All in the Family: Pros and Cons of Having a Multi-Dog Household
If you’ve been keeping up with us on social media, you probably know that we’ve recently welcomed a new pup to our home. Little Miles brings our grand total to 3 furbabies. Some people may look at our very dog-friendly lifestyle and wonder how we do it - how do we get 3 dogs to get along in one household? How do we make sure they’re all reaching their health and nutritional goals? How do we have any room left on the couch between the three of them?!
Of course, there are additional responsibilities that come with introducing more dogs to your family. However, a multi-family household has a handful of benefits you just can’t get with an only dog. Here are the pros and cons of having a multi-dog household:
Pros
They’ll keep each other entertained and exercised! When your dog has a playmate around, they’re able to play tug-of-war, fetch, and wrestling when you’re not around to initiate playtime. You may find your dogs like to race each other. Whatever the play style, they’ll be able to take the often time-consuming task of exercising your dog off of the table.
Having another dog around helps with puppy training. If you introduce a puppy to your family, chances are they’ll follow in your older dogs’ footsteps. You may find your puppy is easier to train as it will pick up cues from its pack leader.
What’s cuter than one dog? Two dogs! We all want to spoil our dogs with the most love and attention, but we find our hearts are even fuller when there are more dogs around to take care of. You’ll have a lot more love in your household with multiple dogs.
Cons
Introductions can be difficult. If your dogs aren’t introduced properly, you may find their transition period tumultuous. Sometimes dogs just don’t get along, and having two dogs in one house that don’t get along is never a good time.
You’ll probably have more expenses with multiple dogs. While you’ll probably find that food costs really aren’t increased by a lot, having to pay two vet bills can be prohibitive to some pet parents.
You’ll have more cleanup to do. Multiple dogs means multiple sources of shedding, dirty paws, and wet fur. Of course, we love these little things about our dogs, but for a head of household that already has their hands full, cleaning up after multiple dogs might just not be in the picture.
When it comes down to it, the right number of dogs for your household really depends on your unique situation. Take into account whether or not you have a yard, the amount of space in your home, and your emergency budget cushion. If you have room in your home and your heart for another dog, why not adopt? To learn more about the best nutrition for your new dog, browse through our shop or send us an email!