[93Mike]

Hey guys, forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong section I've been apart of this community for about 3 minutes haha.

I've just bought a house(I currently have it rented out and I live with my parents) I will be living in eventually and I want to do temporary dog rescue (interested in the rottweiler breed). I currently a little female staffordshire bull terrier.

I have seen threads where people say they have like 6 dogs, so I was just wondering, if walking the two dogs together was too much of a hastle, is it cruel to walk them seperate, or even sometimes take one out with me for an hour on the road, I wouldn't be favouring a dog, I mean for one little outing the rottweiler comes with me and the staffy stays home and the next outing the staffy comes with me and the rottweiler stays home, does anybody else operate like this?

Thanks for reading guys!
- Mike.

 

[mathilda]

Chapeau for trying that out, I think making a Rottweiler that learned nothing or the wrong things ready for a addoption is a big responsibility.
i think it is not cruel to let the dog at home in times when you can't take care of him, because you've for example to deal with an untrained adult Rottweiler. It probably more secure for the dog.
However every of the dogs should get their portion of excercise and attention.
Your Pitty shouldn't go too short, just because you have to work daily with the rottweiler (working dog breed).
If you can't walk them together (which is, depending on the dog, perhaps easier since the rescue dog can orientate itself by the already trained Pitty) You've to go with each dog each day. this is a pretty big pensum (1/2 in the morning, 1 in the noon, 1/2 in the evening, for each dog).
I mean that would make 4 hours just for walking everyday...
When you say you can do that I think it is great to be a dog in your house!
Please, when you are out with one dog, don't let the other one wait alone too long though. I know some people leave their dogs crated over the biggest part of the day and the night, but for an energetic breed like the Pitty or a working dog breed like the Rotty, being bound to one place without something to do for hours and hours and hours is kind of sad and cruel.

 

[93Mike]

Chapeau for trying that out, I think making a Rottweiler that learned nothing or the wrong things ready for a addoption is a big responsibility.
i think it is not cruel to let the dog at home in times when you can't take care of him, because you've for example to deal with an untrained adult Rottweiler. It probably more secure for the dog.
However every of the dogs should get their portion of excercise and attention.
Your Pitty shouldn't go too short, just because you have to work daily with the rottweiler (working dog breed).
If you can't walk them together (which is, depending on the dog, perhaps easier since the rescue dog can orientate itself by the already trained Pitty) You've to go with each dog each day. this is a pretty big pensum (1/2 in the morning, 1 in the noon, 1/2 in the evening, for each dog).
I mean that would make 4 hours just for walking everyday...
When you say you can do that I think it is great to be a dog in your house!
Please, when you are out with one dog, don't let the other one wait alone too long though. I know some people leave their dogs crated over the biggest part of the day and the night, but for an energetic breed like the Pitty or a working dog breed like the Rotty, being bound to one place without something to do for hours and hours and hours is kind of sad and cruel.

Thank you for the reply!

from what I've read about the rottweiler rescue I'll be temporarily fostering, the dogs come to you with basic training already, so there is not a huge risk (although I'll still be very careful) both dogs will receive the exercise/mental stimulation they require and when they are separated and one dog comes out on the road with me, it would be for no longer than maybe 1 or 1.5 hours.

Just wanted to see if anybody else has ever been in this situation and didn't feel too guilty about taking them out separately every now and again

 

[Kwenami]

How would that be cruel? Doing that every now and again even with dogs that are well behaved can prevent separation anxiety from developing.

 

[kelly528]

The way I see it, we have two main duties to the animals we take into our care, at minimum:

1) To keep them safe.
2) To keep them comfortable.

If for any reason you feel that this wouldn't be the case, especially considering that you would be taking out two strong dogs, one that you are not familiar with, and one that is genetically prone to leash reactivity and prey drive... by all means, I think that you are not being cruel-- you're exercising good common sense!

Recently in our area we lost two dogs to such a mistake: a guy was walking two rescued pitbull mixes and could not hang onto the one that was extremely prey driven. It saw a yorkie across the street, ripped loose of the handler and caught up to the little guy, shaking him like a rat until he was dead. Two dogs died that day. Why? Because someone was not exercising good common sense around powerful dogs!

If, for convenience's sake, you do need to walk them together I find it immensely helpful if even one dog is on a walking aid like a Halti or a front-buckle harness. I will often do this if I am walking two strong dogs at once, just so that I have adequate control when the dogs literally outweigh me. Otherwise... I kind of like walking a single dog, I think it is a great opportunity to focus on bonding and training.

 

[Grabby]

I have three dogs, used to have four, and have had as many as six dogs. I take them out separately all the time. It's not cruel to spend time with one dog at a time.

 

[93Mike]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I few a lot better now, I come from a family where dogs are REALLY family, so sometimes seeing them as animals is difficult for me and the thought of taking one out on its own made me feel guilty but I feel a lot better about the situation now, although my staffy is only like 16-17kgs they still don't have the greatest reputation here in Australia, so misunderstood breeds really interest me and I want to set a good example.

Thanks again!

 

[hells85]

Hi mike

I have 3 dogs, 2x Staffordshire bull terriers and a mastiff x Am bull pup. 4 days per week the dogs all walk together for their main walk using a lead coupler for 3 dogs, the pup goes out by herself for socialisation and the two staffs get a second walk together whilst the pup sleeps in her crate. once per week pup and male staff have their main walk together and I take female staff by herself to work on training and to bond and play with her separately. One day pup and female staff walk together and I take my boy out to train and bond with separately, one day the two staffs go out together and pup has a separate training and bonding walk. Plus individual play sessions with me in the house plus short individual training sessions. I think it is important for each dog to be able to cope with being left on its own, what if one dog needs to go into the vets? I also find it easier to train each dog individually because they get distracted by each other when learning something new and get frustrated if one earns treats and the others don't.