Leaving Multiple Dogs Unsupervised - Page 3

Well I am going to say this and then I'm done. As you said earlier Jenni no sense in beating a dead horse to death.

I don't have huskies either, never did, never will. BUT my best online friend has pulled herself up by the bootstraps like some of the rest of us to be where she is and she breeds and shows huskies and works with some of the top lines from Europe. Having said that I know damn well that huskies do fight--all dogs are pack oriented until a bitch comes in heat and you have 2 unaltered males floating around. She has 8 grown dogs and is constantly shuffling them around. She has also had some serious bitch fights. So you think she doesn't know as much as you about the breed? Afraid not my friend--her mentor owns Zausels in Germany and she is Prez of the northern spitz club or whatever they call it over there. And by the way her mentor studied genetics and graduated from a university in Russia. So yes I say they know way way more than you. And they know not to leave any dogs together alone unattended. What Euro posted while ago freaked me out--nice old yupp yupp Labs going at it. When I was a groomer, I had washed a poodle and I thought it went with another one--it didn't and I had one hell of a minature poodle fight--between a bitch and dog. In one way it was funny, afterwards.........Who'd have thought 2 dinky opposite sex poodles would be mixing it up.

I have been a groomer, worked at a vet office several times, managed boarding kennels--about 30 yrs worth of experience with dogs. And it has been repeated many times you never think they will mix it up but the least little thing can set them off. So you go on and voice control your dogs and I truly hope you never ever have this happen to you. Cause it can and with any BREED. Now I'm done..............

Can I throw in my 10 cents ?  Being 'in charge' of multiple dogs over a twelve-year period (until the end of last year), I'd like to add these observations:

I worked, living on the premises, looking after someone's (mainly GSDs) 'security squad', guarding their
large rural property.  This meant the majority of the dogs owned were out loose overnight around the place;  and came into kennels during the day, where they slept, got fed, trained & exercised, medicated & groomed.

Numbers varied;  when they were mainly one homebred family over generations, there were two dozen or
over, including youngsters ;  more recently, they were unrelated,  mainly rescue cases,  and there were a few less.

Dogs were run out in distinct, fenced garden areas, when 'on duty', in groups of two - four.  Likewise, there
were spacious kennels so they were kept paired or more in those.  So they always had company;  but they
were not constantly observed by a human.  [I am not necessarily advocating this as a method of keeping
dogs !  But it was what it was.]

HOWEVER  I/we were always careful to observe the following:
Dogs, especially rescued adults, normally did not 'work' until they'd been neutered,
Dogs were assessed to ensure they got on well before being paired for work or kennel,  and any who showed
signs of not getting on were re-allocated other partnerships,
Two bitches, whether or not entire, were almost never placed together,
When we ended up with one bitch who although she got on with most of the others while being walked etc,
was not trustworthy being left to share space, night or day, with any companion, she was given the smallest area to guard, on her own, and allowed to have one kennel all to herself.

We did have some scraps, I don't pretend otherwise, but by these methods we prevented any fights from
being too serious;  no dog got killed.  So, no, it isn't IMO impossible to keep multiple dogs together unsupervised - but it is NOT something to get complacent about.

My late husband worked on the DEW line during the Cold War. One day, an Innuit agreed to take him out via dogsled so he could do some hunting. As he was harnessing his huskies, a male and a female got into a fight. He let them sort it out on their own.

"The male is young," he explained, "and starting to challenge the older dogs. If he wins, I will have to either shoot him or rehome him, because the female is my best ice dog."

The female won, and they headed out on the pack ice. A few miles out, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and sat down. The other dogs followed her lead. She also pointed her nose to the sky and howled.

"We wait," said the Innuit.

Suddenly, there was a noise like a cannon going off. A huge, house-sized chunk of ice soared up into the air, then came crashing back down. The ice creaked as a large pressure crack opened up.

When everything was quite again, the lead bitch stood up, and continued on her way.


That's the way it used to be in the Arctic, folks. I've read many stories about sled dogs, some of them fiction, some of them not, and many of them talk about the musher having to use the whip to break up fights, and keep the dogs focused on their job.

If you are right about your dogs being ok left alone together, great.
If you are wrong, even if it is only one time in years and years of experience, you will have one or more dead dogs.
I prefer to err on the side of caution. It only takes me five minutes to separate my dogs before I leave the house.

vonisk my female is spayed now. I no longer have heat cycles here.  Most of my dogs are also mature adults.  I picked the ones who were more submissive in temperament, and in fact Buck has been here since day 1.  I raied him from a litter of mine.  Sierra as well, is submissive in temperament around other dogs, but she knows how to behave when other dogs (that I don't own) come up or approach her in the situations where that does happen.  With that said, I have no other females.

Sunsilver I know all too well about the fights musher's break up.  The way those dogs are worked with is entirely different than myself and how I've raised/trained my dogs.   The irony of this whole thread is how everyone is saying that my dogs are going to kill each other when left alone......I know of more dogs together who have behavior issues when the owner is around and less when the owner is not around.  I see this when I go to work with certain dogs, how much better behaved around each other they are when the owner is not around, but all of the behavior problems that show when the owner is around that can lead to fights.  I've worked at kennels, I have well known groomers suggest me to their clients who are in need of a trainer.  I "don't" suggest others leave their dogs together not attended either. 

Jenni, what were the temperaments like of each Husky you had? What type of exercise or training did you do with them? I know many don't buy into the whole "Cesar" training on here, but that type of running that Huskies do is nothing BUT excitement.  You'd be surprised how much structured walks really do for them compared to that type of running. Fostering is a little different than raising them from puppies or day 1 with the pack. I would never leave fosters alone together, or alone with my dogs. I'm inexperienced because this happened to me? Not necessarily.  It hasn't happened with these dogs, but I know it has happened to others dogs in the past, and I know it would have happened with a couple of the dogs I had in the past as well.  I'm curious though as to why Huskies weren't your cup of tea? What did you not like about them?  Mine all do what I tell them, they obey me, they walk long structured walks with me, numerous hills (the great thing about TN) so they are drained, I know how to read them (and other dogs) extremely well, they are very vocal and do like to talk a lot though.  Would I leave other dogs alone with them? Not at all. Would I leave another set of dogs I may have in the future alone.....probably not, it depends on the temperaments of each individual dog, and the breed, and how they were raised. 

GSDguy, you miss the point that it's not about you. I don't get the feeling that any of us who oppose your view care to argue with you or bother explaining anything any further; I know I sure don't, as your questions are totally irrelevant. Why I don't choose to keep Huskies has nothing to do with leaving multiple dogs unsupervised. I don't care to insult your breed; it's your mindset I find lacking.   It was a general warning, and YOU chose to argue with everyone who posted an opposing view. It doesn't behoove any of us to volley with you any further.
Those who are so inclined to heed the warnings presented will do so, and the rest won't. No one will lose much sleep over it either way. We all just hope you're right, for the dogs' sake. And I'm now finished addressing you, Shane. Nothing personal, I just have things to do besides entertain your leading questions. 

Least LF learned to spell "alfa"

there is hope, we're talking about canines, not breed specific's

Alright Jenni, that's fine.  The interesting thing though, is that 100% of the time when my dogs are left outside and I'm inside is that every time I've looked out at them....they never come up to each other. They ALWAYS are laying a few feet away from each other, chilled out as can be, just enjoying it.  I know it's not "about me".....but I was told my dogs are going to kill each other, so I made "my" points on the matter. Good day.

GSDguy, LOL @ "good day"

lol usually good day for me means I'm done arguing as well.