A long time ago we had 3 male chows and their mother at our home. To make a long story very short,there would have been a death if we hadn't gave away two of the males!They were the most blood thirsty dogs I have ever seen!NOBODY should try to break up fights like they had!Dog fights are nasty business!AVOID them!We raised these dogs from birth,but when they fought they didn't care who was in the way.You would get hurt!

Hello...this is my first post and its to an older subject. I was surprised so many dogs are kept seperate from each other. I guess it depends on many things. I have a pack of 8, all rescues, all from bad beginings..mills, abused etc. They eat together, play together and sleep together....I crate a couple when out so they don't make a mess or get into trouble.
I am enjoying this group
laura

Ed's edited comments

Laura - you have been extremly lucky. The way you are living with your dogs is not recommended. I strongly suggest you read the article I wrote on how to break up a dog fight without geting hurt. http://leerburg.com/dogfight.htm

Laura,
this is a working dog forum - many ( if not most of us here ) have high drive working dogs, and the care of those type of dogs tends to be different than the care of pet type dogs which tend to have lower drives and are usually easier keepers <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />.

Hence we keep them apart for safety reasons.

ouch your right I sit-stay corrected!
laura

I have a multiple dog household(6 in the house at the moment). Alaskan husky 14 yrs, Siberian female 8 yrs, Siberian female 8 yrs, Alaskan female 4 yrs, Siberian X male 3 yrs, Siberian female 4 months. All these dogs except the puppy are spayed/neutered. I think this arrangement works for me for the following reasons -
- the dogs are working sled dogs so all their rearing from an early age is geared towards getting dogs that get along and are dog social within their group.
- I don't allow any playing in the house, no rough-housing, running, wrestling between dogs, etc. The dogs have to remain calm in the house.
- I don't allow any agression or posturing in the house and will correct firmly
- the dogs are all fed separately and I don't have toys or bones laying around(not toy oriented anyway)
- all the dogs spend most of the day outside in the exercise yards/kennel with the other sled dogs so are calm when they are indoors. In the dogyard they can run, dig and chew with impunity(be dogs)
- they are social breeds with long history of selection for social behaviour with other dogs(have to be for team work)and have all been raised on site or come from other sled dog kennels where early rearing and socialization tends to be pretty similar.
- I work at home so they are "supervised" in their interactions.
- Though I can let all my dogs interact together, I have methods to keep all dogs separate when not supervised- crates in the house - runs and stake-outs in the dog yard.
- This arrangement works well for my dogs and my situation but would probably not be a good arrangement for all dogs/owners as you must choose what is suitable and appropriate for situation, breed and training goals, etc.

wow...okay I understand what you are all saying...but I have been working with dogs for 38 years now. I started training with Capt haggerty all those years ago. I feed my dogs as a group, walk and train them as a group and seperatly. I allow soft play in the house and they run and sleep together if they wish... always supervised of course, when I am not with them they are crated or seperated . I have seperated a few dog fights in my time.....but these are my dogs and I am the leader. I do not allow boarders or dogs in for training or behavior problems to mix with my dogs. I want my dogs to be safe. If I growl they go to a down position...problem over. I feel lucky to have them but its not luck that has them behaving I think its leadership. Just my opinion...again these are not work dogs they are abused, neglected and frightened dogs in recovery.
I did read the article,thanks...have been reading as much as I can I am enjoying the site and the DVD I ordered. I am enjoying the comments and look forward to more feedback.thanks

I have 3 dogs currently. 1 working (SchH III) female Giant Schnauzer who is almost 5, one rescue Giant Schnauzer (age unknown, but a bit older) and a 9 month old JRT. I have been told I am lucky with my working Giant. She is perfect in the house, around kids, etc. She knows when to "turn on". She raised my JRT from 8 weeks old as if he was her own. The rescue GS is extremely submissive. THey all know I am the leader....they are fed in separate rooms, and during the day are either kenneled or crated, depending on the weather. I have indoor/outdoor runs, but also have crates for all 3 in the house. When I am home, they are all 3 "free roaming", but spend their time in whatever room I am in, sleeping. At night, the working GS is in my bedroom, and the other 2 are crated because they can't be trusted. All 3 stay in the yard when we are out. I am considering bringing in a 4th GS, working titles, but a male. I am going to follow Ed's guidelines on bringing/introducing a new dog to the house. The Podcast was great, and I'll be following his advice!