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Question for dog owners...

post #1 of 8
12/21/09 at 7:30am
Thread Starter 
I have a friend that's thinking about adopting a third dog (a chihuahua puppy. Her other two are chi's as well). One of her chief concerns is being able to maintain the safety of her dogs while walking them. Two can be picked up easily, the third would conceivably be difficult. Also, she fears the difficulty in just maintaining a sense of obedience when walking three dogs.

Can anyone help? This is somewhat last-minute, and neither she nor I belong to any dog boards.

Thanks!!
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post #2 of 8
12/21/09 at 9:17am
I don't walk my 3 dogs on leashes because I live in the country and they obey me when I take them out for walks.

The real question here is how much control does she have over her first 2 dogs? If they are difficult to control, a third dog will make it exponentially more difficult for her. And having lived with up to 7 dogs at a time, each dog past the 2nd one is exponentially more difficult. If they are well behaved, safety is usually not an issue, unless their are free roaming dogs in her area that may attack hers.
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post #3 of 8
12/21/09 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for responding!

They are well-behaved, but she typically has them on long leashes when going on "park walks". Of course, this is a "worst-case scenario" sort of question, when you have a happy fur family already, and are afraid to take on another that may rock the boat. You know how that goes.
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post #4 of 8
12/21/09 at 9:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keycube View Post
Of course, this is a "worst-case scenario" sort of question, when you have a happy fur family already, and are afraid to take on another that may rock the boat. You know how that goes.
And she will rock the boat to some degree. She just needs to prepare herself for that.
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post #5 of 8
12/21/09 at 12:04pm
There's always a risk of disrupting the status quo when adding a dog to a family. It depends on the temperaments of the dog(s) that are already there, how well trained they are, the temperament of the new dog(s), how the introductions are managed, ages of all dogs involved etc. Even when it goes well it can take a few months to iron out all the kinks. When a puppy is added to the mix, the pup usually enjoys puppy license until it's about 4-6 months old, then an adult dog will correct the puppy for improper doggy behavior. The cards sometimes get shuffled again when the puppy becomes an adult at say one year - sometimes dogs will act differently towards each other when one of them is a puppy who has grown up.

I'm a little leery of saying that two can easily be picked up. Really dogs shouldn't be picked up at all (unless there is an extreme situation) but allowed to walk on their own four paws. I guess I'm curious why she is worried about their safety - are there nasty loose dogs where she lives?
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post #6 of 8
12/21/09 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2dogmom View Post
I'm a little leery of saying that two can easily be picked up. Really dogs shouldn't be picked up at all (unless there is an extreme situation) but allowed to walk on their own four paws. I guess I'm curious why she is worried about their safety - are there nasty loose dogs where she lives?
I think just the fact that they're little chi's, and that in fact she has come upon the occasional (big) stray that made her nervous. She keeps these nice little harnesses on them that make it so in an emergency, you could just yank them up if you had to.

She's big on being prepared for anything. And a bit of a worrier, as well.
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post #7 of 8
12/21/09 at 5:21pm
I walked three dogs easily (one XL, L and a XS ) for years. Training is the key. I have seen people who can't walk one tiny dog, and people can easily walk four large pets.
And if she is concerned about being safe then she should be carrying something like a cattle prod, mace, taser, something to help her feel more secure.
I have big dogs and am very dog savvy but I also will not leave home without protection, during the years of walking I have encountered some really bad situations randomly. I have never had to resort to using anything, but in the extreme case I do, I will be able to protect myself and my dogs.
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post #8 of 8
12/21/09 at 9:56pm
If you have two small dogs and you pick them up when you see a stray, if that stray decided to become aggressive they may end up attacking the owner instead, and would possibly still be able to get at the dogs in your arms. Plus if you have one dog in each arm you have no hands left to defend with.
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