Dog share!

[Gemini]

I mentioned on Chat that our cat sitter W is dog sitting at the moment. She will look after dogs, but now she's in her 80's not big or unruly ones!
We actually met her through friends of ours who she used to dog sit for years ago.

The doggy she is sitting for is the shared doggy!

Two of our friends share him with another friend of theirs, dividing his time between the two households and hopefully avoiding to have anyone else care for him. Both parties are away on holiday at the moment, which were arranged before the dog sitting arrangement was made. There is a few days overlap of the holidays so dogsitter to the rescue!

We feel very sorry for this little dog. I haven't met him yet but OH says he is very sweet.
His owners gave him up as they were moving aboard. Apparently he was set for the Battersea Dogs Home when the DS of the friend of our friends heard about it, and somehow his parents became involved here in York. One of our friends is very keen for a dog, her OH not so much, so a share seems a good compromise. He's a very good dog apparently. I hope he isn't too confused by all these changes. Dogs are loyal aren't they, so I presume they need to know who their people are?

[Oma]

As long as he is loved in both homes he will be happy,
They do adapt , it's when someone suddenly disappears that they get anxious,
That's why they advise if someone like a owner dies let the dog see they then understand.
Storm is happy spending a week or more with us and I'm sure Daisy's Eva is fine spending time at her DSs ,
Is he in one of the homes or at her home?
If he is in his own home he will feel safer.
I'm not keen on kennels not all dogs can cope with them, I know Storm couldn't.
So a dog sitter is a better option if they can't be there .

[Daisy]

Gem, I agree with Oma. Once dogs get to know you, and your routine (they are creatures of habit) they are usually happy with more than one "home". We never worry about leaving Eva with DS2 and family. When we arrive she runs in without a second's thought about us, plays with Cooper, loves getting lots of cuddles from our GDs and eats normally. However, at night she sleeps very close to the door, and DS thinks she's waiting for us to reappear.

Some dogs are more anxious if they are left with other people, but cope with that much better than being in kennels. DIL1's dog, Bailey, settles ok with us, but you can tell he's a bit anxious. But he eats normally and loves his walkies, so he's not pining. Neither he nor Eva could cope with kennels though - they are both rescues who were bewildered to start with.

Hopefully this little dog is a "people dog" and as long as he gets plenty of love and things that he likes - food, walkies, toys, games, cuddles etc - he'll be very happy.

[Gemini]

I'm sure you are both right, but I just feel so sorry for him!
He didn't meet W the dogsitter until the day he was left with her, just before they left him. He's had so many changes. I bet he will be fine, I suppose as a Cat Person I can't imagine a cat being happy with this so I am projecting this onto the dog!

[Oma]

I must admit I would have had a couple of visits before hand if it was my dog , just so they get the scent and get to know the person,
But if you put them in kennels they get lots of strangers so I suppose they must adapt .

[Gemini]

Oma, we made sure our kittens had several meetings with W before our holiday

To be fair I think they had tried for a meeting with doggy beforehand, but it didn't work out for some reason. W doesn't live locally to us or our friends.

One of the doggy owners is back later today. I think both dog and W will be glad. She likes him but hasn't found it easy. She thinks he needs doggy training classes

[Daisy]

Gem, no wonder the little dog is confused, then. He's had to cope with an awful lot of changes, and he would sense if W was finding him difficult.

It sounds as though he needs some consistency and calm routines, especially given what you mentioned in Chat that he gets very stressed when someone is leaving. I do think it's stress rather than aggression, but hopefully his joint owners will get together and agree on desensitising his separation anxiety. This isn't a quick process but is worth it and a good dog behaviourist would show them how to do it. Classes with lots of other excited dogs present may not be the best option.

[Gemini]

I think in theory the dog share was a good idea as J wanted a dog and her OH didn't, and J's golf buddy's DS knew of this dog needing a home and was keen to share him.

However, J and OH take lots of holidays, the majority of which a dog could not go on. In the last year they have been to New York, New Zealand, Dubai, Spain (were they are now) They take more annual holidays than anyone I know, and quite long ones. This doesn't work with having part ownership of a dog. The other couple have property in Malta, which they go to fairly often.

I wish he had been found one loving more settled home. He is loved and well cared for, but it's not ideal.
W hated taking him for walks as he barked at all dogs. I have no idea if he is like this with his owners. He probably needs to be seen by an expert as you say Daisy.
I have met him now and he is a sweet dog.

[Daisy]

Gem, a lot of the dogs in the classes I take Eva to have problems with other dogs, mainly barking and lunging at them. Pam always starts them off in a beginner group with no more than 3 other dogs. They learn to walk round, ignoring the other dogs, and gradually they become used to this, and the owner learns to look out for triggers and changes in their dog's body language to try to gently and calmly pre-empt an outburst.

But even in our class sometimes a barky dog will suddenly sound off for no reason that we can see, but it's obviously important to the dog. So it's a long, slow process, but it's all done with kindness and they do learn to stay calm. But it sounds as this little mite's joint owners are not going to have a chance of that level of consistency if the dog is constantly going from one family to the other. He does sound very anxious, poor thing.