward for a long time, a little bounce - with the bounce corrected before it turns the walk into play.
On film
um and we can walk both of them together since that'll be a little more realistic for you
I see her checking on Rosa from time to time, but for the most part, she's acting like she would if it was just her, which is good.
but then all of a sudden she looked at rosa her excitement was high and she kind of went to a little bit of a play mode a little bit and her ears like went forward for like a long time and she did that little bounce thing
Sofia
Sofia's family keep their two dogs apart - one inside and one outside, rotated - because, as the family said, the two fight: the other dog 'se puso brava' (got angry) and they began fighting. At the home lesson Kelton, teaching in Spanish, makes the fighting the priority ('es una prioridad que necesitamos corregir' - a priority we need to correct) and treats it as two-sided: 'No es un lado, es dos lados' (it isn't one side, it's two sides), because the other dog wants it too when she sees Sofia. Looking is allowed; the move to attack is what is punished. Rotating who uses the space is fine; the goal he names is supervised time in which the two can be together without fighting ('que pueden estar juntos sin pelear').
On film
Yo creo que esa es una cosa que está primaria, es una prioridad que necesitamos corregir.
si porque ella está haciéndolo también. No es un lado, es dos lados en esta situación porque ella también quiere cuando lo vea.
creo que está una buena educación si pueden ver como supervisar cuando están aquí que pueden estar juntos sin pelear
Chaparro
Chaparro (new on 30 Sep) is evaluated in a Spanish-speaking home where, by the family's account, he has been fighting with an older household dog. The evaluator does not read it as a male-male problem: a nervous older dog had lived nervous 'and nothing happened' until a confident newcomer started, in effect, telling him not to be nervous. So he will not train Chaparro alone - 'the better solution would be at least training him and him together' - and the recommendation is relayed to the family in Spanish as 'primero separados y después juntos' (first separately, then together), so that both can live at home together. Training them together is meant to fix the one dog's nervousness and Chaparro's dominance at the same time. All of this is a first-visit reading.
On film
so he's been able to live his life being nervous and nothing happened now he goes you're not supposed to be nervous so i'm gonna try to make you not be nervous and then it starts to play right so i mean we could just train him and like tighten everything up and like teach him how to deal with that the better solution would be at least training him and him together
Pero para tener un mejor resultado, sería entrenarlos a los dos, primero separados y después juntos.
We need to build some games, give him some outlets too. That'll help with the chewing and everything, but definitely training them together because we need to fix his nervousness and his dominance all at the same time
Cosmo
Cosmo's household with Simba: on walks Cosmo likes Simba to 'stay put' and starts mouthing him - not an aggressive bite, the trainer says, but an obsessive correction - and Simba backs off. It has to be worked on the right way, because done the wrong way it can start a dogfight. The e-collar goes on Cosmo, and ideally on both dogs when they first walk together, because the handler may have to correct both.
On film
Cosmo does have this tendency to, like, he likes Simba to, like, stay put.
And so he'll, like, start to, like, mouth him and stuff.
The reason I say we're going to work on that is because if you do it the wrong way, you can start a dogfight.
gonna want to be on cosmo right i mean ideally you might want both especially when you first
start walking them together because you'll have to correct both of them right um and i always say
not like an aggressive bite or anything it's more of like he's trying to correct them yeah but it's
Apollo (the Bully)
Back at home Apollo walks past the family's other dog instead of staying in her face, and the trainer names that as the ideal for dogs living together: they exist together and pass each other without worrying about each other. If he isn't getting his walks and exercise he may get pushier with her again. Earlier, asked whether he will be all right with dogs he used to fight, the trainer says it depends partly on the other dog: one who can't give and take appropriately may still set him off.
On film
And this is more ideal, like, if you're going to have dogs together.
I don't like it when one dog's like in the dog's face all the time right especially if it's like
it's like passing by like they exist together but they kind of pass each other and like they
bit for if he's not getting his walks and he's not like getting the exercise
he could be more pushy with her and things like that because he'll be too
will he be okay with our dogs
it's gonna depend partially on the other dog
Milo
Milo and his sister are worked one at a time and then together - 'once we take his sister in, then we'll take them both in together' - and the trainer gets a leash splitter for the family's two-dog walks. Out together on retractables they are more comfortable and wander further than apart, so the plan is a tandem leash.
On film
Once we take his sister Josie in then we'll take them both in
Together
a uh a leash splitter um and give that as a gift to their mama we're in a good gift for your mama
take them both out on flex ease together with the tandem leash and hope that they
They feel more comfy together.
Phoebe
At Phoebe's handover the owner already knows the commands from Lucy, the household's other dog trained here, so the lesson is about Phoebe herself: the two are 'crazy different' in personality, and maintaining her training is its own job.
On film
so most of this will just be kind of like because i you pretty much i know you with lucy like you
want to go over is just like with her because her and lucy are like really they're different dogs
like personality wise like crazy different so mainly just showing just showing how to maintain
Shadow (German Shepherd puppy)
Connor raises Shadow's habit of harassing the family's other dog, Cupid, and offers to fix it then and there if the family doesn't want it; the owners say the two play.
On film
thing with Cupid is I know she kind of like harasses Cupid as like her
full-time profession no actually I was gonna say is if you guys don't want her
to do that we could also fix that right here if you want okay so you're fine
Why it works
Two reasons are stated on film. First, the second dog is a distraction no single-dog session can reproduce, so the trainers use it on purpose: the dog on place has to hold while the handler is engaged with the other dog (watch 00:56). Second, a cue that is not addressed can be taken by either dog, which is why the name goes on commands and on the release, and why the place cot is used to mark which dog is not being worked (watch 01:57; watch 19:17). The house-play rule has its own stated reason: a toy one dog may play with alone becomes a romp when the other joins, and a rule that changes when the second dog arrives is frustrating for the dogs (watch 30:45). The same-setting remote rule is justified by emergencies, not by the dogs' sensitivity (watch 67:55). One effect is reported and left unexplained: each of Roxy's pair sometimes struggles to take a command when the other is close (watch 41:12). Inferred, not stated: the line between the two is whether the dog is defending the food or controlling the other dog. The order is stated in the 30 Sep footage: each dog's commands are built alone first, 'because then it makes it easy to do it together', and pairing becomes 'a couple of like small things to work out' - a context difference, corrected in whichever dog stops listening (watch 38:02). At Chaparro's evaluation the friction is explained from the mix rather than from one dog: a nervous older dog had lived nervous without consequence until a confident newcomer arrived, so training the newcomer alone would leave half of the problem in place (watch 06:04). Inferred, not stated: that a dog built alone carries his commands into the pair because, for him, the pair is only one more context.
On film
While she's on place, I'm going to be teaching Ramsey, which the retrievers are all recall.
Because it's going to be frustrating for them if you like let them play with a toy by themselves, but then as soon as the other one joins in, then it's like
no it's like if they're right next to each other like ramsey i'll I'll be like, I'll give him a down and he'll look at me and be like, doc, I don't have room right now.
because it can be really easy it's like an easy win is with like food stuff because food is hard to do what i just did with the food thing um that doesn't work as well
you yeah yeah then that's that's that's not like true resources at the most he'll go over push bear
then it's just like a couple of like small things to work out
Where the trainers differ
Keep the dogs apart, or let them work it out.
One view
Let them interact. Growls are communication about boundaries; keeping two dogs from interacting is named as the thing not to do, and in another household the owners are told not to try too hard to keep the pair separated.
On film
this situation is one um one thing you should not do is just try to keep them from interacting with each other sure right because letting them interact and work things out is a good thing
Another view
Manage, where management is cheap. The same visit says some household problems have good management answers and poor training answers, and a pair on place cots is itself a way of separating two dogs in one room.
On film
of times, um, there are problems within like the house, like living stuff that don't have great training solutions, but there are good management solutions.
so you can have two dogs in the house together and you can utilize the place command to make things a lot simpler for them but you can also just use cues and tell them to knock it off if they're being too much so you got both options
How to read it
Not resolved on film. The two positions are about different things (inter-dog friction against household calm) and may not conflict in practice.
Handle two dogs at once, or one at a time.
One view
Together: one person, two leashes loosely in one hand, voice doing the work; one remote for both.
On film
like what I would actually do is just instead of trying to keep a like a really tight hold on these, since they both do respond off leash, is instead of caring too much about these leashes um, being like firmly grasped in your hand, like wrapping it and all that stuff
but that is the best way to take them on a walk together um if you have to walk them on a leash um there are two solutions
Another view
Separately at first: in a private-lesson household the dogs are walked one at a time while the owner learns, and in another the owners walk the pair with two people before one person tries both.
On film
you have plenty of opportunities to practice
How to read it
Probably a difference of stage (a trained, off-leash-capable pair against an owner still learning), but the record does not say so.
The empty bowl: food guarding to manage, or herding to correct?
One view
Food guarding, 'even if the bowls empty', and ingrained: feed the dog most likely to cause trouble in a crate on his own. Management, but a small step (go-home lesson).
On film
tell them to knock it off food guarding even if the bowls empty food guarding is a little bit more of a behavior that's kind of like very ingrained in dogs
is what i would do that's the easiest way to fix it and the easiest way to do that is whichever one is most likely to cause an issue put that one in a crate
little extra step and it is management but i think it's the it's not that hard to do
Another view
Herding, not resource guarding: after the meal he pushes the other dog off and meets him when he comes around. 'Not like true resources', so the same correction exercise should handle it (private lesson, Kelton).
On film
well then that's just hurting it's not like get away from my bowl like i'm gonna kill you
you yeah yeah then that's that's that's not like true resources at the most he'll go over push bear
but yes i think you can do the same practical exercise in that and that will probably take care of something like that
How to read it
Same dog, same behaviour, two visits. Open in the Sputnik arc too; Kelton to say which stands.
Common owner mistakes
- Releasing with a bare 'okay' in a two-dog house, so both dogs get up - the trainer makes the same slip himself.
On film
ramsey okay see i keep forgetting that i trained that okay to be a ramsey okay not just okay which is good
Ramsey · Watch at 19:17 ↗ I'm going to give him a release, because they'll probably both get up.
Roxy · Watch at 9:05 ↗ - Letting one dog play with a toy alone in the house, then stopping it when the other joins - a rule that changes with the second dog.
On film
If they start playing with that toy, they're playing with that toy. Now they're going to be romping and they're going to be like biting each other and playing, right? So then just don't let them play with toys in the house, right?
Roxy · Watch at 30:22 ↗ - Trying to control two dogs with two tight leashes, and letting either one pull.
On film
going to have to like really get on top of when it especially when it comes to two dogs is just never ever ever ever allow them to pull on the leash at all.
Roxy · Watch at 1:00:18 ↗ - Correcting only the dog who reacts, and never the dog who invades his space.
On film
of him tell Bear to knock it off, or if you punish him like I just described, and then tell Bear also
Sputnik · Watch at 32:20 ↗ - Timing a correction while two dogs are face to face, so the dog can read it as coming from the other dog. The trainer names this as his own error.
On film
Yeah, I should have, if I had done it when he was sniffing,
Murphy · Watch at 41:31 ↗
Questions owners ask
Do both dogs have to follow exactly the same rules?
No. On film the household rules are shared but the support is not. At one owner lesson the trainer says one dog needs to wear the collar through the day for a while and the other is 'up to you'; one dog gets a leashed bathroom routine and the other does as he likes. The rules that exist because there are two dogs, such as no indoor toy play, apply to both.
On film
Roxy does too, but she needs reinforcement every once in a while, especially with you guys, she's gonna need it. So just have her, I would have her wear it throughout the day, every day for a while.
How do I stop both dogs getting up when I release one?
Put the dog's name on the release as well as on the command. The trainer who trained 'Ramsey okay' still slips into a bare 'okay' on camera and corrects himself; in another session he says outright that a release will probably lift both. The place-cot drill - both on cots, one called off by name while the other holds - is how the trainers build it, and they say it is something they work on rather than promise.
On film
ramsey okay see i keep forgetting that i trained that okay to be a ramsey okay not just okay which is good
is trying to help them distinguish between their names with the commands. So I was doing a drill with the play scots, where they're on the play scots, and I released one at a time and have them come out to me.
Should I keep my two dogs apart if they squabble?
Not as a rule. At one go-home the trainer says the thing not to do is keep them from interacting - a growl is them stating boundaries - and to step in where a habit forms. Where one dog guards space, both dogs are corrected: the guarding dog for going at the other, and the nervous one for invading.
On film
this situation is one um one thing you should not do is just try to keep them from interacting with each other sure right because letting them interact and work things out is a good thing
of him tell Bear to knock it off, or if you punish him like I just described, and then tell Bear also
Can one person walk both dogs?
Yes, with a trained pair: leashes held loosely in one hand, the voice doing the work, and neither dog ever allowed to pull. In other households the owners start with one dog each, or two people, before one person takes both. Kali and Kane's trainer adds that off leash, where it is allowed and the dogs are under control, is the best way to walk two dogs together; on a leash he gives two options - manage the tangles with words, or clip a leash splitter to a flexi.
On film
going to have to like really get on top of when it especially when it comes to two dogs is just never ever ever ever allow them to pull on the leash at all.
but that is the best way to take them on a walk together um if you have to walk them on a leash um there are two solutions
My dog pushes our other dog away from the food bowl. Is that resource guarding?
Not necessarily. In one three-dog house the dog pushing his housemate off the empty bowls after meals was read as herding - he pushes the other dog off, meets him when he circles back, and pushes him back - rather than guarding, which would be a threat over the food itself. Herding was handled with the same correction used for the rest of his pushing around. During the meal itself, feeding the dogs apart, with the likeliest troublemaker crated, is the simple management the trainers accept. The same dog's earlier go-home lesson called the empty-bowl behaviour food guarding and advised crate feeding, so the two visits disagree on film.
On film
well then that's just hurting it's not like get away from my bowl like i'm gonna kill you
but yes i think you can do the same practical exercise in that and that will probably take care of something like that
is what i would do that's the easiest way to fix it and the easiest way to do that is whichever one is most likely to cause an issue put that one in a crate
Should I train only the dog who starts the fights?
Not on this record. In Sofia's home the trainer calls the fighting two-sided ('No es un lado, es dos lados' - it isn't one side, it's two sides) and works towards supervised time together without fighting; at Chaparro's evaluation the evaluator will not train the newcomer alone, because the nervous older dog is half of the problem, and recommends training both, first separately and then together. Both are filmed plans and first lessons, not finished outcomes.
On film
si porque ella está haciéndolo también. No es un lado, es dos lados en esta situación porque ella también quiere cuando lo vea.
Pero para tener un mejor resultado, sería entrenarlos a los dos, primero separados y después juntos.
The lesson
The goal
Run a two-dog household so that each dog answers only its own name, holds while the other is worked, and the house rules do not change depending on which dog is involved.
Learn first
The drill
Both dogs on place cots. Work one dog (recall, sit, down) by name while the other holds; release only the dog you name. Then call one off the cot by name while the other stays. The trainer describes using this exercise with Roxy and Ramsey and plans it as the next challenge for Lola and Archie.
Watch out for
- A bare 'okay' that lifts both dogs.
- House rules that change when the second dog joins in.
- Correcting only the dog who reacts.
Check yourself
When you release one dog by name, does the other stay?