The Realities of a Multidog Household

The realities of multidog households.

About a month ago, a client reached out to me and told me that her dog, a basset puppy, had gotten bit by their German Shepherd. It wasn't a large bite. It wasn't an attack. It was a warning snap. That was all.
And it resulted in 4 staples and about 10 stitches and a tooth removed.
See. The German Shepherd weighs around 100 lbs. The basset. 22lbs.
The puppy went to go sniff the German Shepherds food. And got a warning snap that could have cost her eye. 

These things happen in the blink of an eye.
Even my own dogs have issues sometimes. Sibling arguments and small quibbles. And on dogs that are the same size or roughly the same size, it isn't as big of a deal.
But for dogs that are so unmatched in size, it could be disastrous. A simple warning snap or even a paw misplaced could lead to a late night ER visit.  Even in my own house, Amarant being 50 lbs and Anwyn being 16 is a huge difference. That could lead to a ton of problems if I am not careful.
When in a multi dog household, there is one thing that is absolutely imperative that we have an abundance of. Management. Management is a huge part of the puzzle of a multidog household. Crates, gates, pens, shut doors, separated spaces. All of these things are so imperative to have.
At any given point, I could shut the gate in my house and have a separated household if need be. Eating in separated spaces with this specific situation. Even myself, I never leave the room when there is food( or a chew bone) out. I stay with my dogs. With me in between them, until all the food is gone. Because I don't want there to be issues. When I have food, at least one dog has to be separated from us.
Management IS training. And making sure that we have the tools we need for everyone to be safe is incredibly important.