Owning multiple dogs is similar to raising more than one child. Just as each of my children have different personalities so do my dogs. Josie is a kin to the jokester in the family and sometimes that translates into being a bit of a pest. Wyatt is a playful thinker; he loves to play fetch, but always looks like he's thinking of some way to do something. Dexter, well we're still trying to figure him out. Sometimes he's as stately as his racing name Conch Statesman and other times he's mischievous and helping our jokester Josie dig or pick on Wyatt. Dexter is still settling into our home, some may say he's settled because he's been with us a little over two months but it can take a rescued dog anywhere from one month to as long as a year to make a full transition into your home. I believe the harder the dog’s life before coming to me equals a longer transition.
Josie's transition was the toughest. She's taken forever to housebreak. I think she's finally got it! It was tough but we went back to the beginning by limiting her access to rooms in the house and using her crate. It was a long three months having three dogs confined to our family room and kitchen. Slowly I introduced her to the other living areas on our first floor and today she's been accident free for three months!
Wyatt's transition was different since he came to our family as a seven-week-old puppy. He was a breeze to housebreak, but we encountered other problems with Wyatt like using my kids as chew toys, more holes in jeans and coats than I care to remember and fear of crowds and some larger dogs. We entered training classes ASAP for socialization and have made great strides in his training. He still barks at other dogs but now it's a different bark and his posture isn't stiff, it's relaxed and playful. But we still have much work to do because it not polite to take a barky dog to public places, so we are still easing him into more crowded situations.
Dexter has been the easiest dog added to our family. His laid-back personality allowed him to slip right in to our routine. The more comfortable he becomes the more spunk we notice. He's ready for any situation, a perfect gentleman in public and a little devilish at home. He's discovered balls and is becoming quite fixated on them. He'll run with Wyatt’s Kong ball and play keep away and just recently found one of the slightly deflated soccer balls in the yard. The soccer ball delights him most of all, he'll grab it and toss it in the air, bat it around with his paws and run circles around the yard with it in his mouth. I'm still trying to photograph him playing, but a blur does not make a good photo.
Having three dogs might be overwhelming for most, but not our family. The more the merrier. Until next time, puppy licks, woof, woof and a roo.
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