Do Dogs Need Other Dogs?

I can’t answer this question.  I know from personal experience that having one dog for many years was wonderful.  I only had to focus on our relationship, and I was working non-stop at the time, so she received a lot of guilt-time!  The thought of another dog, just didn’t seem fair to either of them.

Dealing with dog obedience and behavior modification on a daily basis has taught me a lot.  A lot of the behavior modification training I benefit from is by observing the dogs – my dogs.  I have a pack.  There’s no way around that.  They aren’t wild.  They listen and respond to me; however, they are given a lot of opportunity to show me who they are while living together day to day.

We can take our dogs for long walks.  They love it.  We can take them on car rides and almost everywhere we go.  They love it.  We put their natural abilities to the test with agility training.  They love it.  We, however, can’t play like another dog.  Ever see a child when they see another child and they light up with a recognition that says – “hey, your a kid too!”  Dogs do that.  Try though we might (in the privacy of our home) to romp and tease like another dog.  We don’t come close.  Nor is this a goal I need to fulfill in my lifetime.

I say all of this because for all that we do, dogs love dogs.  I know that some are saying emphatically, “my dog doesn’t like other dogs!”  That may be the case now, but in the real land of dogs before they were our pets, they liked other dogs or at least worked things out with a nice compromise on who was who in the pack.

Should this be of concern to the one-dog families?  Probably not.  I just wanted to share this because it’s pure entertainment to watch dogs play.  Showing and gnashing of teeth, growling and the puppy bow. . .it’s all a part of who they are and we’ll never train it out of them.  Nor, do I want to.