Dogs are wonderful, they are loyal companions that bring us great comfort. My own dogs make me laugh and enrich my life in many ways. As humans we tend to label what we know and understand by attaching human emotions to our dogs. I hear it all the time, an owner will say to me “my dog is jealous” because that’s how the human would feel, not the dog. What humans call jealousy is one of two things in dogs, either competition or straightening out the pack order. The dominate dog will push the more submissive dog out of the way to get attention and this is pack order not jealousy. Dogs also do not feel hate, spite or guilt, this is placing human emotions to explain their behavior. Dogs simply do not have complex thinking or feel emotion in this way. Dogs will display unwanted behaviors because they are bored, lacking in exercise, or… Read More

I love living with multiple dogs, I find it interesting and a learning experience, BUT, I will never recommend getting two pups especially from the same litter to my clients. I strongly believe you need to have the right dogs living together with the right owner. As a trainer I have seen how strongly dogs bond together making it difficult or impossible to build a strong bond with the handler or owner. A dog that is indifferent or is not bonded to its owner will be difficult to train and live with. Dogs are pack animals, and in the pack there is rank order. Dogs will always bond strongly with each other, after all they speak the same language and are of the same species. Every dog that comes into your life needs time to build a relationship with you, and bond with you. Every addition to the pack will increase the pack instinct, and… Read More