Should dogs be kept apart?Question:This has been on my mind lately. I've read several articles online that advocate keeping dogs seperated from each other when left unsupervised. The general tone of these articles is that there is always the potential for a serious fight; they should always be under supervision. What do you think? Do you multi-dog people keep your dogs seperated? I've always kept Zeus and Voodoo together alone without a second thought. Should I be seperating them? Answer: Izzy and Frodo are always crated when we leave, and Mollie is confined to the living room. When we had Mia, her and Mollie were loose together though, and we never had any problems. I think it really depends on the individual dogs. Answer: I've never separated mine... when I'm not home, they all stay in a 36inch crate together. We've never had any problems... they are like a little pack :D Answer: Charlie and Rocket stay together all the time, and yes even when we are not home. I don't feel like I am being stupid, I feel I know their temperments very well, and am not concerned at all about leaving them alone. Now Shiloh is a different story, I would never leave her alone with any dog after her dog aggression became evident. That is a personal choice that only you can answer and be comfortable with. :) I know some say never leave any dogs alone together, but I feel in my circumstance it is better they are together than alone. Answer: I think it definitely depends on the dogs. My parents have three dogs in their home that are always kept together and there have never been any problems. Answer: I think it depends on the dogs, but that's me. I used to leave Sawyer and Aubrey alone together without a second though. Mollie and Sawyer...Mollie used to be crated and Sawyer left loose, but she's started tearing things up in her crate, so now they're just both shut in my room when I'm gone. I don't think they'll do anything, they seem to just lay down and go to sleep until I get home, then they go nuts. Answer: I, too, think it depends on the dogs. Banzai is growing up and becoming a little more assertive and with Buddy not feeling well, Buddy has not been so appreciative of Banzai's tactics so they will be separated for awhile. I should also say that before they were always crated and we started leaving them out for quick trips to the store or whatever and they were both fine. :) Answer: Well, my boy, when Sugar, was alive, and Shadow still here, we kept them in a kennel together, they got a long fine. :) Showed no aggression towards each other, Hershey loved the company. :) I don't think you should be separating your dogs though. But, yes, it depends on the dogs. :) Mostly. Answer: Mine are ALWAYS apart when I'm not physically in the room with them. And it's not just because of their breed. I've seen way too many household dog attacks to think that this is an occurance that will only happen with certain breeds. I've seen Yorkies kill another Yorkie, a Collie kill a Chihuahua, numerous labs injuring/killing other household dogs, GSDs,...........& the list goes on & on. In fact, fights b/n household animals is the #1 reason we see dogs with injuries in our clinic. Answer: Mine are all separate from eachother, except for Tango & Winston. My girls all get along perfectly fine when we're home with them, but I wouldn't want to take any chances while we're away. I doubt anything would happen, but I feel better keeping them separated. Answer: I have three dogs...they have always been together when we leave, ever since the first day we got them... there is never a problem... EDIT: although sometimes I put Samm in my room, because she's an excape artist! :yikes: Answer: for short trips like to go grocery shopping or something at both houses they are loose except at my dad where walker is in my room or in the pasture with ranger. while at school/work we have muzzles for them at both houses. they love being able to run around adn sleep together but patches is 100 lbs and whisper is 10 so a muzzle is a good idea and tytus and booger have them because booger does have to put him in his place sometime never fighting but the occassional growl and we feel safer with them muzzeled. Walker used to be out at my moms house and has a muzzle but ehre he is in my room. Answer: Never, ever are the boys left alone unattended. If the two BCs get along, they can be left alone together I think. If there are any scuffles, they'll sort it out quickly and there isn't the dramatic size difference between the puppy and Dakota like there is with Dakota and Ripley. Answer: We have nine dogs. The only dog we crate is Marq. And that is not because we have to, but just because it is habit. We have the occasional bitch fight between our cancer girl and the other girls in the house. And our youngest male has taken to being a bit aggressive with our ESS girl. But, we really have no problem leaving them all alone together. With that said, there is rarely no one at home. My mom does not work, and there are four kids. So, they are rarely left *completely* alone, but we when we do leave them alone, they are fine. The cockers just grab a couch and sleep all day, and our ESS and Pointer do the same with plenty of trips outside to just run in circles, chase birds, bunnies, and leaves. :p Answer: I don't seperate them. If I'm going to be gone a while, I used to shut the baby gate to confine the two smaller dogs away from the two bigger dogs... but Missy just jumps the gate to lay with Maddie. (and now Lady does it too) So I just let them be. I think they sleep on my bed on on a couch all day anyway :) Answer: Mine are usually crated separately - for one, they get each other riled up and can really be obnoxious (barking, territorial, etc.) - they're like Bonnie and Clyde! Second, Ronin is a wild man and can be a bit "much" for Ilsa. For Ilsa's sake, they're crated spearately when I'm at school or work. Short trips to the store and such... I just leave them loose together. The corgi pupper is ALWAYS crated when we leave the house... she's obviously not potty-trained yet, and is a bit small to be romping with the Big Dogs... ;) Answer: We leave them together, we just remove any potential for fights (ie, toys). The house isn't big enough to separate them without crating them, and I don't want my boys crated for 6 hours, so we just take the chance. They do fight occasionally, but it lasts 30 seconds and they never hurt each other, so I think it's pretty safe as long as we remove the toys (Tips gets protective of what's in his crate). Answer: I don't know. I think sometimes that this 'never leave a kid alone with the dog' and 'never leave two dogs alone together' talk is getting out of hand. I mean, yeah, if you have a dog-aggressive dog or an aloof, child-unfriendly dog, that's sound advice. But I wonder why we're rushing past sensible toward a attitude that expects all dogs to be dangerous when we know perfectly well that this is not the case. The vast majority of bites and fights come from a tiny group of dogs and behaviors that are easily predicted - two assertive bitches of the same size fighting for dominance, for example. A big dog reacting to a tiny dog as prey. A mature dog attacked by a young dog who's just recently discovered his self-confidence. I think that while the potential always exists for a tragedy (flukes, freak circumstances, something that turns a normally safe dog dangerous) you have to consider that and then decide how far you trust your own judgement of your dogs and their situation. Most of the err-on-the-side-of-caution advice exists because so many people so badly misjudge their own pets. I've done this so often myself that I tend to be overcautious now. My poor dog only recently proved to me that she's matured enough to be trusted offleash in our (more or less) fenced yard. Answer: We keep Bruzer and Gunnar separate when we are out. They get pretty rowdy and we don't want Bruzer getting hurt. Midnite and Gunnar are not a problem. When Midnite was young and we had a rescue GSD that we eventually rehomed, we didn't separate them until our townhouse neighbor asked if we were doing demolition work in our kitchen. Turns out they were getting real rowdy while we were gone, so we started putting one downstairs in the basement. My concern leaving 2 dogs together, even if fighting isn't an issue, is the possible property destruction, even if it's inadvertent. A big dog can easily knock over things like curio cabinets and such while playing. Answer: Yikes! Not only would I never leave my dogs together unattended, but especially not any of the "pit bull" breeds, & certainly not a bunch of muzzled dogs!!!:yikes: Answer: I don't know. I think sometimes that this 'never leave a kid alone with the dog' and 'never leave two dogs alone together' talk is getting out of hand. I mean, yeah, if you have a dog-aggressive dog or an aloof, child-unfriendly dog, that's sound advice. But I wonder why we're rushing past sensible toward a attitude that expects all dogs to be dangerous when we know perfectly well that this is not the case. The vast majority of bites and fights come from a tiny group of dogs and behaviors that are easily predicted - two assertive bitches of the same size fighting for dominance, for example. A big dog reacting to a tiny dog as prey. A mature dog attacked by a young dog who's just recently discovered his self-confidence. I think that while the potential always exists for a tragedy (flukes, freak circumstances, something that turns a normally safe dog dangerous) you have to consider that and then decide how far you trust your own judgement of your dogs and their situation. Most of the err-on-the-side-of-caution advice exists because so many people so badly misjudge their own pets. I've done this so often myself that I tend to be overcautious now. My poor dog only recently proved to me that she's matured enough to be trusted offleash in our (more or less) fenced yard. i totally agree. I only have one dog, but i think there is such thing as overly cautious... like gemp has been having NO issue, so why change??? This is the reason i walk oakley off leash, yes i am cautious, but i feel the benefits outweight the risks. Answer: My dogs are ALWAYS separated when left alone. I have seen on two occasions dogs that have lost an eye is a serious dog fight by not being separated when the owner left. Both occasions were dogs that got along just fine. My pugs can get rather scrappy with each other even in my presence. So, for some dogs it may be okay, but with mine it is not! Answer: I never had to separate my Goldens ...even when there would be up to 7 of them . Answer: Shiva and Kharma get separated when we're not there - primarily because they get into too much trouble - especially Shiva :eek: Shiva stays in the bedroom . . . AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN! Kharma and Bimmer are fine loose in the house together. It all just depends on the dogs . . . Zeus and Voodoo seem to have things worked out well between them and they're used to having each other's company. Answer: We have 4 little dogs and all 4 of them are left together when we are away. This has been going on a couple years now. Answer: My dogs don't do anything while I'm gone. They just sleep. There's never any evidence of anything out of place. The furniture is warm still. They all get along and are crazy about eachother. My little Chi often will go in her crate just because she likes it there and sometimes Jose goes in with her and they just snuggle and sleep. So, I don't seperate them. Of course, there's always some risk. They're not machines. But in my case, the risk is very small. And I'm not one who takes unreasonable risks but I'm also not the type to be too much of an alarmist and try to eliminate all risks in life. I think with certain individual dogs and some breeds, yes, the risk is greater so they should be seperated. I've had multiple dogs for a number of years and fortunately never had any problems between them. I think it's good to know your dogs well and to have had them a while so you can assess better. Answer: I always keep Jack and Chloe together, but they do have some spats that become pretty vicious at times over toys. I've never really thought about keeping them separated. We always feed them in the morning and at night when we're there to supervise. Answer: Yikes! Not only would I never leave my dogs together unattended, but especially not any of the "pit bull" breeds, & certainly not a bunch of muzzled dogs!!!:yikes: i dont see the problem with the muzzles. thats what we were instructed to do when we had foster greyhounds so why not all of them they can be with eachother but nothing can happen Answer: i dont see the problem with the muzzles. thats what we were instructed to do when we had foster greyhounds so why not all of them they can be with eachother but nothing can happen seriously?? i know NOTHING about this... but i think if i were a dog and muzzled, i would feel scared and defenseless... I would almost think it could bring OUT aggression that wasnt even there just cause the dogs would feel so helpless :( thats really sad :( Answer: Purely depends on the dogs in question. My friend keeps 6 dogs together, all of them intact with couple females. Only separates them when they go into heat cycles. No issues at all. Answer: I agree you have to know your dogs. Mine are fine together alone and I don't worry about them fighting. Ever. When Harley lived here he was fine with Millie and Rosie but not Lucy because she is a small annoying little gnat to him that he just can't smack off. I don't trust him with her alone. Lucy gets seperated away from things she can get in to when we are gone anyway, usually in her crate if we are going to be gone for a short amount of time. Luckily we don't go to many places where the dogs can't come and they are not alone a lot. Answer: seriously?? i know NOTHING about this... but i think if i were a dog and muzzled, i would feel scared and defenseless... I would almost think it could bring OUT aggression that wasnt even there just cause the dogs would feel so helpless :( thats really sad :( that is an issue when the dogs are not accustumed to the other dogs but all of ours are great together. But they are still puppys and puppys play and when they play it can get rough. Ours seem to feel safer with them, when we introduce a new grey or any dog in our house all dogs involved are muzzled They can concentrate more on getting to know eachother. I have tried it both ways and walker i know for sure relaxes i can feel it by just touching him. Answer: For the past 30+ years I have always had 2 dogs and the only time I have ever kept them separated when we weren't home is when one is a pup who isn't yet fully housetrained. We haven't had any problems. Answer: Chloe is crated and Bailey is not when I have to go for any extended period, such as work. But Chloe is just now 6 months old and I don't crate her because of housetraining issues, she's been housebroken since she was 11 weeks old. But Collies are very curious and since Chloe is still a young pup she's really curious. She doesn't destroy or harm anything but she has this special fondness for poking her head into anything and investigating and she has a special attachment to my silk covered, silk fringed footstool when I'm not looking she likes to lick it. We are working on not liking the footstool so much.:D Of course if I left her out and she began to lick the footstool, WHO would Bailey tell if I weren't at home? He tells on her every time she touches that stool. LOL....... Bailey is over such displays of childishness. But I do leave them both out when I'm not gone for more than an hour and a half. She doesn't seem to touch the footstool when I'm gone though for that amount of time. And no, not going to put up the footstool as she has learned not to touch other objects especially the toilet paper!! About the 3rd day I had her she toilet papered the house like a drunken frat boy. :D Answer: depends on the dogs and on the breed. pit bulls or other fighting breeds should never ever be left alone together. i'd be hesitant to leave two opinionated, able-bodied dogs together as well, or two breeds of vastly different sizes. some breeds i can see it being less of an issue- many sporting dog breeds, for example- and much more dependent on the individual dogs. edited to add: the idea of leaving a dog unsupervised while wearing a muzzle for any reason gives me chills, let alone leaving multiple muzzled dogs alone together. Answer: She doesn't seem to touch the footstool when I'm gone though for that amount of time. And no, not going to put up the footstool as she has learned not to touch other objects especially the toilet paper!! About the 3rd day I had her she toilet papered the house like a drunken frat boy. :D ROFLMAO!!!!! I had a big blue cat (Gonzo) who did that to the apartment he and I shared . . . even went up and down the open stairway with it :eek: He was quite proud of himself and was a bit miffed that I didn't appreciate his flair for interior design . . . Answer: Nope, they're all out there together... just being goof-balls. :) Answer: ROFLMAO!!!!! I had a big blue cat (Gonzo) who did that to the apartment he and I shared . . . even went up and down the open stairway with it :eek: He was quite proud of himself and was a bit miffed that I didn't appreciate his flair for interior design . . . LOL :D And hey, I was even at home when she did this. Sitting on the computer and she was having a HIGH OLE time in the rest of the house. Bailey was TRYING to tell me what she was doing and I kept shushing him up. That's when I started paying attention to his tattletaling. :) Answer: Wise to seperate them. We didn't, and came hom e one day to a dead poodle. Learned the hard way. Answer: i'd be hesitant to leave two opinionated, able-bodied dogs together as well, or two breeds of vastly different sizes. I would too normally. Mine are without a question vastly different sizes and when I first got my Dobe, I thought I would have to seperate them when he was older. Of course, he was crated until he was potty trained and civilized. But, as it turns out, he is so unbelievably gentle with the Chi's, and so extraordinarily tolerant. I mean nothing they do bothers him. They just all get along so well that I have not had a speck of worry or a hint of concern. He doesn't even play roughly with the little dogs. If they're on the couch and he wants to get up, he gingerly gets up and steps just so, so that he'll not squish them. They'll give him a little growl if he gets too close and he'll say, "Oh, excuse me. Let me try to put my foot this way." LOL. If they're all running, he will jump over them to avoid bumping into them if they get into a narrow place or something. So, he seems to have good sense and a very gentle soul. Then I aquired my son's dog and she's the same way. I think they just snooze when I'm gone. I missed your post Squirtsmom. That had to be terrible. I'm so sorry. What was the situation? http://www.chazhound.com/pictures/data/500/medium/toke_lyree_chuli_jose1.JPG Answer: It really depends on the dogs themselves. Ronan and OC live in one kennel together though they each have their own house if one wants some "alone time" however I would never leave OC alone with my BF's AmBulls because OC is constantly a jerk to them and his playful antics aren't favourable to them LOL I honestly dont blame them. Answer: I always leave my boys together, unless they're being crated for some reason. =) they keep each other company, and they never get into trouble, ever. I think Gonzo's a really good influence on Fozzie and I think they'd be really unhappy in seperate rooms alone. Also.. they have never hurt each other, not even from playing rough, and I KNOW that neither of them would. I guess it does depend between different dogs. I honestly would not want to have 2 dogs in one house that would be liable to attack each other, though. Answer: My dogs are NEVER, EVER left unattended. They are rarely running loose together when I AM there. When Ryot was little he was crated (and so was Cheko) and Cheko is very rough and could have easily hurt Ryot. Now Ryot's older and they fight. Cheko likes to throw Ryot on the floor and Ryot used to accept that but now he doesnt. I expected problems between them when i got Ryot because Cheko is more on the dominant side, and Ryot's father (and mother) are no joke. They definately have the "alpha" mentality. I dont want to take any chances. I rather have my dogs sit in a crate for a few hours than sit on the surgery table having their guts put back in. :) Answer: I have 3 dogs ranching from 70 pounds to 3 pounds.I can leave my 70 pound male with my 30 pound female but i will not leave my 3 pounder out with them.He is still a pup and maybe one day i will leave him with my female but never with the big male.They all get along great but anything could happen to the little guy Answer: I keep all three of mine together and there's never a problem. They occasionally fight over treats so I make sure that they don't ever have any in their crate. Answer: My three adult dogs get full roam of the house when they are alone. Any bones/treats/food bowls/etc get put up. I am pretty sure they sleep the whole time we are gone. We've tested them before by putting treats in regular walking areas. They are untouched when we come home! When we first got our third dog we seperated her until we figured out how they'd interact. It's the same with our fourth dog. He gets crated in my room. Answer: For short periods they can run the house, when Im at work they have their own rooms. Once I get my fence do I get them a doggy door? Answer: I don't know about with other breeds, but with Pit Bulls, definitely. I would personally seperate while I'm away no matter what the breed. For one, if the trash is torn open, you wouldn't know which one to watch for signs of poisoning. Or which one made the diarrhea on the rug. And overall I just prefer to have my dogs crated while I'm away, so I know they're out of trouble. Answer: We always leave our two together. We'd have more problems if they had to be seperated, seriously, it'd stress them out. Most of the time they are real good, but once in awhile there will be a trash attack from the bedroom (they cant get to the other trash cans). So all they get is paper, wrappers or kleenexs. We know which one gets the kleenex, which one shredd the paper, one time one had diarrhea inside and we knew which one because they poop so differently. One stays in one spot the other takes steps as she goes leaving a little trail of poop. Strangest thing I've ever seen. Answer: I only have one dog but this brings to mind that I always leave Tosca alone with my cats. Does anybody else do this and is this a bad thing? Other than irritating them for play and an occasional short herding attempt, I never see a problem between her and my cats. In fact, I notice that my two younger cats seek her out. She seems to have more than a healthy respect for the potential of the Five Razors too. My one elderly cat stays upstairs all the time and Tosca has to be coaxed upstairs because she wasn't allowed up there for most of her puppyhood. She's heading toward ten months old and still prefers to be downstairs unless I 'invite' her upstairs. So my other two cats can get away from her by going upstairs anytime they want to, put they seem to choose not to. But after reading this thread, I see people who don't allow their dogs to stay together alone, and so I am wondering: Does anybody consider leaving Tosca alone with two cats a "not" ok thing to do? I wouldn't want to put my cats in danger. Answer: Dakota (GSD) and Faith (Collie) are perfectly fine when left together. Ramone (foster Chihuahua) is crated because he's not fully house broken. When we leave, Faith is always left free in the house. Dakota is usually given free run of our big fenced yard. They are only seperated like this because Dakota is a very active young dog and prefers to be outside during the day. Faith, being a typical collie is a nusance barker when left outside, so in the interest of being good neigbors we leave her in the house. During bad weather, fourth of July fireworks, etc Dakota and Faith are both left free in the house. Before I had Faith, Dakota used to get bored and destructive alone in the house, but now Faith keeps her company and they are perfectly happy and content together. Answer: Bear is always crated when I leave, but only because it's habit more than anything else. He'd probably be fine free, but he likes his crate. The other two are in my bedroom together to prevent them from raiding the kitchen. Toscasmom, They usually have a couple kitties in the bedroom with them sleeping on the bed and I don't worry about it at all. My dogs have no desire to chase the cats and they seem them as part of the pack. If I had a dog with a high prey drive that made cat chasing a sport, then I would certainly seperate them. But they just all snooze on my bed together. Answer: I only have one dog but this brings to mind that I always leave Tosca alone with my cats. Does anybody else do this and is this a bad thing? I will leave Loki unsupervized with our cat, just not when I'm away from the house. And its not that I think that anything will ever happen, I just like to know for sure. :) Answer: i totally agree. I only have one dog, but i think there is such thing as overly cautious... like gemp has been having NO issue, so why change??? This is the reason i walk oakley off leash, yes i am cautious, but i feel the benefits outweight the risks. She has had issues though - the dogs have had scuffles over objects before, haven't they? Answer: Yes, Doberkim. Voodoo has had food aggression issues towards Zeus in the past. I believe we've trained that away that pretty well, but I still do not trust them alone together with any kind of food item: treats, bones, etc. That's why I'm wondering if I should seperate them. They've never had a problem aside from Voodoo's food agression, but I don't know if I should trust that to continue. Answer: Is one or other neutered, gempress? how old are they? From previous posts about your horsemen calming down, I get the impression they are still maturing? Could it be that one or other is going to be passing through a testing phase soon where all boundaries will be pushed - both human and canine? If that is likely then it may be safer to seperate until that phase passes. Your intuition seems to be telling you that they are not 100% bombproof together right now so err on the side of caution for a while. It doesn't have to stay that way forever. Answer: I crate 4 of my 5 while I'm out. All of my dogs get along, there has never been a scuffle, but I know that if something were to come up that I could possible loose a dog. Tinker is soooo small (well under 2 pounds) and Tia isn't steady on her feet anymore so I also worry about accidents with the stairs. My dogs truly love their kennels and I never leave for more than a few hours so I'm very happy to kennel them when I go. Tia and Tinker kennel together and Amos and Lola share a kennel (usually) so they're certainly not lonely. Sophie has the run of the house except the bedrooms...she just sleeps anyway. I do recommend to many clients that they seperate their dogs. Not long ago I was at a home of a client with 3 Jack Russels. They had always been fine with the cat and were all left out together, never an incident. The owners called me in when they returned one day to find the cat had been killed and partially eaten. All three dogs (mother, now spayed, the altered dad, and female 2 year old pup, also spayed) were bloody. Often times it does come down to breed and of course individual dogs but there are breeds that I would never leave together due to predisposition for d/d aggression and preditory drift (as in the case of the Jacks). I honestly wouldn't leave most terriers out together or with access to other animals. Many, many multiple dog family's do well left out all together. It really does depend on the breed, individual temperments and the dynamics of the group. Answer: Agree ^ ....every situation is different . Answer: So Dr2, you suggest that I do not let Tosca be alone with my cats then, yes? Answer: My three are always together while we're both at work. There has never been any problems. Answer: So Dr2, you suggest that I do not let Tosca be alone with my cats then, yes? Oh..not at all, unless you've noticed a strong desire for Tosca to chase your cat, then I would for sure. What I said was every situation is different but I would be apt to seperate most terrier breeds (not all) from other dogs and small animals. It really depends on how Tosca is with your cat. |
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