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I totally agree with your first bullet point: I can multiple Nylabones or rawhides out but they will always battle over the one!

On your last point about bringing up the second dog: I found it much easier to house train and crate train the second dog because he would follow along with his older sibling and picked all sorts of stuff up really quick. Then again, I have Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and I imagine they have very different temperaments from Huskies.

I tend to walk my 2 little guys (18 lbs each) together but if you're dealing with a larger breed it may not be physically possible or very safe to walk 2 at the time if the little one is running around like a freak and tugging like he's in the Iditarod. To effectively train the little guy/gal on leash manners you will need to walk them separately until they get the basics down.

Overall, any time you're going to have a training session with the newbie you will need to do it alone without any interference from the older pupper or you won't get anything accomplished! Whenever I train my little Rupert, my older guy, Chester has to be upstairs or he will butt in and try and take all the treats I'm using to train Rupert.

Being a multiple pet owner myself -- the one thing I can tell you is that with time (for our it took over a year) most animals not only get used to each other, they will actually start to like one another and find comfort, solace and even have fun with each other. The tug toy is the best example of this -- mine would rather play tug with each other than with me. Sure there a minor rows between them, but there are also shared beds (even though we have several for them) and even a face washing or two.

When adopting an adult dog with another adult dog, take the first dog to pick out the new family member.

I made the same mistake you did! Well, I maybe not "mistake" since I love them both dearly--let's just say I would totally have done things differently if I only had KNOWN.

The one thing I learned and trainers repeated tell me is to keep them separated when you aren't there with them. Not because you're afraid of one of them beating the other one up but for the same reason you walk them separately. You want them to bond individually to YOU first and foremost. I put them in separate rooms with a baby gate separating them so they can see,smell, and hear each other and when I come home, they have free reign. It makes it easier for them to listen to you, especially when one is going bonkers you really really want the other to listen to you rather than go bonkers too dragging you down the street after a mini poodle (trust me, I know). =) All the same, good luck and what beautiful dogs!

i love her lil wolf like features! totally agree with multiple bones, they always fight. We have 2 small dogs, 1 a chihuahua cross schnauzer and the other a whippet cross jack russel. we got the chihuahua first, she was easy to create train, and still goes in there no trouble, the other 1 was impossible and now lives on the bed instead. My brother has 2 dogs also, a lasa and a lab, they stay in the same huge create as the lasa will not be seperated from the lab, even tho the lab is 3 years old and i think wants to b left alone by the lasa some times but cant get a break.

what is crate training? aren't crates for transporting the dog? they can't spend much time in them. (?)

When I got together with my partner, acclimating our dogs to one another was a big deal--we had "dog dates" in which we each walked them side by side but without a big meeting/showdown. Little by little, we left them alone b;ut I agree--set ground rules early and stick with them.

My wife and I took a stray pitbull puppy (adoloscent) in a few years ago.

It bordered on being a disaster.

The last straw was an all out snarl, bite and scratch fest in front of the neighbors that ended up with one dog in my wife's arms and the other freed still trying to get to the dog being held and my wife's pants being pulled down.

We let them alone in the house one day and a couple of house plants got shorn in half (woody stemmed house plants).

But there was a happy ending. Not too long after that a very nice hippy adopted the puppy, named it Sunshine and got a house with a yard and from what I understand they are living happily ever after.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/515088083/in/photostream?edited=1

i walk my two little pups together (a small, stocky 19lb terrier mix and an 11lb long, tall, lean poodle mix) on a coupler and it's been working well. tried the individual leashes for a while..totally didn't work.

i adopted juno in january (the terrier) and ruby in may (poodle/terror) and they get along beautifully except if juno has a bone ruby wants.. etc. yep, could have 100 of the damn things and they want the one the other has! lol.

having two can be a pain sometime..but i've found they make each other happy while i'm at work and juno's lost a lot of weight in the process.

I love Herbie, I saved the picture of him on your stunning red sofa..now a puppy of cuteness.. I could give tones of advise after raising several dogs but I think this is an odd post for AT..not that I don't like seeing your dogs.

I do suggest craigslist pet forum for some good tips and advise from the morning crowd only.

That's funny how Bananas slowly crept up on Herbie testing his boundaries...I have two cats, but it was much the same situation. Dakota, a girl, came first. She was four months old upon adoption. Then along comes Shadow, a boy, about 6 months later. I kept Shadow in his carrier and let Dakota take the lead. There was a lot of hissing from her, but he kept his head down and capitulated. I let him out of the carrier, and some more hissing from her, some half-hearted hissing from him, and they were fine. Shadow got to be bigger than Dakota so he started throwing his weight around, basically just sitting on her when she got spicy. SO funny. But then somehow she turned the tide and now she's top cat. I just make sure to give each one alone time with me and I also pay attention to them as a pair to teach them not to fight over it. they still aren't best friends, 6 years later, and I still hear hissing and screaming and swat attacks, but there is a certain level of tolerance where we all live peacefully together. I think it's more a personality conflict..shadow wants to play and Dakota wants to stretch out and relax.

I am one of the rare people who only have one greyhound. Most folks treat them like potato chips - you can't have just one. lol

The retired racers are used to being around lots of other dogs so they are well socialized and get along with everyone. Some greyhounds (very few, actually) don't do well with small dogs or cats due to a high prey drive.

Lady J, crate training is teaching your dog to be in a crate or cage for one reason or another. At night it can control house breaking issues or during the day if they can't be trusted loose it can confine them to a safe area. If you have the right size crate for your dog and you have done your training correctly, the dog will like it and treat it like it's own little den. They should never be used for punishment since that's when it becomes more of a prison. I have a giant, extra huge crate for my greyhound. I took off the door long ago, but she likes to sleep in her own little cave.

I covered her ugly plastic crate with a tablecloth and some decorative baskets/plants. Most people don't even notice it or think it is a table.

Doesn't anyone watch "Dog Whisperer" on NGC? While I don't agree with everything he says, by & large there are many sensible things he tries to drive home.

The #1 thing you need to realize is: That dogs are descended from wolves who are a) pack animals, and b) have a strict hierarchy (Alpha Male, anyone?). YOU are the Alpha of the pack, not Herbie. He WILL get along with Bananas because YOU say so. End of discussion. No lost temper, no frustration. It is that way because that way you can all get along peacefully. Please believe, they will be grateful for your leadership.

To Peace in the Pack.

We live on semi-rural land, therefore can have up to 4 dogs. We seem to have managed to get three dogs in the last 10 years... but 4 was 1 too many.

Leah, the dominant Blue Heeler rules with an iron paw (lol). The second in charge seems to be the younger and quieter Brandy the Blue Heeler Kelpie Cross. The lowest in the food chain is the 2 year old Bitsa (bitsa this and bitsa that) Polly who is more than their combined weight and quick a lot taller than the other two. Leah and Brandy and Polly get along pretty well. At times when it's the time of the fortnight they get a bone each Polly or Leah always seem to get small cuts on your noses and we've had to get the vet to staple polly up a couple times... she's a gobble guts. Anyway my sister brought home a 7 week old puppy from the feed barn... a Bull Mastiff cross something huge... he wasn't very welcome. Eventually we gave the poor guy up to another family willing to take him. Wasn't fair his food was being eaten, and he was getting picked on. Three is the magic number.

That top photo is disturbing - looks like a two headed wolf is in a fight with itself.

Bananas is the Best.Name.Ever.

LOL.

We had a 9 year old German Shephard-Whippet cross and then got a 3 month old Beagle puppy...boy was the older dog pissed. He chased her around, she was always bugging him, and when they played tug of war he would usually end up flinging her across the room.

And then when she went home to Nana's, he would sit at the door and pout for three hours. ;)

Aww, little Bananas...

Walking the dogs together is an invaluable exercise that will teach them to be a team and to learn from each other. It'll also allow you the time to give them both a long enough walk to settle any "woolies" they may have pent up.

I second Idevere's comment, "Doesn't anyone watch "Dog Whisperer" on NGC?"

I watched the episode of Oprah where Cesar Millan was there to introduce Oprah's new puppies to Sophie. His advice was that you introduce them on neutral territory.

Although I wanted to do that, it wasn't the route I took. Chloe my older one, was well socialized as a puppy. I would bring her over to my friend's who has 2 dogs. I took her to puppy classes. When Mollie came into our lives, there wasn't any difficulty. They're not best friends, but they get along. Mollie is half the size of Chloe and the dominant one. Two is definitely better than one!

I think you should walk them together. He stresses the important of walking and always bring his dogs to walk with the other dog.
" When dogs walk together, they accelerate the process of simply becoming a pack." - Cesar Millan