Having two Dobermans/dogs

[MyBuddy]

Hahaha. I know. I call mine buffallo running through the house!

I'll never forget the sound of a friend's 2 labs running through their house before I had a Doberman! It sounded like a herd of horses!!

 

[DaisyD]

Revisited topic:

I tend to wonder on this day to day. How much our household would change with another to keep Ragnar company.

So for those that have two:
1. Do you shut down all rough housing inside- only allow it outside?

2. How do you manage this? Put them both in respected corners when they act up?

3. What are your house rules for having two beast and how do you enforce?

4. What else am I forgetting that needs to be addressed?

Well, I am new here and am learning from this forum that not all dobies are alike! But we have had three large dogs (and three tough cats!) at once for a very long time and, granted, while not all dobermans, all are in the 80 lb+ territory. We also have a house-full of kids and I'll out myself now as the weird longtime homeschooler (not crisis pandemic homeschooler) \ living on a hobby farm, so we might not fit the typical mold. We are home a lot and we have lots of room for plenty of critters of all varieties, so take our experience with a grain of salt.

Our oldest girl, who is now 11.5, is the matriarch and rules the roost accordingly. She has never put up with shenanigans from the other two, or the cats, or the kids. We actually call her "The Fun Police". But I give her complete credit for the other two dogs turning out as well as they did as we got oldest and our recently departed dobie one year apart. Then Dog #3 we got 2 years after that. Oldest ruled with an iron....paw? (She takes her role so seriously that I do put her away in a bedroom when other kids come over to play. She is NOT a fan of screaming and chasing be it human or canine.)

1) They never really tried to rough house much indoors- they would do what I called floor fighting, or the lazy mouthing like in one of the previous pictures. But even for barking at incoming people/critters, oldest dog would go after any of the other dogs and making sure they played Chorus and not main role.

2) We did have crates for everyone when they were all young and not quite trustworthy, but they all dropped off needing them by age 3-ish. But again, oldest kept the order for the most part. And we were lucky that the younger two were really laid back, submissive type dogs. A stern word pretty much cut anything out indoors- but like I said, maybe we have been lucky with a sedate doberman (minus the whining?!)

3) House rules I guess would be off carpeted areas (kids rooms) and no dogs on beds- baby gates and we never let them on a bed. We fed them in order of age/dominance. Also, no chasing our cats. We have an insane number of dog beds scattered throughout the house to help save the furniture. They are just as happy on plushy dog beds its seemed. The cats have ironically been the main furniture destroyers. Way easier to replace $30 Sam's dog beds than leather couches. Wish cats would get on the same page!

4) The biggest caution/awareness I would have with multiple large dogs is meds and vet cost. As they get older, there are a lot of meds that start adding up. My husband and I have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to animal cost. He is all about happy wife, happy life, and isn't as "interventionist" as I am (even though I'm not extreme), but knows they are a huge part of my heart so this is our happy marriage agreement...... So I just take them to the vet, pay the bill and we don't talk about it! But wow, sometimes it is shockingly expensive. More labs/tests with age, and of course more meds. Just heart worm, flea med, vaccines and check ups is daunting- add in additional things and it can be- wow. Then senior panels, and other maintenance meds say for spay incontinence or otherwise, the bills can pile on.

Overall, I would say having an older, more mature dog to help keep a puppy in check is a huge blessing. So if I had a rambunctious dog as the oldest I *might* wait another year or two. I would think a rambunctious young dog might just make things worse, although it might also have the effect of maturing the oldest too. I am a "more dogs the better!" person though, so I probably shouldn't encourage. :d

 

[Ddski5]

My girls are withering me down.

I get a pict or a screen shot of two dogs playing or snuggling up with each other daily.

Ragnar is my biggest worry, he is doing so good right now.

 

[Rits]

Always trust your gut. They are bored with no sports or normal school. What can waiting another year hurt?

 

[Ddski5]

Haha....

@Rits you are so right. They were all just saying yesterday that they miss school. I train them all every afternoon and we run but the whole “no social interaction” is really getting to them.

They say bored and I say that the baseboards and bottom of kitchen cabinets sure could use a good wipe down. They don’t mention it again.

 

[Kaiser2016]

They say bored and I say that the baseboards and bottom of kitchen cabinets sure could use a good wipe down. They don’t mention it again.

Haha, my parents did that with us too. “Oh you’re bored. Here’s a mop!”

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Two words NEVER to be uttered to or within hearing of parents is; “I’m bored.”


I speak from a great deal of experience.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Haha, my parents did that with us too. “Oh you’re bored. Here’s a mop!”

My parents' reply was "It's not our job to entertain you."

Yeah, it doesn't sound like a great idea to get another dog right now, Mr. 'ski.

 

[Lizbeli]

Funny, my mom was thinking about getting a dog. I shot that idea down right away. Both of my parents work day shifts so the dog would be locked up all day. Then when they get home they take care of my nephews (they adopted them, long story lol). So that includes dinner, homework, washing up. Theres just no time for a dog in that house.

So she said ill just have to make sure to bring Jasper around often after this crazy virus stuff.

 

[MyBuddy]

Haha, my parents did that with us too. “Oh you’re bored. Here’s a mop!”

Some things never change!! My mom said that too.

 

[Lizzard]

@strykerdobe posted this ‘dog care on air’ link a while back and it has some great presentations including this one which was rather helpful with regards to pack structure. I used some of the tips even with the cat and dog and it did make Kaiser back off the cat quite a bit, thus enabling her to not run away so much which was huge in preventing his prey drive from kicking in. I looked it up to watch it again, so figured I’d post it here. It does start off slow, but watch to the end. It’s Dr Nicholas Dodman and the presentation is called
SIBLING RIVALRY: MANAGING AGGRESSION BETWEEN YOUR CANINE KIDS

Join me for Dog Care On Air

@Antman408 might want to check this out to get some tips for his new pack member too.

this was SUPER helpful. thank you to @strykerdobe and @Kaiser2016 - we're going through this now and I had no idea I was doing it wrong half the time. THANK YOU!