Doodle-sitting! Tips needed

[BG and Gavin]

We are happy to be hosting 2.5 year old Mylie doodle while her parents are on vacation for a week.  She and Gavin get along really well together; both playful and energetic; neither is aggressive or territorial.  I have never had two dogs living together before, so I am hoping that you all can give me some tips to ensure that things go smoothly.  Mylie does not have any major behaviour problems that I know of (except for counter surfingJ).  I am wondering about keeping them separate from each other when we are at work.  I don’t want two 65lb doodles wrestling and running around the house without supervision.  Neither one uses a crate anymore, so I was going to use baby gates.  Any feedback about managing this temporary merger would be greatly appreciated.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

The only experience that I have with incorporating another dog with our girls would be in the case of the 4 fosters that we have had recently. Based on that, I think that it is basically very dog specific. They have all been different. So you will need to look at the dog that you are bringing into your home and use your best judgment. The first one we had you could not confine him in any way shape or form. A crate he would freak, being separated from the girls he would jump the gate, confined in a room with them with a gate he would jump so the only choice we had was to just leave them all loose and trust them. I did it in small doses. They did fine. I had another that my girls didn't get along with well enough for me to trust them so fortunately I could crate him and he was fine. They went in their room and he went in his crate. Another they all got along so I just put them all in my girls room with a doggie gate when we left. Truth be told, they sleep most of the time you are out of the house anyway. I might be tempted to just confine them to one room together. Dog proof it so they can't hurt themselves and try it for a small amount of time and see how it goes.

[Sally]

i've been sitting for a golden retriever and have been lucky that she really isn't interested in my dog at all. the only thing i noticed is she gets possesive over toys etc. i have only left them about 2 hours at a clip so far but i peeked in the window after the last time when i got home and they were both sleeping right on the other side of the front door. hopefully your guest will arrive on a weekend or a day you aren't working and you'll be able to get a sense of how they are.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I keep my two guys gated together in the kitchen/foyer. I remove all toys so there's no chance of "resource guarding". I think they sleep the whole time we're gone....one on the stairs and one on the foyer floor.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

No advice here but if you are thinking that baby gates are going to hold out two 65 lb Doodles...I DON''T THINK SO! My 73 lb Doodle can clear 4 ft gates!!! Either that or bulldoze them over!

[BG and Gavin]

LOL yes, you have a point there. Gavin can jump over a park bench from almost a standstill. Not sure about Mylie, however even though Gavin can practically step over the gate, he has always respected it as a boundary and has never tried to get through it/over it. I was thinking if necessary, I would gate them on different floors of the house so they would not have any face time to tempt them.

[Rebecca A. Rogers]

We have been really lucky with Buddy that he sees the baby gates as barriers and doesn't know he can jump them. He is 91 pounds and about 3.5 feet tall- he could almost step over them, but he and my pit lab (maybe I should start calling her a Labrabull to compliment Buddy) have been staying in the kitchen for two weeks while we are at work. I put food and treats in a bob-a-lot and a Buster Cube plus leave some super huge, nylabone chew toys, and a ball to keep them entertained. So far, so good. Every dog and dog pairing works differently...good luck on what you decide is best.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Ha ha Nancy, that was exactly what I was thinking.

[BG and Gavin]

DH just told me that he has made a date Wednesday to bring Gavin to Mylie's house to reaquaint them. I thought this was a great idea since they have not seen each other for several months.

[Melissa & Porter]

I dogsit my neighbor's doodle quite a bit, and vice versa. And at my IL's, Porter and Poe, a pug, have to coexist.

Whenever Porter goes to a new house, I walk him all over it (he follows me) and give him an idea of no-no zones and activities. I also take him outside and tell him what his perimeter is and where he should pee and poop (the latter instruction is always less successful).

When Porter and Brody (the doodle) are together they often escalate into full play inside the house, particularly if the kids are around and acting hyper. I make them go outside. They run and wrestle and come back when they are done. I don't know if you have a fenced yard, but it helps a lot. They have decreased the inside mania quite a bit with the consistent "outside!" rule.

I hand-feed Brody 2x a day when he stays with me because he is so uninterested in food, and Porter is too bossy. I don't want to return a starved dog, and this works okay for me, but I know I could work out something better, especially if I had doors in my kitchen.

[Leigh & Allie]

I have kept Allie's sister, Bella, for a long weekend. Be prepared for a first day from h---. They ran around and play wrestled all day. I thought what have I gotten myself into. Also, I noticed that Allie wanted nothing to do with me. Usually she is following me around EVERYWHERE. Not so when her sister is here. There was a lot more cleaning up and general more work but they had a blast. When we left, I left them out and they were fine. I only left them for a short time though. Bella had never been left alone outside of her crate so I was a bit nervous about that but they were fine and I believe they slept the whole time. I think they wanted an audience. And lastly, Allie was in a major depression after Bella left. I thought where is my Allie but she snapped out of it in a few days. Have fun, I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

[Harley Girl & Linda Neff]

A baby gate wouldn't be a good source of securing my doodle, Harley, in one room. She can jump and scale a gate standing...unbelieveable how they can jump. Goodluck, hopefully the gate works for you.

[Susan and Sasha]

Hi BruceGirl...
I know that you are getting a lot of different advice...so...here is some more...(smile)
Sasha is about 70-75lbs...and...we do use gates...although not baby gates...but...some really nice wooden gates with doors to go through...
Although she can jump...and Boy Can She Jump!!!! (smile)
When there is a gate up...Sasha will respect the "unspoken request"...and she will "not" try to go through or go over the gate...even though she can easily do it!!
I think what we need to know is... what dogs we are dealing with...and... what have they been trained to understand and obey...
I think we can train just about any dog to understand "boundaries"...
So...how does Mylies owner take care of her during the day??
That would be very important...
Then...you would need to incorporate that into how you deal with your Doodle on a daily basis...
You would then know how to deal with the two dogs...
You have quite a feat before you...
But I'm sure you will do a very good job!!
I commend you...
You are a Very Good Friend...and I'm sure that All Will Go Well...