10/25/2026
Living with a dog who doesn't like other dogs is exhausting. I'm getting my reminder this week.
I have a guest dog staying here for a bit. She's one of my favorite critters and at times my brain has whispered that having a second dog wouldn't be that terrible..
But my Luna Dog has made her position very clear: not in her house. It's Casa Luna!
Not even when the guest is secure in a kennel.
So here's how our evenings have been going:
The visiting dog yaps, that high-pitched kind. It's loud and makes me cringe. Luna responds by grabbing a toy or chew and settling down to work on it right in front of the kennel!
My guest has a tendency to guard resources, just like Luna, so within seconds it turns into a full barrier blow-up.
75 lbs of Pitbull vs 14 lbs of fluffball.
Thankfully they're both overall stable dogs and fairly easy to redirect. But "easy to redirect" still means I'm on alert every minute they're within sight of each other. Rotating rooms, managing doors, watching for that first eye flick or body stiffening. No real downtime.
And for me, this is temporary. It's also my work. I know I can do this, and part of me enjoys it (I know, I know...)
For so many of my clients, it's daily life. Crate and rotate for months or years. Never fully relaxing in your own home.
Planning every exit, every meal, every movement around keeping the peace between the dogs. Add the guilt that one dog is shut away, and it's often the quiet, easy one. And, you're always wondering whether you're doing this wrong.
If that's you, I see you. That tiredness is real, and it isn't a sign that you're failing. Management IS the work, and it's HARD work.
You don't have to figure it out alone. Behavior support can make the management smoother, lower the tension in your home, and give you a plan for what's actually possible for your dogs.
💛 Shoot me a message if your home feels like a constant referee job.
