I have done something I said I would never do and have taken in a foster dog. It's supposed to be temporary, but of course, as I knew I would, I am getting attached to the dog and am tempted to keep him.

I currently have a 6YO female, a 5YO male, and the foster is a 2YO male. All Dobermans, all neutered/spayed. So far, this foster seems to be very well-behaved in the house. He's been tethered to my husband most of the time, and when he can't be, he's with me in my office. He's very laid back and sleeps most of the time.

We have allowed brief interactions with our two dogs, one at a time. I see absolutely no sign of aggression from any of them, just a strong desire to play. My 5YO male has always liked to play rough, but he's also on the submissive side and will back right down if the other dog tells him in doggie language he's being too rough.

This foster dog puts my dog to shame when it comes to playing rough. He also quickly escalates to mounting behavior (which I put a stop to immediately) with both my male and female. I'd like input from those of you with multiple house dog experience as to whether this dog can ever be trained to play more nicely (and cut out the mounting), or at 2YO, is it an ingrained habit? I am already torn at the idea of giving him up, but I can't have dogs that always have to be kept separated. My house is too small.

Hi Cheri

I post out of empathy, respect and an understanding of a bunch of loons arsing around in a tiny house!

First off I think it is a great thing you have a foster boy with you, I really plan to do that one day, when I have a sensible amount of dogs again that is.

Rough housing tends to develop here when they big dogs are anticipating walk/food/me going out to work etc, it’s like a silent signal goes up between them, and they start mounting each other, while the Pointer bitch circles round them going woo woo woo, and the old Pointer male tap dances at the bottom of the stairs - SUCH fun!

This again, my personal experience, if there is no escalation into snapping, and nothing is getting broken, a shouted Oi! from the top of the stairs is all that is required, if Kaiser is seriously pissing the rest of them off, he is put out of the room to get a grip, and the others just settle back down once he is removed.

The Boerboels do play rough over the fields, but that is when the Pointers are on the trail of a bunny and they aren’t being part of a Boerboel sandwich, which has happened – think hockey players shoulder barging each other, bosh!

Aggression isn’t tolerated for a second, but rough play in an open space, I have no problem with, and they really blow off steam, it’s a daily thing, but in my small sitting room, it can’t physically happen, and I nip it in the bud.

Are you pretty much decided to keep the foster? Must be really hard to say goodbye to a dog you bond with.

bump

With my pack of 5, structure and rules are essential. There is NO Wrestlemania in the house. Outside, if they want to body slam each other and knock each other off the snow pile, they can go for it... and they do - with gusto.

I watch for any signs of someone getting pissy, and will pull that dog out of the fray to hang with me for a while to chill out. After a few minutes of a down stay at my feet, she will usually decide that the other dogs weren't really that bad and will want to go back and join them.

If I see more than one escalating into territory that could lead to a disagreement (typically the Mals), I simply yell "DAMMIT" and they all immediately stop. We then do a down stay for about 5 minutes while they forget why they were getting upset. Once they've chilled a bit, they can resume their game. Before they learned the down stays, they were all banished to crates to chill out... they didn't like that at all!!

Keep in mind that 3 of my dogs joined the pack as full grown adults, and they managed to learn the rules of the house and get along well with the others.

As for humping, letting him know it's not to be tolerated and correcting once he knows this (if it continues), should stop that behavior.

Good luck!! And congrats on the new addition

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

I have done something I said I would never do and have taken in a foster dog. It's supposed to be temporary, but of course, as I knew I would, I am getting attached to the dog and am tempted to keep him.

I'm quoting my own OP here because in re-reading it, I thought I may have phrased it badly. The only reason I have said I never wanted to foster is because I know myself well enough to know I am the kind of person who could never let the dog go, I would want all the fosters to become mine, and I'd be known as that crazy lady with 30 dogs, LOL. And after doing fostering just this one time, my already great admiration for those who do it is greater still. I am a big believer in rescue, and I volunteer in many other ways. Just wanted to clarify.

Tracey and Kelly, thank you for your responses! That's what I'm really looking for is hearing about how you guys handle the day-to-day management issues of multiple house dogs and keep things from getting out of hand with the high energy that most of our breeds have.

Things are getting better with each day. This dog came from a situation where he was spending all day in an outdoor kennel by himself and all night in a crate in the basement. He really seems to be thriving on being an interactive member of a human/canine pack. As my husband says, he's going to have to (mess) up pretty badly for us to decide not to keep him.

I still would love to hear from others with multi-dog households. What kind of limits do you put on the roughhousing? How rough is too rough? Not since childhood have I had three dogs at once, so any and all comments and advice are welcome!

Fostering can be hard for some people, there's nothing wrong with that. Before trying to save Faith, Paul wouldn't let me go to the shelter too often because I wanted to bring them all home. Having a friend as the shelter manager didn't help

Now my perspective has changed. What I tell myself when I foster is that I am a stepping stone for that dog to finding it's perfect forever home. They come to my house to keep them out of a shelter environment, to learn how to live in a house, to learn how to live and be social with other animals, and to learn basic manners that they will utilize the rest of their lives.

Do I cry when they leave? Hell yeah. But it's always a good cry The photos I get of my fosters snuggling with new family memebers is the best part of fostering.

It takes a special kind of person to take in a foster- and an even more special one to keep that foster forever.

Good luck, Cheri. Bless you for taking a chance on this dog. If you need any pointers or support, feel free to turn to me.

--Kel

One last bump.

And a progress report: The newcomer has been tethered to my husband and seems to be a very relaxed and calm guy. When my husband is sitting in his chair, the dog happily sleeps on a mat by his feet. I think we will be gradually moving away from the tethering this week.

A few times a day, we allow playing with the current two dogs, one at a time. I haven't seen the mounting behavior since the first couple of days. They do get rough, but we are trying to teach them "easy," basically meaning not so rough, and we are teaching that "enough" means play time is over.

Sound like a good plan? Anything I should be doing differently?

I think the fact they haven't got arsey with each other is a really big plus, obviously it could happen one day, but you will be all over that, and I don't mean to sound flippant, but I think there is an element of 'suck it and see' with this.

You and your husband are experienced and seasoned dog people, and are being realistic about the boys, I think it's a great thing you did, and I don't imagine you are regretting it, before the next few months are out, it will feel like he has always been part of the family.

Looking forward to hearing how he settles, and would love to see some pics

Ms. Grissom,

A bunch of fosters have cycled through the portals of this place, and they all got socialized with the existing canine residents. And they all eventually got adopted to forever homes.

Well, not all. Of the four that currently make up the pack, three are fosters that wormed their way into the family.

As others have noted, it has to do with setting rules and boundaries and reinforcing them. Zero tolerance for dominance stuff in any form. In my experience, if the other dogs in the pack are well conditioned to the rules, the new dog gets with the program rather quickly, though some take less time than others, and some have to have a bit of focused attention.

I add a Noun to the verb 'damn' and conclude with a pronoun with vocalized exclamation point delivery tone when I want dogs to absolutely and positively understand I am directing them. Usually one or two outbursts gets the full attention of the new addition. I am told I am intimidating but I don't see it.

Dogs are dogs in my little utopian view of the world. I let them sniff and smell and get acquainted, I retain control, and I expect them to get along, whether it is in their nature, experience or prior conditioning to do so. They start the first day of the rest of their lives when they step through the door to my world. I'm not really concerned about their past.

I do not intend to live in my home, with dogs, anticipating bad behavior or outcomes. My rules, my house, my way without a syllable of negotiation in my voice by tone, attitude or demeanor.

All that aside, my experience has led me to conclude that the personality of the handler sets the stage for the behavior of a dog or dogs. I've had some initially miserable foster dogs come through the door and they left for their forever home as loving, energetic, socialized, reasonably well mannered pets. In so far as it will be their new families responsibility to manage the continued training of the dog, I figure if I can get the basic commands solid, the environmental stuff of the new family is theirs to condition.

All that by way of saying that whether you have lots of room or little room, it is your room and the dogs must adapt to you. You tolerate or not, you condition or not, etc.

From your posts, it seems to me that the issues are easily managed and the outcomes should be very good. Set the rules you want to set and that will be that. A little time, a little effort, no favorites, all dogs treated equally, etc. And voila'!

As an aside, I have four grown children. Early on, when they were young, I decided to not be Dick Tracy. And with my dogs I don't play Dick Tracy. Behavior is a common expectation, and personalities are indulged when the basic expected behaviors are exhibited.

I love dogs. I love my dogs. But I don't endure bad mannered dogs. And, fortunately for me, I set the parameters for good manners.

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

One last bump.

And a progress report: The newcomer has been tethered to my husband and seems to be a very relaxed and calm guy. When my husband is sitting in his chair, the dog happily sleeps on a mat by his feet. I think we will be gradually moving away from the tethering this week.

A few times a day, we allow playing with the current two dogs, one at a time. I haven't seen the mounting behavior since the first couple of days. They do get rough, but we are trying to teach them "easy," basically meaning not so rough, and we are teaching that "enough" means play time is over.

Sound like a good plan? Anything I should be doing differently?

Sounds good to me.

How do you show "easy"?