11,828 answers about dogs
From a puppy’s first feeding schedule to a senior dog’s comfort care, dog owners ask it all — this page gathers the dog library of KinsLe Answers in one place. Browse by topic below, from feeding and training to health, grooming, safety and travel. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
2,117 answers in Choosing & Adopting — page 33 of 89
Yes, often — Boxers are famously dog-social, and many thrive with a housemate to wrestle and clown around with. Their play is the catch: bouncy, front-paw boxing and full-speed chase that can flatten a small, elderly or fragile dog, and their appetite for silliness outlasts most breeds. Same-sex pairings, particularly…
Yes, generally — Australian Shepherds tend to bond closely with the dogs they live with, and a housemate gives this busy breed a playmate and an outlet. The watch-outs are style and volume: Aussies play rough, with body slams and wrestling that can bowl over a small or timid dog, and many appoint themselves fun…
Yes, with the right housemates. A Border Collie usually enjoys living with other dogs, but it will try to organize them: the herding sequence of stare, stalk and chase transfers to housemates, and play can end in circling and heel nips that a laid-back dog finds relentless. Pair a Collie with an active, tolerant…
Yes — Siberian Huskies are pack dogs in the truest sense, developed to live and work in dog teams, and most are visibly happier, calmer and less destructive with a canine housemate. A second dog gives a Husky a wrestling and running partner matched for stamina, which takes real pressure off the humans. The important…
Often yes — Dachshunds commonly do best with another Dachshund or a calm dog near their own size, and many keepers swear the breed is happiest in pairs. They can be possessive of a favourite person and quick to referee household excitement with barking, so lap competition and shared arousal are the things to structure…
Yes — if any breed was designed for multi-dog living it is the Beagle, a hound kept in packs for centuries, which eats, sleeps and hunts in company and finds single-dog life the unnatural option. Introductions are rarely the problem; beagles are socially fluent, low in confrontation, and a lonely beagle gains…
Yes, Miniature Poodles usually enjoy a dog housemate: they are bright, lively and socially confident, and most take to shared living with real enthusiasm. The genuine question is not temperament but physics, because a Miniature living with a large, boisterous young dog can be knocked flying in games it started happily…
Yes — Standard Poodles are sociable, playful dogs that generally do very well with housemates, which makes sense for a breed that began as a water retriever working in company. Their play style is bouncy and upright, all springs and play bows, and they read other dogs' signals with unusual accuracy, backing off when…
Generally yes — French Bulldogs are companion dogs to their core, usually sociable with other dogs, and many relax and thrive with a canine housemate. The breed's flat face sets the terms, though: a Frenchie will keep wrestling long after its breathing says stop, so play with a bigger, rougher dog needs a human…
Often yes, but German Shepherds ask for more care than the sporting breeds: many live happily with another dog, yet dog-selectivity and same-sex friction are genuinely more common in this breed. A Shepherd tends to bond hard, monitor the household, and try to control other dogs' movement and excitement, which a…
Yes — Golden Retrievers are excellent in multi-dog households, because the gundog work they were bred for demanded a dog that stays calm and friendly around other dogs all day. A Golden rarely starts trouble, and most housemates, from puppies to grumpy seniors, find that soft, unthreatening manner easy to live with.…
Yes — Labrador Retrievers are among the easiest of all breeds to add to a multi-dog household, because generations of gundog work alongside other dogs bred quarrelling out of them. Most Labs greet a housemate as a playmate in waiting, and their tolerance makes introductions unusually low-drama. The two things to…
Yes — for a small dog, a West Highland White Terrier has a remarkably strong prey drive, because Westies are earthdogs bred to hunt foxes, badgers and rats underground. That history means a Westie will chase squirrels with total commitment, dig toward anything it can smell, and ignore your recall completely in the…
Yes, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier usually has a real prey drive toward small animals, inherited from the terrier half of its bull-and-terrier ancestry, though it varies a lot between individuals. Many Staffies raised alongside cats live with them peacefully for years, while still being ready to chase and catch a…
Yes — a Belgian Malinois has one of the strongest prey drives of any breed kept as a pet, because police and military breeding selects precisely for the urge to chase, seize and hold. It fires at squirrels, cats, cyclists and running children as readily as at a ball, and it does not fade away with maturity. The…
What the Australian Cattle Dog has is chase drive with a herding purpose. Bred to drive half-wild cattle across enormous Australian stations, this dog controls movement by pushing from behind and nipping heels — and it will try the same program on joggers, bikes, cars, other dogs and any pet that runs. Small animals…
Yes, for birds above all. The Irish Setter was bred to range ahead of the hunter, catch game scent on the wind and 'set' — freeze over hidden birds — and that bird-finding fire still defines the breed, field-bred lines running hotter than show lines. Garden birds and chickens will be chased with intent, though cats…
Yes — about as strong as prey drive gets. The German Shorthaired Pointer was built as an all-round gundog that finds, points and retrieves feather and fur on land and in water, and most pet GSPs still hunt with their whole heart: birds, rabbits and deer can pull them across country. Indoor cats they grow up with are…
Moderate, and it varies by individual. The Chow Chow began as an all-purpose working dog in China — hunter, herder and guard — so a hunting instinct exists in the breed's foundations, though many modern Chows watch squirrels with regal indifference and never give chase at all. The caution is about the ones who do: a…
Yes — the Shiba Inu is a genuine hunter. This ancient Japanese breed worked in steep mountain brush flushing birds and catching small game, and the modern Shiba keeps both the instinct and the independence that came with it. Recall is famously unreliable once a Shiba locks onto prey, so gardens need serious fencing…
Yes — do not let the size fool you. The Italian Greyhound is a true sighthound in miniature, bred to course small game by sight, and a fast-moving squirrel, rabbit or unfamiliar cat can switch on a full-speed chase that simply overrides training in the moment. Cats he lives with are normally treated as family, but…
No — the Bichon Frise is one of the lowest-prey-drive breeds you can choose. For centuries this little dog has been bred for one job only, companionship: sailors' pet, court favorite and circus performer, never a hunter. A Bichon may bounce after a butterfly or a wind-blown leaf for the fun of it, but there is no…
What looks like prey drive in a Shetland Sheepdog is usually herding instinct wearing a disguise. Shelties were bred on the Shetland Islands to gather sheep, and the chase you see — after bikes, joggers, other dogs, even running children — is an attempt to control movement, often finished with a circle or a nip at…
Yes — aimed squarely at rodents. The Miniature Schnauzer was bred down from a German farm dog whose living depended on clearing barns of rats, and that ratting instinct survives intact: mice, rats, squirrels and anything small that scurries can trigger a fast chase, a dig and a determined grab. Pet rodents and other…
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