We are doing something different today, in sharing a guest post written by a good blog friend of ours, Guilie Castilllo, in promotion of her new book “It’s About the Dog – The A-to-Z Guide for Wannabe Dog Rescuers”. It’s rare I agree to a guest post here; my favorite part of blogging is the writing so I usually choose to do my own (in fact, I think I’ve only ever had one other guest post!). However, because I have known Guilie for quite a while, and because I believe the topic of her book is important, I feel good about doing this. She agreed to write on a subject near and dear to my heart – life with multiple dogs (she has 8!). We may be a one dog household now, but we had four at one time and I was curious how her experiences might compare to ours. I love what she wrote, and I related to so much of it. Be sure to follow the links at the end of the post because there is a giveaway of the book as well!
Welcome Guilie!
A HOUSEFUL OF DOGS
Dog rescue comes with all sorts of consequences, some unexpected (like a broadening of one’s compassion, or the shift in our values and priorities), others rather predictable. A houseful of dogs, for instance. Ten years ago we had one dog; today we have eight. All but one of them started out as fosters, temporary residents that would be rehomed as soon as they were healthy, or more sociable. Or when we found a suitable home for them. Which is difficult enough in places like Europe or the US; in a place as small as Curaçao, finding a dog a good home is truly a feat. We’ve been lucky, in fact, that over the years we’ve been able to place so many with extraordinary families; otherwise we’d have twenty-something dogs running around. The ones we kept are the ones that had some sort of issue, whether medical or behavioral, that required far more than the average ‘good’ home could provide.
Take Sam, for instance. (That’s the dog on the cover of It’s About the Dog: The A-to-Z Guide for Wannabe Dog Rescuers.) Adorable to look at, has profound anxiety issues we will probably never resolve in any meaningful way. Or Sasha, who passed away last year; terrified of humans, no amount of training ever turned her into the cuddly ball of love most people want when adopting a Maltese. Or Winter, who came to us with what looked like a bad case of scabies but turned out (fortunately) to be just a flea allergy—but which still took years to heal properly.
I’m not sorry we kept them. It’s so hard to imagine the house without them now. No, it hasn’t been easy, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it to others; multiple dogs multiply love, yes, but they also multiply the challenges—exponentially. Still, in my case, the joys have so far outweighed the problems. And I’ve learned so much.
If you’re considering a multiple-dog household, here are a few things living with eight dogs has taught me that I wish I’d known sooner. Maybe they’ll help you avoid some of the mistakes I made.
Lessons from Living with Eight Dogs
Listen to them. Who said dogs can’t talk? Maybe not verbally, but they’re eloquent beings. The problem is we don’t pay attention.
We dismiss their fears and their insecurities—out of a desire to help them, sure, but a mistake regardless. We insist they behave in ways we think they should behave—they shouldn’t growl at people, they should be accepting of any and all other dogs, they shouldn’t lunge at the mailman, etc. We generalize, shamelessly: But my other dogs never did this; why does he? Or This training worked perfectly with the others; why doesn’t this one pick it up as fast?
We do all these things without ‘asking’ them for their input, and we continuously ignore them when they do ‘speak out’. That growl, that scuffle at mealtime: they happened because we ignored all the discomfort signals.
I’ve learned—the hard way—to pay much closer attention to their body language, learn what it means, what it signals. To respect the boundaries they set, and to work within them.
Make friends with your vet. One day it’s Duncan’s ear infection. A week later, Bowie is limping. During the weekend a scuffle happened and someone needs stitches. Jopie has been throwing up. Rusty ate half an iguana, and now is complaining of a bellyache. Panchita has another wart that needs to be removed before it turns cancerous. Winter broke a nail; does it need to be removed? Benny hasn’t been eating, doesn’t even want treats. One of Sam’s eyes looks a little swollen, seems sensitive to light.
And that’s not even counting vaccinations and yearly check-ups.
It never stops. On average, I spend more time with my vets than with my best friend. Part of it has to do with the fact that several of our dogs came to us already with medical conditions we can treat but not completely cure (Panchita, for instance, still suffers from tick fever complications). It’s also because of age; the older ones have begun developing age-related complications: arthrosis, for instance, or digestive issues, or maybe they don’t see or hear too well anymore. But it’s mostly just a numbers game: more dogs, more time at the vet. (Bonus tip: bring the vet, and the assistants, coffee and cookies. No, seriously.)
Practice Zen. I don’t mean in a don’t sweat the small stuff way (although that’s an attitude totally worth developing), but rather in the sense of transmitting calm. I love my dogs, and I love that they’re excited to see me. But I’ve had to learn to stop responding to their excitement with more excitement of my own, for a reason that seems so obvious now but which took me years to grasp (let alone practice; still working on that): excitement breeds tension.
In a single-dog household, maybe even in two-dog households, getting your dogs riled up (when you come home, at feeding time, in the car) may result in nothing but fun—and a few hilarious photos. In a multiple-dog situation, it may result in a fight and a trip to the vet.
Calm and relaxed is the goal for any dog (just ask your behaviorist), but when you have a pack it becomes key.
Dogs pick up behavior from each other. A good thing when the behavior is, say, peeing outdoors, or respecting personal space at mealtime. But when it’s undesirable behavior (climbing onto the bed, chewing up cushions or pillows, digging up the yard, whatever your big no-no’s are), this means the challenge of reshaping that behavior will be much harder—mainly because the undesirable behavior keeps getting reinforced. You can’t train multiple dogs together, so you have to work with each dog individually. But as soon as your training session is over and the dog goes back into the pack, they’re all set to reinforce the behavior you’re trying to change. Reshaping behavior in a pack takes a lot more effort, and a lot more consistency in training.
The positive side is that, once a dog has really picked up a new (or reshaped) behavior, chances are the other dogs will pick up that same behavior faster, too. Especially if the ‘zero patient’ dog is one of the alphas. (Yes, I have also discovered that a single pack can have multiple alphas, depending on the situation.)
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I hope you’ve found these insights useful, at the very least entertaining, and I’d love to hear your feedback and your own experiences, multi- or single-dog. One of the main takeaways of the ‘dog life’ for me has been that the learning never stops, so I’d be thrilled to hear your thoughts and whatever insights you’d like to share.
Janet, thanks again for having me over, and I look forward to chatting with you and your readers in the comments.
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Guilie Castillo, Mexican expat, writer, and dog rescuer, is the author of It’s About the Dog: The A-to-Z Guide for Wannabe Dog Rescuers (Everytime Press, April 2018), a hands-on, less-tears-more-action, 100% practical introduction to dog rescue. This post is a part of The Dog Book Blog Tour; during April and May, author and book will be making the rounds of dog-loving sites on the blogosphere to talk dogs and rescue—and to give away THREE signed copies. (More about both tour and giveaway here.)
QUE AMOR!!!
SON PRECIOSOS.
SALUDITOS
Tipping my hat to you. Having rescued Delilah from a high kill shelter, and just throwing her into the household, with the prince of dogs, I can only imagine multiplying that! Funny enough, we had hopes that Sampson’s good traits would ‘wear off’ on Delilah, and we are finally (after 11 years) seeing SOME of that. What we didn’t expect was some of Delilah’s ‘not so desirable’ traits to wear off on him.
Thanks for sharing your story, and thank you for rescuing and rehoming so many dogs who would have had an entirely different fate, without your intervention.
Good luck on your new book! Sounds fabulous!
Thank you so much!
This sounds like a wonderful book with lots of great advice. I would be a foster fail. Congratulations and best wishes with the new book!
I have yet to meet a foster who isn’t also a foster failure, M. K. — which is to say you’d be in outstanding company 🙂 Thank you so much for reading, and for the good vibe!
Your book sounds incredibly helpful to all sorts of people. “Listen to your dog” is the biggest key I’ve learned as I’ve tried to rehabilitate my dog who was a breeders reject. It sounds as if you can teach me many more things, and I’m looking forward to your book.
I agree, KB; the listening part has also been crucial for me, and it was something that actually took me a while to really get. I think maybe our expectations get in the way, somehow. But it’s also been the most rewarding part of it for me, because of how it deepened the bond between me and these eight terrorists I live with 🙂
I do need to tell you, though, that the book focuses almost exclusively on the actual ‘street’ rescue (getting a dog off the street and to safety), so the bits on rehabilitation and behavior are geared more towards assessing a dog and bringing them in rather than toward the longer-term solutions. I am planning a follow-up on fostering, and then one on adopting rescue dogs, and if you’re willing I’d love to get some input from you about your experiences for that. In this ‘dog life’ we’ve chosen, the learning never stops 🙂
Thanks again so much for coming by, and for your enthusiasm, and most of all for giving your dog such a loving home!
Oh! My! Dog! Eight dogs in the same house at the same time?? You’re braver than I am!
Best wishes for the success of your book tour! I’d love to win a copy of the book; but I’ll buy it if I don’t win.
As Jan knows, at one time I had three dogs. I already had my two Golden Retrievers when hubby and I adopted the third dog from our local shelter. (That story in and of itself could take pages, so I won’t go into it here.) Ducky has been a challenge from day one; but a lot of it was because – as you say – I just wasn’t listening to her in the beginning. Callie and Shadow were already 8 and nearly 8 years old when I got Ducky out of a potentially fatal situation. Ducky was only 7 months old. Over time I learned to listen to all three of them. Then Callie lost her short battle with lymphoma; and in the midst of my own grief – she was my canine soulmate – I had to help Shadow (especially) and Ducky through their grief. More listening and more close observation. And a much deeper bond with both of them. And, while they will never be as closely bonded as Callie and Shadow were, they have at least learned to co-exist peacefully over the past nearly three years. I think Jan would agree that’s a pretty good synopsis of my last several years. 😊
Oh, wow—sounds like Ducky got incredibly lucky with you! You’re right, the bond between Callie and Shadow, or even anything close to it, will probably never exist between Shadow and Ducky, but I’ve learned that dogs do relate to each other as individuals, kind of like we do—the friendships we develop are unique and not recreatable—so it’s only natural that Shadow and Ducky should establish a different relationship, unique to them. In the end, as you say, what matters is that they can coexist in peace… Sometimes, in multi-dog households, that really is the best you can hope for. But the main thing for me about your story is what you said about a deeper bond with them. It’s incredible, isn’t it, how this observing and ‘listening’ creates that.
Shadow and Ducky are lucky, lucky pups 🙂 Thank you so much for visiting, and for sharing this lovely synopsis. (I’ll go lurk in your blog now and see if I can get the longer version there 😉 )
Oh my goodness! You’ll be “lurking” for days! 🤣 Seriously, though, thank you for your kind words! I’d really love to win a (signed) copy of your book!
Haha—I’ve already bookmarked several of your posts to get back to (once the blog tour winds down; I’m also looking forward to, you know, regular meals and maybe a full night’s sleep), and I’ve subscribed by email as well… You will not get rid of me that easily 😀 I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you in the drawing; you’re in there twice now, so the chances look good 😉
Janet, thank you so, so much! You made this look amazing, with the way you used the photos and did the layout and everything—really made it stand out. And I’m honored that you considered this worth sharing with your audience; I’m so grateful to you for that. Your blog is such a wonderful space, and the insights you’ve shared in the past about your own dogs have helped me (and others, I’m sure) in innumerable ways, so the fact that you’ve allowed me to contribute to it in this small way is much, much appreciated.
I was honored that you invited me to join in on the tour! I am so glad to be a part of it, and happy that you are pleased with how it came out. ♥
I’m totally on board with listening and the projecting zen. These are critical. The vet thing has been more challenging. I go to a large vet hospital because they are open 24 hours a day, have all the equipment they need, and have ICU when we have no-shit problems. But they did not seem to take a few situations seriously and allowed my dogs to get worse. The most recent incident met an urgent vet visit while traveling with my dogs. I got more comprehensive tests and a more thoughtful diagnosis, then eventually returned to my vet hospital to discuss my dissatisfaction with their cursory misdiagnosis before the trip. I met with the practice manager and she gave us a free hour with a specialist to discuss the issue. Everything has worked out since then. We have a better understanding of the level of care I am looking for and we have found a vet for most of our needs that I like. I had to be more assertive than I wanted to be, but now we are getting along well. You are right, that relationship is critical.
This book sounds interesting and simpatico. Thanks for sharing.
That’s horrible, KDKH! I’m glad you’ve been able to work out the issues with the vet hospital… It must have been so frustrating. We have nothing close to a hospital for animals here on the island, but I do work with a group of vets—essential, since dogs straight from the street come with all sorts of complicated issues, and having more than one vet involved, who can bring their own expertise and specialty into the overall diagnosis, is crucial to providing the optimal treatment—and they’ve been fabulous, even with my own dogs, caught all sorts of things that I wouldn’t have picked up on until later (and possibly too late). But I have had not-great experiences with other vets; one of our dogs died because the vet we brought her to initially (not part of this group I work with now) failed to test for tick fever. It wasn’t severe at that point, but it became chronic, and caused all sorts of havoc in her kidneys and liver. If he had caught it, we could have treated it, given her a few more years. That was back in 2012, but… I still hold a grudge.
Thanks so much for the visit! Glad this resonated with you 🙂
We had bad past vet experiences as well, so I completely understand holding a grudge – I still do as well! Luckily that vet finally retired so I don’t have to spend time warning everyone against him. Ironically, our current vet was the one who bought his business! (there’s a very long story in there!)
While our current vet isn’t perfect, he can be a bit behind the times and we disagree on things; he always listens to us and respects our decisions, even if it’s against his advice.
KDKH, I’m so glad you found the strength and courage to be assertive. I find that very difficult myself, so completely understand how hard it must have been for you. Even better that it ended up working out for you – good job!
As a professional “Canine Caregiver”, I can appreciate the difficulties of having eight dogs under one roof. Each one has a different personality and it’s a real balancing act. I can only imagine the vet bills when they’re all your own dogs! 😮 You are a true “angel of mercy”, Guilie. I hope more people will be inspired to become rescuers or get involved in some capacity after reading your book.
Fabulous website, Janet! Bookmarked for return visits. 🙂
@ easyweimariner: We have had 8 dogs on our couches and beds before. Quite the madhouse, but fun! 😀
‘Real balancing act’—exactly, Debbie! And I can imagine it’s even worse when they don’t know each other… Although I can also see how that could help; because they don’t know each other, they could keep their distance easier, maybe, or give each other the benefit of the doubt instead of going into defensive mode immediately… Hmm. In any case, it’s bound to be volatile—and tense for the human in charge!
I’m so glad you’ve found Janet’s blog through this tour! She’s a fantastic dog parent, writer, and teacher, and I’ve learned a lot from the experiences she shares. Looking forward to meeting up with you on future Wag n’ Woof posts!
Thanks so much for coming by, Debbie, and for your kind, kind words 🙂
I’m so glad Debbie found us as well! And thank you for your very kind words, Guilie!
Best of luck on the book tour. A self-help book on rescues would be a gigantic help with my own puppy mill rescue. You are a brave soul to keep 8 dogs at the same time (even if out of necessity). 😍
Oh, Monika (and Sam)—a puppy mill rescue!!! That must be a gigantic load of work… Can’t imagine what you go through to place them, and vet them and feed them and deworm them and whatnot before they can even be placed. We’re lucky that there are no puppy mills here in Curaçao (but people still buy dogs from the ones in Domincan Republic or Colombia or wherever); the kind of rescue we do down here is mainly strays and ferals, dogs abandoned by their owners, and cases of neglect and abuse. Kudos to you and your fellow rescuers for giving these mill puppies a chance at a good home—and for saving the parents from the horrible, horrible conditions they’ve been condemned to.
I’d be happy to send you a copy of the book for your ‘office library’ 😉 I’d be honored to be there in spirit. Drop me a line at guilie172 (at) gmail (dot) com with an address I can send it to, and it’ll be on its way in a week or so.
Thanks so much for coming by! Always a pleasure to connect with fellow rescuers 🙂
Many thanks, Guilie! Elsa & I are super excited with this wonderful news! Bless you for all that you do for the island pups. 😍
Good luck with the book tour, that’s a lot of work. We sure enjoyed your post and all of the photos of the sweet dogs!
Thanks, Brian! It’s the last week of the book tour, so I’m that much closer to getting a full night’s sleep 😀 It’s been amazing, though… Who knew so many people cared about helping animals get off the street and to safety? I’m so glad you liked the post! The dogs have modestly blushed at being called ‘sweet’, and say hi back.
thanks for a super post..I just imagine to live with 8 dogs… all in my bed… all on my sofa… oh that would be THE life…;O)))
Hahahahah—it really *is* the life, Easy Weimaraner 😀 (Great dogs, Weimaraners!) Although I must admit that, until the last two additions came to us eighteen months ago, the sofa was off limits. One more lesson of the multi-dog household: discipline has a radically short half-life 😀
Thanks so much for coming by! Super pleased to meet you!
Our first dog, Shelby, was not allowed on any furniture. When she was diagnosed with lymphoma at only age 6, that was the end of that; she pretty much got to do whatever she wanted! I’m sure all subsequent dogs have been pleased that she paved the way for them when it came to that. We finally settled on leather furniture (or faux leather) and an old sheet thrown on top of the bed covers to try to keep things cleaner. 🙂
I’m glad we’re not alone, Jan 😀 I once saw this meme about House Rules for the Cat. “The cat isn’t allowed in the house. Okay, in the house but not on the furniture. Okay, *only* on that one chair. Fine, the cat is allowed on the furniture, but NOT in the bedroom. Okay, in the bedroom but not on the bed. Okay, whatever, just not in the kitchen. Fine, but not on the kitchen counters. Oookay, the cat can do whatever his majesty wants.” It makes me laugh every time.
I love it!