Double dog training

[Kelsytmills]

Hello,

I currently have 2 boxers at home. My oldest is 2 years and the other is at just 6 months. I am wondering with training sessions if I am to try and do them with both dogs at the same time or keep them separate? I am loving the amount of information and topics in the course so far. ;)

[JMFS]

I do both. Momo is 8 and Gertie is who knows, but I'm putting her at 12 months. I thought I did an okay job with Mo, especially for being my first dog and a hyper bullheaded sometimes dink at that. When Gertie came home with us, holy Toledo, Mo was like a championship level dog compared to her. This girl had No manners in the human world. :D Momo helps her catch on quicker and he even helps me train her. One example: Gertie is off in the woods rolling in gawd-knows-what-stench-this-time and is Completely ignoring my calls and whistles. Mo is looking at me like, "dude, what's up with her, doesn't she hear you?" I tell him, "go get her," and he bounds off, nips her ankles and gets her to chase him back to me. In that case he's quite helpful.

 

On the flip side, when I'm speed feeding treats for silent whistle training it's usually easier to train them separately so I don't miss a beat; and so Mo doesn't forget his manners in his desire to get his treat before Gertie dares to so much as Think about taking it. On the flippier side, I can use that same silent whistle training to show him he's last in line for treats And that Gertie being around means he's going to get treats, but not until she gets one first. The theory is that he should associate Gertie being around when treats are around as being a good thing instead of being a growling jerk about it (he's special that way).

 

Another example: Gertie learned that my touching the door handle means she's to take a seat (one of the tips I picked up on the site). Momo didn't know that rule, but after seeing Gertie do it a few times he caught on.

 

So, my opinion (and experience) is that there are benefits to both and it's totally possible to train both at the same time.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome! It really depends on your individual situation. As you can see in Jennifer's post, there are variables that can make training both together an advantage or disadvantage. Generally, with dogs who weren't trained before, I would encourage training one dog at a time at first just because in the initial stages of training, you want one-on-one attention without too many distractions going on.

 

For example, if your dogs are prone to barking/alerting to stimuli, they will also likely feed off each others' moods which negatively interferes with training creating disruptions. If they have had little training before they will also likely want to play with each other rather than pay attention to you. You also don't want one dog getting in the middle because he smells treats. In these cases, one-on-one training can be easier in the initial stages until you have better control over both dogs.

 

The great news is that once both dogs are getting more and more fluent in performing the desired behaviors, you can get them to perform the behaviors they were taught together, which works great as part of the proofing process (dogs responding nicely despite the distraction of each others' presence).

Edited September 25, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Kelsytmills]

Hello Jeniffer & Adrienne, 😃

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I myself have been struggling with these two. My 2 year old Zero has some bad habits that I really don't want Dobby collecting as well. I can see the arguments for both sides.

 

Any suggestions for what to maybe focus on correction wise? My current battles are having Zero stop barking at every little thing he hears outside, loud vehicle, neighbors talking etc. Also training to walk nicely on leashes. Zero is very out of practice. Lunging and barking at anyone they see and of course other dogs.

 

Again thank you for your responses and all who respond.

Cheers

[Adrienne Farricelli]

If you haven't browsed the course in its entirety yet, there is a section on training dogs to walk nicely on leashes in the obedience 101 section. Here is the direct link: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Again, it would be best to train the dogs better leash manners individually so to prevent them from feeding off each others' emotions and also so that you can focus entirely on one dog. Training polite leash manners takes watching the dog's body language carefully and scanning the environment almost constantly at first so to redirect as needed when you notice stimuli that may trigger pulling.

 

Barking instead is covered in the behavior training for dogs course. Here you can find some reads that may be of interest to you: barking. You will also find the "look at that game" found under module 5 in the brain training course helpful because it offers a good starting point to distract your dog from barking at the sight of outdoor stimuli while changing his emotional response. Here is the direct link: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Start indoors, with your dog under threshold until you get a nice response and then move on to perform the exercise outdoors, on leash first, and then once responsive, off leash in the yard (if you have one) or on a long line if you don't have a fenced yard.

 

For barking directed at sounds that aren't visible (e.g your dog hearing neighbors but not seeing them) you may find the "hear that" method helpful. You can find it covered here under my case studies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/

Edited September 27, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Kelsytmills]

Thank you so much for the links. Those will be extremely helpful for reaching my goal of taking the dogs out together on a walk. 😊