Mutiple When Do They Become A Pack

Hi, After the latest in the news about people being attacked when there is more than one dog in a household.With one or two dogs it is fairly easy to make rules and boundaries,but when you have more,how easy is it to overcome the Pack Mentality with training,Last year a frail old lady,went out to do some shopping and left all her dogs running loose in the house,she came back,nobody knows what happened,but when her family returned that evening,she was found mauled and dead,the dogs greeted the people returning as normal,later the dogs were pts.What triggered there behaviour,was it the pack mentality,or had she done something out of the ordinary.Is it reallypossible to have more than two dogs and feel that they will be pets, is it safe to leave more than 2 dogs when you go out,or is it best to confine them.I wrote a post a little while ago,about a lady who went to work,left her two dogs to run loose in the house,she had a intruder,who was injured,she nearly lost her dogs,because she hadnt put a sign up saying Dogs Live Here.
You have colonies of cats who originally were the average house cat,but had been abandoned,and had formed a colony just to survive,they quickly become feral.Is this the same with dogs,if they feel threatened do they revert at the snap of a finger,or by living together become a pack.Surely all those years ago when they decided to live with Man,did they leave their pack mentatilty at the door,and settle down to domesticity, or by us virtualy having more then two dogs they have gone back to being a wolf,are we in charge or are they,or do we really believe that because of all the centuries that have lapsed,we have bred out of them the call of the wild,or is it still lurking,and we are totally unaware of it.crystalgirl

I personally wouldn't allow a non member of family to interact with my dogs if I wasn't there.

The poor girl who was mauled was allegedly eating a meat pie, maybe food was what triggered the dogs, some dogs can get aggressive with each other over food.

We used to have 3 but I would never have let anyone but myself or my husband be alone or in charge of them, they didn't act as a pack but unless supervised could have flash points that would set them off against each other. We managed it well as we knew what those were and made sure they were all safe, no one else could have been trusted to manage them right.

worth remembering that it is more often only ONE dog that is responsible when someone is mauled, injured or killed.

As Julie has more or less said - up to the dog OWNER to ensure that the dogs are safe and under control and no chance of 'accident' or whatever.

My last GSD I trusted with my life, I had her mum before her and same with her. People thought I was crazy putting them out the back if they called with their toddlers. Better safe than sorry. And, although my last dog appeared to treat my youngest as her own when she was born - I never EVER left her alone in a room with the baby. Even if I was just busy - I'd put the baby gate up at the room where the baby was and keep the dog traipsing about with me.

GSD vs tiny baby - no contest. Would take just one nasty bite or a vicious shake and it wouldn't be the baby coming out on top.

Not paranoid and loved being with us all together - but not taking chances either. I've also had to refuse babysitters I knew well but who were obviously afraid of the dog. Dogs seem to smell fear and I think it makes them nervous about you.

If you own more than one dog they are a pack, and will show pack behaviour on a daily basis, from little things like who gets the sofa /toy or all piling in if they are involved in a fight.

That does not mean because you own more than one dog you should expect them to turn into killers...

My pal in Cornwall had two JRTs. When we walked them she kept one on the lead all the time and alternated. No problems.

If she let them both off they were GONE! Away! Miles away - getting up to stuff together presumably. And, on the few occasions when it happened she sometimes had to go home without them and wait for them to return to the farm.

So their behaviour was different when they were together - but nothing to do with turning into killer dogs. Just chasing rabbits and generally misbehaving and ignoring their owner.

My 4 GSDs together seen to be quite individual, they sleep in their own space, not cuddled up, eat in the same room (supervised) but when they're out and see a rabbit they all work together and usually share the spoils.

I have a couple of dog owning savvy friends who know my dogs and I would trust with their care in an emergency.

Sorry for repeated posts!!

I think it's essential to have something in place - back up emergency person should the need arise and you just CANNOT be there for your dog(s). In my case it's for only two eventualities I can think of - if I drop dead or if I am taking into hospital as an emergency.

The first one hasn't happened yet (obviously!) but the last one has and it happened during the 2yrs that I did not have a dog - in fact it happened just 2 months after my last dog died. I do remember thinking once I was conscious again - how much worse it would have been if I'd had my dog. That resolved me to make sure I had something in place when I got this one.

I have 7 dogs and they live in perfect harmony, I would say peace but it's anything but peaceful when visitors arrive. Not because they are competing to eat them but each wants to get a fuss. They are a pack in the sense a group of cows is a herd but they would never hunt as a pack or attack as a pack, they don't hunt and would be more likely to squabble amongst themselves than turn on someone they recognise. I do sometimes have to rely on others to enter my house when I'm not there, it happened recently when I ended up in hospital twice in two weeks. I wouldn't want to own dogs I can't ever trust with others. Even in the past when I have owned very guardy dogs they have been trained from a very early age to accept letting people they recognise into the house and allow themselves to be handled by others.