This is a strangely popular question on instagram, so I thought I’d address it in a blog post. The short answer is no. My dogs don’t fight. The longer answer is they have never fought, we worked really hard to integrate them successfully, and we will continue to set them up for success so that hopefully they never will.

As anyone who follows us knows, Penny and Loosey LOVE each other. This is no accident- we fostered Loosey for 6 weeks to ensure they’d be a good match. Even after that, we constantly check in to make sure that as she becomes a more mature adult and Penny matures into seniority (but don’t tell her that) they continue to be a good pair. They don’t resource guard, and they love to share sleeping space. They don’t have triggers that would instigate a fight while we’re home, and they are not free to roam unsupervised while we’re gone. If I’m running around the corner to grab coffee, I may leave them for 10 minutes free in the living room, where I am sure they can’t get any food and no high value items are present. If I’m gone longer than that, they are crated right next to each other. They can keep each other company as they nap, within the safety of their own crates where no one can swipe food or step on a sleeping sibling.

One of the biggest reasons dogs fight is over food or resources. The other is redirection or trigger stacking. This is another reason they are crated in the quiet bedroom when we’re gone- a dog can be triggered by a dog barking in the hallway, a squirrel running by outside, and get frustrated. That pent up frustration can easily be transferred (or “redirected”) onto the nearest dog in the heat of the moment. I constantly am watching for this situation both at our home and when we are in the suburbs and more things to hunt appear, at the same time that the girls are all hyped up running around freely.

All of this goes double, triple, infinite for having fosters. They are always always supervised or crated and/or kept in separate rooms when we’re gone, no negotiation. If a foster can’t be crated that dog is kept downstairs with the stair gate locked and the bedroom door (where the girls are) shut. When I explain that I do all of this, I think sometimes people are inclined to ask if it’s because my dogs have fought or are aggressive. The answer is that I do it proactively so that they will hopefully never feel the need.

Here are some protocols we put in place to manage a multi-dog household and avoid fights.

1) We live by the laws of the crate

People ask if Pen and Loo would prefer to be sleeping together on the bed or in one crate during the day while we’re gone. The answer is maybe, but that’s not going to happen, because safety comes first. (Also I think crating 2 dogs together is asking for trouble, because you leave them no room for a flight instinct at all, their only choice is to fight if something happens.) When I leave them, they get their meal and a tasty peanut butter or greek yogurt filled kong. If I left them free with those items, would they each be respectful of the other? Or would whoever finished first try to sneak bites of the other’s treat? I don’t ever want them to feel like they have to work it out on their own. This of course goes extra for fosters. One of Penny’s triggers is feeling safe when she sleeps. We did not allow Loosey to sleep in the bed for months after she was adopted, until Penny felt totally comfortable with her. If she’s not feeling well, Loosey goes back into the crate. If Penny is sleeping, we make sure to not let fosters bother her or step on her. We always advocate for Pen, our more easily triggered dog. If you need help with crate training, see our post here.

2) We supervise all meals and high value items or they’re not available

We feed either in crate, behind gates, or across the room. Our dogs take roughly the same amount of time to eat, and when they’re done we do not let them bother the other. When we have fosters, they get fed separately. We don’t allow antlers anymore (they’re a huge cause of cracked teeth) and we rarely allow chews like benebones or bully sticks, and when we do we either crate or otherwise separate and monitor. Our dogs don’t guard from each other because they know they don’t have to, we will advocate for them. When Gert was alive, she guarded her toys, and she and Penny got into a few squabbles over it, even though other times they’d play fine. We constantly monitored if toys were present, and if Gert got into chewing mode we’d keep the other dogs away. The few times an argument did happen I was right there watching and able to break it up immediately with no harm done to either dog, and I’d immediately remove the toy. I would never have left them unsupervised with toys around even while showering, etc. because I knew my dogs and their triggers.

3) We do super slow introductions with new dogs

A huge, huge mistake and cause for fighting is allowing dogs to get overaroused too soon before trust is built or allowing dogs to “work it out.” We do slow introductions to any new dogs and they are never ever unsupervised together. A huge part of avoiding fights is knowing dogs and their triggers. That’s fine for my dogs, but a lot harder when there are new dogs coming in constantly as fosters- dogs who are scared, need to decompress, don’t know or trust us, and may have totally different behaviors than in the shelter. Limiting free time and access to resources, utilizing crates and gates, and not allowing play the first few days if we’re not 100% confident in both dogs helps build trust and set everyone up for success. See our blog post on introductions here.

Penny and Loosey at camp at Eva’s Play Pups. We don’t do dog parks because we don’t know or trust the dogs or owners, and there isn’t room to avoid conflict. The dogs do well at camp because the counselors base groups on size and temperament, and th… — Penny and Loosey at camp at Eva’s Play Pups. We don’t do dog parks because we don’t know or trust the dogs or owners, and there isn’t room to avoid conflict. The dogs do well at camp because the counselors base groups on size and temperament, and the open space means plenty of room to avoid any conflict if needed.

Has it always been perfect? No. There have been moments of squabbles with plenty of dogs, but we are grateful that there have never been any full out fights, and that Penny and Loosey have never gotten into it. While we remain grateful, we also continue to be proactive in setting them up to succeed, and will continue to do so.

Did we miss anything else in this post that you’d like to see us address? DM us on instagram or email us at hellopigpen@gmail.com

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