Do dogs *need* other dogs?

My trainer said something interesting the other day. She claimed that
dog-to-dog socialization is purely for us humans; so we can have a dog
that we can take with us everywhere. Dogs, according to her, really
need to be with their people but are perfectly happy with or without
other dogs around. She said that dogs are happier curled up in bed with
us, with a piece of steak, than they are with their doggie friends.

I'm not sure I agree with that. My Shiba loves playing chase and
wrestling games with my Siberian that he would never get to play in the
same way with humans. What do you all think? Do you think that Shibas
bond more easily to humans or to other dogs? Do you think that dog-to-
dog socialization is just for us?

What a thought provoking question that I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion on. I'd like to share mine. As far as socialization goes, I think it's important at an early age to socialize your dog with other dogs and people. It's important for you as well as your dog. For you, I'm sure we all want to know that when we go out in public, whether it be a park, a pet store or the vet, etc, that we know our dog will behave in a way that we want them to. No barking or growling, no jumping up on other people, etc. I think we have all been somewhere where there is this one dog that is constantly barking or growling at other people or dogs and straining at the leash. Makes me very nervous, what if the dog were to pull away or the leash or collar breaks? If that were to happen, it would probably end up with you or your dog or both needing emergency care. Socialization teaches your dog how to deal with different circumstances when they are out in public. Whether it be just seeing another dog, or if someone approaches you to talk or meet your pet. When I take my two shibas out in public, they know they have certain rules to go by. No barking at other dogs or people and no straining at the leash. If someone walks up to me to talk to me or meet the dogs, they too have certain rules they must go by. Before they can touch the dogs, the dogs have to sit. I tell them if the dogs jump up, they have to back away until they sit again. For the most part, they do pretty good. My two are completely different from each other. Sami, my cream shiba is eager to meet just about anyone and is a very kissy dog. Miko, the black and tan is a little more reserved around people she doesn't know. If she hangs back from someone, I don't force her to meet the person. She is doing much better about this and sometimes she will go up to someone and she has to sit to get any attention. Another reason why it's important to socialize your pets to other people is God forbid your dogs runs away, hopefully it will allow someone else to catch it so it can be returned to you.

Now as far as whether dogs need to be with other dogs, I don't believe that they need to have other dogs around them to be happy. Providing of course that you give them everything they need, food, play, exercise. When people have more then one dog, it's because they want more then one dog, not because the dogs need other dogs around. I have seen all too many times that a person has a dog and feels their dog needs another dog to keep them company. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. Some dogs don't like to share their space, their food, their toys and their people with anyone else. Just think about people. You can't just throw two people together and expect them to get along the rest of their life. Just look at the divorce rate. LOL Now some dogs are perfectly fine having another dog around. Until I got my two shibas, I only had one dog at a time. They were perfectly happy dogs. I was only going to get one shiba. My boss had his daughter's two shibas because she was going through a situation where she couldn't keep the dogs any longer. He was only supposed to have them until she could find someone to buy them. Well, he had them for almost a year and then they had 3 puppies, one of which was stillborn. He was not very happy about going from 0 dogs to 4 dogs in less then a year. He decided that she lost her right to decide what was going to happen to the dogs since she had not found a home for the two original dogs. So, he decided to give all four dogs away when the pups were old enough to go to new homes. Well, I was going to take one of the pups, but at the last second he asked me if I could take both of them because he wanted to see the sisters stay together. ( insert sad puppy eyes here. LOL) So, I told him I would take them both, but since I knew that sometimes even littermates didn't get along when they grew up, I told him there was always the possibility that I would have to rehome one of them at a later date. Well, I got lucky and they get along really great and love being with each other. In fact, our cream shiba, Sami was very sick for a few months and was away from home twice for a few days and the other dog Miko, moped around the house missing Sami. So what I think it all boils down to is whether the dog is used to having another dog around and how they get along. I'm sure that if my two had gone to different homes, they would be just as happy to be with their humans.

Interesting Topic!!!!
Do dogs *need* other dogs? In a home with people, no I don't think they *need* other dogs, but it sure can be fun for them! :) I've had times where we've had only one dog, and I've had times where we've had multiples (usually just 2). When we had just one dog, I'm sure they were happy, but you see a lot more playfulness when there are multiples. Yes, you see some issues too. It's kind of like having one child or more. Does a single child realize how much it's missing out on? Not really. There are good and bad sides to both. We had Budi until he was about 3 years old when we got Keena. Not only did I want another dog for myself, but I felt that Budi would LOVE to have another dog to play with. He always enjoyed his play dates with neighbor dogs and when I'd watch my mom's Pomeranian. Yeah, sometimes things can get a little out of hand, but it's mostly good. So, in my opinion, no they don't *need* another dog, but if you can have more than one and you chose wisely, it can be so much more fun for everyone!
Mitzy :)

I guess it depends on what you mean by "dogs need other dogs". I agree with Mitzy that there are pros and cons to OWNING more than one dog or not. But I feel that dogs should be around other dogs, if for nothing else they can learn to socialize with other dogs. My shiba 'Cody' has been raised around his brother and other, older, trained dogs and he does great with them. I can image him not being able to play with his brother every week. But notice I said he's been around older and trained dogs. I never really had him around 'crazy' unruly dogs when he was little, and it's become a small issues now that he's older. He will be aggressive with dogs that run up and jump in his face, or a dog that has a handler that can not control it and pulls there way to him. Or even a puppy who doesn?t know better. But introduce him to a dog that is calm and it's a different story. So I don't think it necessary to have another dog living in the same home, but I do think that they need to be out a meet different dogs, different personalities so they know how to react when they do meet a new dog.

Thanks everyone for all your great comments. The consensus seems to be
that dogs really need to be with their people but they don't really
need other dogs around. However, if they get to hang out with dogs that
they get along with, then so much the better! That being said, everyone
agrees that it is still important to socialize your dog so that he is
not a danger to others and to himself.

Here is a summary on the topic from Shiba Sephy's point of view.
http://www.shibashake...

I've noticed that my Shiba is perfectly fine simply being with me. When I take him out and let him roam off leash on his own he's perfectly content. He enjoys playing with other dogs but even in the dog park he is more content with playing by himself. If he sees another dog that is non-aggressive then he will run and play with that dog but not for long. Of the few Shiba owners i noticed that they all say that their Shiba prefers the interaction of humans to another dog unless the other dog lives in the home. So I guess that's simply a trait of the Shiba.

Vincée

This is an interesting question... I actually signed up just so I could be a part of the discussion. I own a dog boarding and daycare business in Portland Oregon, and I've been training for years. I've had the "do dogs need other dogs" question posed to me many times, but this got me thinking; who says that dogs need people?

Dogs need social interaction, and it's obviously beneficial to have a well socialized dog (with both people and other dogs,) but would a dog drop dead if there wasn't a person in its life? I know some of you have read "The hidden life of dogs"; seems like those dogs were pretty content with minimal to no human interaction.

I doubt that a dog would be very happy living with a herd of elephants, but I think most dogs could live quite contentedly with either human or canine pack mates.