Welcome to the first day of Multiple Pet Mania month and the multiple pet training tips day! I’ve never been an only pet, so I’m used to doing everything with multiple pets. My tips are only for dogs, though, as we can’t figure out how to train my cats.
My sisters and I vary greatly in age which is an added challenge when it comes to fitness. We all enjoy different things, and are at different stages in our life. Figuring out training and fitness has really just become an issue at our house since Bailie arrived. I would like to list a few simple tips for training your dogs in a multiple pet family:
- Train separately. You wouldn’t take all your human children to the same classes and sports, so why do you think it works with dogs?
- Train some activities together if they are age and interest appropriate. Bailie and I both do nose work and attend classes together.
- Don’t always train at the same time or in the same place. Take a morning or weekend class to change things up. Try practicing your training at a new time of day now and then. Just a time or location change can affect your dog’s behavior.
- Determine what each dog enjoys and train them for it. If you dog enjoys modeling, teach them modeling poses. If your dog loves obedience, work on obedience.
- If a young pup is having difficulty learning basics, enlist the older dogs to help by demonstration.
When Bailie took her Obedience 1 class she had a real hard time learning “down”. Mom came home and worked on it with Bailie by having all three of us take turns doing it. She learned it in a snap! The above video from January 2014 shows some good examples of us training together as well as separately.
It is good for each dog to get alone time, and to learn to do things without the other dogs. Make sure and schedule alone and group time for your multiple dogs!
Next up, today is the first day of the Multiple Pet Mania Photo contest. You will always find the rules and regulations by clicking on the badge in my sidebar, but I will lay them out for you here today! Read the rules and then start snapping those fun photos! Also, remember to fill out the Life With Multiple Pets Survey if you haven’t already done so.
The details for the month long photo contest are as follows:
Celebrate the first annual Multiple Pet Day, June 30th, 2015, by entering a #MultiPetDay Instagram and Twitter photo contest. We’re giving away $150 in prizes! Here’s how to enter:
- Each photo must include the Hashtag #MultiPetDay to be eligible
- Each account entering must follow @CascadianNomads @MyGBGVLife & @WagNWoofPets to be eligible
- Photos must be uploaded to the participant’s Instagram or Twitter account
- Photos must be owned by the participant’s Instagram or Twitter account
- No limit on number of photos that may be entered
- Entry photos can be real or fake but must feature more than one pet
- Photos depicting animals that are clearly unhappy or in danger will be disqualified
Don’t have an Instagram or Twitter Account?
Create one for free: It’s easy.
–Or–
Enter via e-mail at multiplepetday@gmail.com
REMEMBER: All entries must use the Hashtag #MultiPetDay and you must be following @CascadianNomads @MyGBGVLife and @WagNWoofPets. Tagging us is not required but you can do that too. We are excited to see all the multiple pet photos!
And the winners receive:
The contest grand prize is $75 PayPal Cash. Grand prize winner must have an eligible PayPal account to receive their prize in US funds. Contest sponsors are not responsible for PayPal fees, issues with or delays in prize fulfillment. Void where prohibited.
The contest second prize is a $40 Only Natural Pet gift card. Second prize winner must provide a shipping address to receive the prize. Sponsors are not responsible for shipping issues or delays in prize fulfillment. Void where prohibited.
The contest third prize is a paw print tote bag filled with sponsors choice of small goodies for multiple pets valued at approximately $35. Third prize winner must provide a shipping address to receive the prize. Sponsors are not responsible for shipping issues or delays in prize fulfillment. Void where prohibited.
Our multiple pet celebrity judges are:
The photo contest sponsors, Cascadian Nomads, My GBGV Life, and Wag’n’Woof Pets, will act as judges for this contest. Each entry will be judged on Creativity, Originality, Image Quality, and just plain ol’ multiple pet fun. Your account must be an open account so that the judges are able to view your entry. Multiple entries are welcome but please do not overdo it… with photos, not pets, of course!
Read the fine print, please:
The #MultiPetDay photo contest sponsors are Cascadian Nomads, My GBGV Life and Wag’n’Woof Pets and all prizes are provided by the sponsors. There is no purchase necessary in order to be eligible to win and is void where prohibited. This contest is open to anyone over the age of 18. One winner per household. This Contest will be open from 05/31 – 06/26/15 at 11:59pm ET. Winners will be notified with their picture showcased on Cascadian Nomads, My GBGV Life and Wag’n’Woof Pets blogs and social media accounts on or about Tuesday, 06/30/15, Multiple Pet Day, and will have 24 hours to respond to the announcement (Twitter and Instagram tags or e-mail, if applicable) before forfeiting their prize. Incomplete entries will be considered void. By entering this contest you give permission to Cascadian Nomads, My GBGV Life and Wag’n’Woof Pets to share your image on any of their Owned and Operated Properties or on any of their Social Media Accounts with credit given to you. Odds of winning depend on total number of entries received during the giveaway period. Contest and promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with PayPal, Only Natural Pet, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or other Social Media Platform.
I’m joining thePositive Reinforcement Training Week hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Rubicon Days & Tenacious Little Terrier The theme this month is training multiple pets so please hook up with blog posts, comments, and/or social media shares and conversations about the challenges of training multiple pets. Any positive reinforcement pet training is welcome on the hop.
Sounds like a fun contest! We are a multiple pet household and will definitely join the fun.
Awesome! You can add as many posts as you want and enter all the giveaways and the photo contest!
That video is the cutest
The quality is pretty bad, but it is irreplaceable and we think it is cute too.
you’re totally right…efurrybuddy needs an “alone time” where you can do the things what fit to your age and your trainings level and we need a “group time” where we can learn and work with our siblings :o)
In your case, your group would be the humans, but you might need alone time too 😉
Great tips for training multiple pets.
It is not easy especially with different ages and interests.
Great contest Emma…we’ll have to get our camera out and get posing with Jack & Maggie.
I’m sure they can get some good poses. Hollywood isn’t far from you guys, maybe they can get some tips there.
Great tips – training Penny the second time around was a challenge, but like you suggested, I found success in giving her both individualized time and time with Eko.
Bailie seems to be a life long challenge, but overall, she is a good pup, just enjoys “enjoying” life a bit too much.
We can’t figure out how to train our cat, either. I just try to be really conscious of when I put food in his bowl–if he’s just done something naughty, I try to make sure he doesn’t hear the sound of kibble hitting the bowl immediately afterwards.
Ours eat twice a day, just like us dogs. I think toying with the food would only make our cat more crazy.
Like the concept of the contest. What fun! I loved the video – it was darling Emma!
Thank you. Hope you all enter…you have some time to get that perfect shot!
Yep, totally missed the first day of the multi pet hop!!! AHHHHHH!!!! I knew I would forget!!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
No problem, the training hop is open for a few days and tomorrow we start the first giveaway, so you have time to “remember”. 🙂
we have always been a multiple pet home – Mom says we furbabies always do better with company but yes – training separately is important and once something has been mastered then joint training is a breeze,
Exactly, but the cats…forget them. They never learn anything!
Thank you for your tips . We train separately or else fatty pushes me
Lily (& Edward)
With our age differences, basic training wouldn’t work at all, but we did really help Bailie grasp concepts like down in a real hurry.
Thanks for these brilliant tips. Earl and Ethel train generally separately, however we do enjoy working on some amazing duo tricks, with them working together – such as ‘hug’, which astounds and amazes many! Because mine are so food orientated, if I train with one, with the other lose, the other will come right at us, not allowing us to get any real work done.
We will sure be joining the Multi Pet Mania hop this month!!
sumskersandearlskers13.blogspot.com
We train all our stuff separately pretty much, it is just easier for everyone. Looking forward to your posts this month!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat Tips on stuffs… We are 5 years apawt in age…. and ONE of us Sleeps more than the other…. (Clue… it isn’t the OLDEST one !)
Katie and Bailie are 11 years apart, I’m 7 years older than Bailie and 4 younger than Katie, so we have a real range.
We think multiples are the best too!
At least two of every species so no one is ever alone and has someone to hang out with who understands them.
Great tips, Emma! I did run into this issue when we were fostering a younger dog (Lana). She needed more exercise than Ace, so I rotated between walking them together and taking them separately every other day. I also thought training them together would be easier at first, but it turned out Ace just felt stressed out by Lana. It worked better to focus on the training individually.
That is pretty much the same conclusion Mom came to. It is time consuming with the separate walks, but it is the best for right now.
Hmm… if Mr. N takes a photo with Sage, will that qualify? Also I agree it’s important to find training activities that each pet likes!
What? Isn’t Sage family??? He seems like family as you guys hang out together so much. I think it would count, or do you have a goldfish or something?
Awesome!! We will enter for sure! Love your tips. We too have learned nothing about training the cats. I bet they will photo bomb us a few times this month in our pursuit of this prize!
Cats are just trouble, but what can we dogs do? Can’t wait to see your posts and photos!
We are whistling and clapping our paws wildly at how well the three of you mind! My mom will be entering us in the contest as soon as she gets her tail in gear! BOL! You can rock a ball cap! ♥
You have also seen my non obedient side in Nashville. Boy am I in the dog house for that! Whew…hope the new training regimen Mom is planning for me isn’t too bad!
Great tips! I like taking all three of my dogs out at one time and just letting them cut loose but I do also like my alone time one on one with them.
For us, a mix of alone and together is the key.
I think training is one of the most challenging things about having multiple pets, and it’s something I need to work on more. Luke gets a lot but the girls don’t get quite as much. Those are really great tips. Luke learned a lot of the basics from his sisters, especially when he was very young.
I’m a bit nervous as Mom says I will be in for some serious attitude training in the coming months. I guess she is going to try and reduce the diva in my brain. It will be interesting.
Love the video! Especially the part with all three dogs looking at each other, cluing each other in on what to do :->
We are a bit sad the quality isn’t the greatest, but it was kind of a once in a lifetime thing. Those months of obedience school with Bailie got us all working on the basics.
I really enjoyed watching your training video from 2014! Katie looked so cute when “shaking”! We practice all of those commands on a regular basis as well 🙂
Thanks. It is a video we will never be able to make again, so it is pretty special to us.
My Velcro Dog (Shadow) HATES when her sisters get their alone time! She will sit at the door to the room downstairs and carry on so pitifully that It distracts Ducky from our training time. 🙁
Bailie used to howl up a storm, but after remaining tough, Mom has persevered and Bailie now accepts it quietly.
I wish my husband were as patient as your Mom! No matter how many times I ask him to NOT open the door for Shadow, he does it anyway. MEN!!! If I didn’t have to deal with him, it would be A LOT easier.
We only have Mom to deal with, so what she says is what happens.
You’re so right that one-on-one time is important when training multiple pets! My cat does not participate in training, either.
It is hard for the human to take one of the pack out for alone time, but it is a good thing for everyone.
Great post, Emma! We’ll be sure to enter! 😀
I’m sure you all will have some fab photos!
That is a great point about not taking the kids to the same classes, Emma. My parents did that once and although I am glad I tried Taekwondo, it was really more my brother’s thing. Not always training at the same time of day and in the same place really hits home for me. In fact, you convinced me that the dogs should come to today’s family picnic so we can do some of our CGCC test practice there. The test is next weekend!!!
I’ve been contemplating trying that test myself. Bailie wouldn’t make it as she is far too social right now, but Mom thinks I could do it. It is just hard to find test spots. Good luck to you guys!
Thanks, Emma! Some helpful tips for our two dog household. With Sophie being 5 and Jasper being a 1.5 year old terrier terror, training is sometimes challenging!
That age spread isn’t so bad, but still they are at totally different levels.
We’re just hearing about it, but looks like a great contest and the pictures are neat!
Bummer you didn’t get in on the beginning, but better late than never.