[nagdu] 2 dogs around the house

Mon Feb 1 21:07:16 UTC 2010

HI tamara,

You do make it sound like fun!

My husband loves Adrian but it is me who has the training kind of patience.
We'll see if it grows on him. In fact I love watching him. He would in
earlier days complain that when we walk I keep focussing on Adrian to make
him heel better and now that the roles are reversed he's doing just the
same. Makes me laugh.

It  might be just a phase but Adrian seems to have improved with barking
since he is not guiding..  Or - if I want to be really paranoid - he is
depressed? Joking! Who knows what's going through their brains anyway?

Thanks for the stories!

Ioana and Adrian enjoying his last months of undivided doggy attention.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
Sent: February 1, 2010 2:21 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] 2 dogs around the house

Ioana,

Yes, they pick up on each others' bad habits.  In the case of our two, in a
newly combined household, they also schooled each other in proper behavior.
/smile/  Each in the way she was trained.  /lol/  It used to crack me up
when Daisy hound -- an incurable barker -- would get after Mitzi for barking
by chasing her into a corner then barking at her.  /lol/  Mitzi uses operant
conditioning on Daisy, by withholding praise and attention, then letting
herself be treed so that Daisy can bark at her.  Since they were both
one-human dogs to begin with, their balance of power in their odd little
two-dog pack varies with Daisy's dad presence and mood, as well as with my
own.

Your situation is different, since you'll be bringing a new dog into a
household where Adrian has been the center of attention.  They will have to
work things out between each other, as you and your parnter will have to
work through the transition with them.

One thing I have found useful in civilizing our beasts and establishing
better behavior is doing obedience exercises with the the two of them, using
clicker and treats.  I laughingly call this "competitive obedience," since
they end up competing for the reward by trying to outdo each other with
obedience.  /lol/  I never actually expected this little game to result in
useful obedience training, since it goes against all sorts of theory, but I
have found that over the time both dogs have become more obedient.  Huh.

In fact, I'm currently using that method to get the competitive door-barking
under control.  /lol/  We've finally gotten Daisy to the point where she no
longer wants to eat whoever's at the door -- friend or foe -- but now we
have an overgreet problem.  Daisy's past means she will forever be
unpredictable, so when someone comes to the door, our focus is on getting a
grip on her just to be on the safe side.  Either way.  /lol/  Her buddies
are as likely to be mauled by love and joy as those who set off her fear
aggression are to be by snarling and teeth.

So with all the attention on Daisy, one holding on to her for dear life, the
other opening the door to find out who's there, Mitzi is free to do whatever
she likes.  She only gets out of hand with the extreme poodle greet with her
special buddies, but still!  Her special buddies are also my special
buddies, and I would like for them to be able to come into my home without
all the drama!  It's embarrassing, to say the least.  Daisy also loves the
special buddies, which is great, but....

So I've finally reached the point where I can open the door a crack to the
special buddies -- who have ridiculously good manners and won't open our
door to come in even when I tell them to -- then go to the treat jar in the
kitchen and call the dogs for a mini obedience session to let our friends in
unmolested.  Given Daisy's background and temperament, this is huge
progress!  It also is starting to bring Mitzi back to acceptable manners
with favored guests.  Whew!

Anyway, I'm bringing Daisy along slowly, so I still can't report complete
success in the matter of excited door barking.  But I have some hopes.

Since it sounds like you have some experience with positive reinforcement
and food rewards, using your two dogs' competitive nature to reinforce an
alternative to barking madly at the door may be helpful. /smile/  It's
hopeless non-canon training methodology, but whatever works! /grin/

Then again, barking at the door is really, really fun!  And it fulfills a
deep need to protect the pack territory.  Also, it's really, really fun and
exciting.  The only thing better is barking at the squirrel in the tree in
the neighbor's backyard!

If you do figure out an easy way to compete with all of that, do let me
know.  Our dogs are monsters!  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ioana Gandrabur
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 12:27 PM
To: NFBnet NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] 2 dogs around the house

Hi all,

I have just posted recently that I have retired Adrian and am thinking to
keep him when the new guide dog arrives. I  have never kept 2 dogs. I'd be
curious to hear from others on the list that have dealt with his if the new
dog has picked up on any bad habits of the old. I think I am wondering
whether the fact that Adrian arks like a maniac at the door would rub off on
the new one. Were there any issues about keeping the new dog on leash for
the first days and the other dog being off leash?

Any other thoughts or advice in this adventure will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your support!

Take care,

Ioana

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