I’ve always been of the mindset that two dogs are better than one. That’s why it surprises me to learn that for many pet owners, the idea of having two dogs is just too much. Of course, if finances don’t allow for the care and maintenance of more than one pet, it’s never a good idea to strain the budget. If you do, you could end up resenting your four-legged friends instead of giving them the love and attention they deserve, and that wouldn’t be fair to anyone. However, if you are able to take care of more than one dog, you should know there are sound benefits to having two dogs rather than just one. Here is a brief rundown of some of the numerous benefits of sharing your life with multiple dogs.

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Canine Companions

If you happen to work a lot or have to be away from your home for hours each day, your dog can get lonely or bored. When dogs get lonely or bored, they tend to express it through undesirable and negative behaviors. In other words, they become like toddlers, doing anything and everything they shouldn’t do in order to get your attention and affection. When your pup has a friend to play with or even just to lie around the house with, however, he or she is less likely to get bored and by consequence, less likely to be destructive or get into some sort of trouble around the house.

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Training Made Easy

Dogs are pack animals. There is always a leader of the pack and there are certain behaviors that are encouraged while other behaviors are discouraged within the pack. Dogs are very much like humans in that their social norms are important to them. The difference is that violating some of those social norms can have far more serious consequences for dogs than it does for humans.

Like just about any living thing, it’s best to start training when the pup is young. Yes, you need to spend time doing basic obedience training; consistent repetitions with high value treats like CANIDAE. But it’s not always about direct human to canine teaching. Dogs learn from each other via modeling. Even though dogs are domesticated, they still have some behaviors they hang on to as safety precautions for living in the wild. For example, dogs usually try to “do their business” away from their sleeping area. In part, this is because they may want it to serve as a sort of border and warning to other animals. Pups may not instinctually know this, so it helps for them to have a role model who knows the ropes and can train by demonstration rather than explanation.

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Dogs that live together also get to practice other skills with each other that they might not be able to with you. For example, dogs may stalk or even play fight. They aren’t trying to hurt each other during these times, but are trying to keep their skills alive. Practicing these behaviors with one another satisfies a deep, innate canine need, which leads to happier and healthier dogs.

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Benefits for You

There is a very long list of the ways that having two dogs can benefit humans. Dog owners sometimes prefer the company of their pets to the company of humans, but they still need to socialize with their own kind as well. Having two dogs gives people a chance to have twice the reason to go for a walk or go shopping at a pet supply store. It also means that if one pup is in a rare bad mood, the other one may be ready to snuggle. More often than not, you’ll find that you simply get twice the affection than you used to get.

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Having two dogs instead of one reduces anxiety in you and your pets. For me, it always alleviates my feelings of guilt when I have to be away from the house for extended periods during the day. With two dogs in your home, your dogs always have someone to play with. And on the rare occasion when you want some alone time, you won’t feel like you are forcing your dog to be alone as well.