Many people consider getting a second dog, in the hopes that a new dog will help keep the first dog busy, and out of trouble. However, if our first dog is not well trained, it is more likely that our second dog will pick up on his bad habits.
In the end, we will have two furry terrors instead of just one.
I got my second dog one year after my first dog. I waited a year so that I had time to bond with my first dog (Shiba Inu Sephy) and properly train him. Only after I had solved most of Sephy’s behavioral issues, did I consider getting a second dog.
One of the biggest challenges of getting a second or third dog is the process of introducing her to our existing pack, and getting everyone to accept her. Here, we consider how to successfully introduce a second dog into the home.
Introducing a Second Dog into the Home
1. Meal Time Ritual
Meal time is especially important in a multiple dog household.
Dogs are opportunistic by nature, and during meal times, I have observed that they will try to steal each other’s food. This can often trigger food guarding and food aggression behaviors.
I supervise my dogs during meal times so that there is no stealing. They each get several interactive food toys to work on, and I make sure they give each other space while working on the toys.
Often, Husky Shania will work diligently on her toys while Sephy will just lie around sunning himself. He will wait until Shania is done with her toy, and then pick through what she has left behind.
He is such a moocher! 
Sometimes, he will test coming in before Shania is finished, in which case I will step in and body block him away. Through this process, my dogs learn that I will enforce meal-time rules in a fair and consistent manner, so they do not need to do it themselves with their teeth.
2. Attention, Affection, and Rules
After getting a new second dog, it is natural to pay more attention and show more affection toward the new dog, especially if he is a puppy.
However, we must resist that temptation and treat both dogs equally.
If we give the second dog more attention and affection, we may create competition between the two dogs. This may later lead to aggression. Instead, make sure both dogs follow the same rules, and get similar rewards for doing work for us.
If we are too lenient with our second dog and let him get away with more, the first dog will likely observe that, and pick up on those same bad habits.
I like doing group obedience training with both dogs. This helps them work together for food, and be comfortable with each other around people, food, and toys. I also do their grooming sessions together including teeth cleaning, and fur brushing.
Supervision is very important, especially in the beginning, to ensure that they learn good play habits and interaction habits with each other. I still supervise my dogs, but less so now that they are older, and know the rules around the house.
Still, Shiba will always try something from time to time to test his boundaries.
He is that cool! 
3. Play-Time Rules
In addition to meal-time rules, play-time rules are also important.
Since Shania is a three legged dog, Sephy may sometimes overwhelm her when he gets over-excited. I always make sure he does not get too rough with her.
I manage the excitement level of all of my dogs, by throwing in many play-breaks. During a play-break, I call one dog over to me (the more food focused one), get her to do some simple commands, and reward her well for it. This usually gets the other dog to join in, so we do a brief group obedience session. These brief breaks help my dogs to refocus on me, calm down, as well as practice doing commands in the middle of play.
I also institute a no-humping rule because it can be seen as a dominance move by other dogs (especially new dogs), and I do not want my Shiba practicing these types of behaviors. Shania also dislikes it, so humping is a time-out offense.
Some people prefer to let the dogs “work it out for themselves”.
Personally, I think it is best for us to set and enforce play-time rules and household rules. By doing so, I ensure that Shania never has to be fearful of Sephy, and vice versa. Since I am the one correcting their behaviors, both dogs do not have to do the correcting themselves, through aggression.
They both learn to see each other as playmates and equals, and if there is ever any trouble, they can come to me and I will take care of it. To me, that is what leadership is all about.
4. A Quiet Place to Rest
When I first got Shania, I made sure that Sephy had a nice and quiet place to rest when he wants to be by himself, away from the nibbles of a new puppy. This is especially important if our first dog is older, and tires more easily.
A new puppy can be a crazy ball of energy and a big handful, not just for the humans around the house, but also for the existing dogs.
I set up a consistent routine for my second dog, similar to what I did for my first dog. I make sure that the second dog has a fixed schedule for meal-time, play-time, walk-time, and sleep-time.
When it was time for sleep, puppy Shania went into her crate or puppy pen. In this way, Sephy got to rest and so did Shania. Now that Shania is older, it is no longer necessary to manage them so closely. Both dogs are able to regulate themselves, and give each other space when they need it.
Still, they each have separate crates that they can go to when they want, and they also get to go out to the backyard whenever they want.
If I am not home, which does not happen often, Husky Shania prefers to stay out in the backyard, and Shiba likes staying inside the house. I still do not trust them to be alone together in the house because their play can get pretty crazy, they may get over-excited, and end up hurting themselves.
Conflict Over Resources
When we get a second dog, there is a lot of uncertainty. Everyone in the family is learning how to interact with puppy, and puppy is learning how to interact with everyone else.
Conflicts may arise between our two dogs, when they both want the same thing, at the same time, for example, food, toys, sleeping area, or our attention and affection. An effective way to keep the peace, is to be clear about resource ownership, and teach them how to resolve conflicts without aggression.
For example, if a dog is chewing on a toy, I am there to supervise and prevent stealing. If there are conflicts, the dogs get my attention, and I try my best to resolve the situation, in a fair and consistent manner. If there is stealing, I usually replace what was stolen together with an added interest, and the thief has to either go to his bed, or go to timeout.
In addition, I also reward my dogs for staying calm together, and for working together with me.
If we establish clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, our new dog will quickly learn what is expected of him, and our existing dogs will also know what to expect from the new puppy. This reduces uncertainty, reduces stress, and helps everyone to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Second Dog – Double Trouble or Double Fun?
So which is it?
Is a second dog double the trouble or double the fun?
I think if properly handled, a second dog can be a big enhancement to everyone in the family.
I am very glad Shania joined our family. Everyone has a happier, much richer life because of her spirit, exuberance, can-do’ness, and overall awesomeness!
However, she was a lot of work, especially in the beginning, and the dog bills are now double what they were before.
Still, Shania gives a thousand-fold more than she gets, and Sephy will be the first to say that he loves her more than words can say. When Shania is away, Sephy just spends his time moping around the house.
Thanks to Colleen and Reptar for bringing up this fun and important topic.
If you have second dog stories, tips, and advice, please share them with us below.
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Dog to Dog Aggression –
Hey there, we have an 8month old siberian husky male. We saved another dog who is also about 8months old and is a Labrador female. Now our husky seems to love playing with her etc but he seems to have gone from our happy, silly playful pup who has a real personality to a really quiet cuddly dog who doesn’t like playing with us as much anymore. Any idea why this would be happening? do u think it’ll just take time for him to go back to normal or does this second dog provide a problem. We show them both the same amount of attention etc, feed at the same time, but separate, play with both of them, they both sleep inside and if need be both get put outside together. Any ideas?
Would be much appreciated
Thanks
Yeah, when we first got puppy Lara, Shania spent a lot of time with her as well. When Lara went into her puppy enclosure for nap time, Shania would be outside making sure she is ok. When Lara wakes up, and goes out for potty and play, Shania will come along too.
After some time though, we all settled into a comfortable routine, and each dog likes spending time with each other, as well as with their people.
Is he still as energetic as before, but just spending a bunch of his energy on his new friend? Has anything else changed, for example with his appetite? When did you rescue the Lab? Has she gone for her vet checkup?
A new dog will usually create changes in routine and behavior for everyone in the family. Here are some things that help with my dogs -
1. I make sure that everyone is healthy and that the changes are not a result of any physical issue.
2. I set up a new routine as soon as possible, and set up consistent interaction rules. Changes in routine can cause uncertainty and stress in dogs. Setting up a consistent schedule and rules will help to reduce uncertainty, and show everyone what to expect.
3. Both Shania and Lara are very food focused, so we do a lot of fun activities together involving food. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs.
Big hugs to your two pups!
I have two 4-year-old Boxers. They’re siblings (Bradley, a neutered male and Bella, a spayed female). I took them both to obedience training when they were puppies and aside from some 3 or4 rough play instances, during the past 4 years, there have not been any problems.
I took Bradley and Bella to my brother’s house (he has a docile female yellow lab, who both my dogs have been around, before). All three dogs were running and playing in the yard for quite a while, then we brought them into the house. Bradley and Bella began staring each other down, and began fighting… I mean REALLY fighting. Blood was drawn; and I had to physically separate them. They calmed down, relaxed for a few minutes; then went at it again. I brought them home in separate vehicles and observed them throughout the night. There was no repeat of the aggressive behavior… until this afternoon. The same behavior occurred. I separated them until they settled down, then let them meet each other again. They’re laying down together on the couch with me, right now, like nothing happened. It’s like Dr. Jeckyl and Mrs. Hyde. I’m sickened by their extremely violent interactions and very concerned about how to stop this behavior. Please help.
With my dogs, I have noticed that when there are new or less familiar dogs about, things may change. For example, my Shiba may start wanting to protect my Siberian from the other dog. Also, sometimes both dogs may want access to the new dog, which creates conflict.
I supervise all of their play sessions, even now. During play, they are in a highly excited state, and that is when they are most likely to lose their self-control. With my dogs, it really helps to always manage their excitement level and frequently refocus their attention into working for me.
Based on what you describe, it is difficult to tell what is triggering the aggression. Probably best to get help from a professional trainer who can observe the dogs, read their body language, as well as observe their environment and routine.
Hi there
We have a 6 month old male Siberian Husky Zeus, his been an absolute champ with training and everything else and had him since he was a puppy:) We just recently got a 7 week female puppy as we felt he was just ‘too alone’. Unfortunately Zeus seems very protective over everything and we had an incident where he went for Maya because she got to close to his unfinished food, and basically ended in tears for her as he seemed to have really hurt her. We keep the under constant supervision, yet all he can seem interested in is Maya and being a big brut with her. We feed them separate unfortunately Maya is slower to eat and Zeus wants to be stingy and eat hers and then lands up not eating his food. We try give equal amount of attention but our male feels overpowered by this little munchkin. What is the best solution for this?
Thanks
Dani
Hello Daniella,
Congratulations on your new Husky puppy.
Here are some things that helped when I first got Husky Lara -
1. I made sure to set clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. Absolutely no stealing and absolutely no bullying.
2. I am always there to supervise puppy closely, especially during meal-times and play-time. I make sure that each dog has enough space to work on their own interactive toy. If Sephy or Shania gets close to puppy’s comfort space, I body-block them away so that nothing gets started and the dogs know that I am there to protect them and enforce meal-time rules. I do the same thing if puppy gets too close to my other dogs’ comfort space.
3. I put a drag-lead on puppy when she is roaming about (only with a flat collar and only under supervision). This allows me to easily control her movements and teach her how to interact politely with my other dogs. I also put a drag-lead on Sephy when I first got Lara.
The key with introducing Lara, is to set everyone up for success. I want to maximize positive interactions among my dogs (e.g. through group obedience training) and minimize negative interactions (by using play-breaks, and being proactive about interaction rules, as well as meal-time and play-time manners).
Prevention is much better than cure. I manage and prevent, so that my dogs learn that I handle conflicts, and they need not do it themselves.
I talk more about what I did in the article above.
Thanks for all the really great info on your site. We have 2 shibas. Rex is 4 years old and Merlin is 3. Rex really is the typical shiba. He’s super stubborn, loves to play chase and can be quite a challenge to get him to do what we want. Merlin, however, just wants to please. He follows commands fairly well. He is actually the one that I have a question about though.
He is not aggressive when it comes to guarding his food, but is very anxious/eager to get food. We are working on making sure that he is calm when he is fed. The problem we are having is with his “things”. Merlin has always been VERY protective with his toys and bones. At times, he will pack as many things in his mouth as he can and run around whining. He has never guarded his things from people, just Rex. We make sure that Rex doesn’t steal and gives Merlin the time to play with toys and chew on his bones. Merlin, however, will growl and “scream” at Rex even though he is unprovoked.
How do we handle this? I feel like if I take the item because he’s responding this way, I’ll teach him that it’s me that he needs to guard against, but I can’t continue to let him behave this way.
Heh, yeah Sephy does a similar thing with high priority chews such as bully sticks and Greenies. He runs around everywhere, looking for a place to hide them. He does this even when the Huskies are in a different room working on their own chews. It really reminds me of that insurance commercial where they dog keeps worrying about his bone and finally puts it in a safety deposit box.
One thing that helped Sephy with his Greenie is that we let him work on it at night, in his crate, with the door closed. In the beginning, we also showed him that we have another Greenie in reserve that we are keeping for him, so if he loses this one, he will get another. Once he learned that we have more of the stuff that we are keeping safe for him, he was able to relax and work on it.
With bully sticks, what has helped is to give him much smaller pieces. Then he can finish it in one sitting and he does not feel like he has to hide it for later.
Sephy gets stressed over items that-
1. He cannot finish in one sitting.
2. Is rare – he does not get it every day.
3. Is highly desirable – e.g. chewy, smelly edibles, like bully sticks.
We also try to give him things that do not fall into this space, so that he can better enjoy his rewards without worrying about getting a safety deposit box
. I think it is the same with people and things like expensive jewelry; it often creates more worry than anything else.
What kind of toys and bones does Merlin protect? Is it everything, or just very specific things?