I was sitting with a friend listening to the discussion on animal storage pending adoption. The No Kill director was using the example of how dogs form packs because they are social/pack animals. This was justification for putting more animals in a kennel. Dogs create their own pack, it is a process of selection.At first glance you might think this is a pack, wrong, it is a group of dogs enjoying the water and being good canine citizens with one another. Events like this work because, if arousal becomes an issue, someone can walk away. I have studied dog behavior for many years, read extensively and tried to keep an open mind. The Social Lives Of Dogs authored by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas; explains in beautiful detail how dogs faciitate the process. There are hundreds of books on how to introduce a new dog, it is a time of caution and supervision. To throw dogs or cats together in a shelter situation is not following nature; it is spitting in the face of everything known about animal behavior. I have been in homes where one dog is not wanted by the others. It is a lonely life for the one ostracized, and the humans are often to ignorant to see what is right in front of them.
One case involved a breeder friend of mine, nice person, loved the dogs, but thought the one young bitch was "aloof" she " didn't mingle" .............That girl had been given her walking papers by the rest of the pack, and she knew it. She was trying desperately to stay the hell out of their way. Luckily there were 5 acres to the play area, so the other dogs made their selections and the low ranking bitch slunk around the edges. It was heartbreaking to see. I asked about kenneling and how that went, my friend assured me that in the pen, the behavior was the same. the male gave a hard stare and the little girl crawled around the edges. Had this been in the wild, the pack would have run her off, but in the domestic setting the bitch was trapped. Finally after a good deal of talking my friend agreed to placing the dog in another home, transfer was to be the following week. Before we could get her out of there the pack did attack her. She sustained critcal injuries. A hard lesson for my friend and the little dog. This bitch was a litter mate to some of the other dogs there, she wasn't some strange dog thrown in the mix. she just didn't make the pecking order. The young dog went straight from the vets to the new home where she lived until her death from old age last year. Imagine the stress of a shelter setting and multiple dogs per kennel and you can see this is not a good picture; often dogs brought in together will fight when trapped in a small space.
It is dangerous for anyone to promote double kenneling to satisfy their own agenda and shows a true lack of knowledge and respect for their charges. We can and certainly do introduce dogs , but the pack and who is the buddy, is really decided by the dog .
11 comments:
My dog is in that picture ! Dog Daze at Idlewild park past summer. Oreo makes a good point, dogs need space to work things out. That's why dogs that play at the park might fight in the yard. Or when you put them back on the lead going out. I have read so many books since we decided to adopt another dog for Lucy and I am seeing how important it is for the old lady to have her say in the process. I don't believe in putting more than one dog in a pen either. It is a fight waiting to happen. That picture has us waiting for summer again.
Our dear pets are animals. We are animals. We have been civilized; we chose to remain this way. Too often this gets projected onto our pets.
They are domestic, not civilized.
Throw a number of strange, scared animals in one place and fights will break out. There will be injures.
Sometimes a dog, or more rarely a cat, will perk up and find comfort with a kennel-mate - where before they were shut down with fear. This must be done with care, not nilly-willy with multiple dogs. I've seen it done both ways.
Stacking them high is not the answer. Feeding them, walking them, caring for them as they need to be cared for becomes impossible.
Respect for what they are is called for, even in sheltering.
"Domestic not civilized" good thought. Digger and Dozer have no idea they were litter mates. When I first brought them home I could put them in the same pen to run to the store, but now they are territorial and if confined together will fight. Loose in the house or yard is fine, but put them in the pen and the war is on.
To Dog Logic, I think respect is due especially in shelters, where they have lost everything else. And having done my time around shelters I know how much people project their needs upon the animals. Not every animal wants to be face hugged, or get the slaps on the side. Most want a biscuit and a scratch under the chin.
Oreo was making a point about the stress of arousal and people calling a dog over for petting. Left alone most submissive dogs sense to get out of the way, but have a human calling them over in spite of the warnings of the peers in the kennel is a real danger.
My friend adopted a dog at the humane society today and they made her bring her dog in. Why would you want to bring your dog into a shelter full of dogs that could be sick or mean ? That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It will not be accurate because things change when the dogs get home. It is also unfair to the pound dogs since they don't have any say either, they dragged in to every situation imaginable. I guess if nobody eats anybody its a party. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
How do they handle the pet meet pet deal at outside adoptions ? I am sure Petsmart wants everybody bringing their dog in seeing how it goes. The swim picture is a dream come true for some dogs, for others it could be a nightmare. I agree it is a neat shot, but I wouldn't take my dog to something like that, to many loonies with aggressive breeds they want to " socialize" on someone else's dog.
Dogs were pack animals, but that was in the wild, and even in domestic situations they form bonds; but that is not a true pack mentality.
Like doglogic, I have seen some animals find comfort in a kennel mate,but the risks outweigh the benefits in a stressful shelter situation.
We got a puppy for Lucy, she is not to sure about him. We are taking our time and letting her have room to escape from those sharp puppy teeth, we have a low gate she can jump over and he can't, yet. Any advice on getting them bonded more quickly would be useful. He isn't big enough to hurt her, but he is annoying.
Well this is called Advice From Oreo, so I will step up to the plate and offer just that. As my typist may have told you, I have tended several adopted puppies over the years, there are techiques that make it a sucess or failure. First if your resident dog is stable: Butt Out!!let her or him, show the whipper snapper a bit of tooth, and always allow getaway room. Some puppies do get manic, if that happens pull the puppy off and give the grown up a break. soon the little one will learn to tone it down. When Burley Dog was small (45 pounds) he didn't pay any attention to the lifted lip; and he was landing some strong punches. That is time for intervention. It took almost two weeks of me lifting my lip and Mom putting him back in the house to teach him to play nice. He just got to wound up. But me and Mom got even. she brought home another Newfie puppy, and boy did she teach ol' Burley Dog a thing or two about Karma. In short time Lucy will be running the show and very glad to have a new friend. I enjoy our 2 new additions, now that they are tamed.
Oreo
Ask Whine-ograd about the reports at Rancho Cucamonga of finding dead dogs in the kennels in the mornings from fights. He is an idiot thinking in these terms. And how does he explain that there are always animals that are not accepted by the pack, one is always outside of the pack and leads a miserable life. Whine-ograd doesn't have enough experience to know about these things. Besides he is a "cat" person, ever read that he bottle feeds puppies?????
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