The rewards in doing this far out way the extra commitment of time and energy - trust me!! When five dogs a head of them are charging out into traffic and you call your dogs back, you want them to know that you are more important not the other five dogs they were following. You want your dogs to be taking all of their cues from you not from each other - or another dog for that matter. Shelby is always better by himself even today with obedience activities like "heel walking". Do - Quickly I saw my error and put in the extra time to train them separately.They started depending and looking to each other instead of me. It saved time, it was easier for me, it seemed to be good for them, but don't be fooled like I was. Don't - Initially I worked with the dogs together a lot.Sometimes when Shelby's extra tired he'll put himself to bed - it's the cutest thing. A simple "Go to your crates" tucks them in at night. They are still crated at night even now, except now as they no longer whine at night their crates sit at the far end of our bedroom.
![martingale collar the artful canine martingale collar the artful canine](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-gjzevo/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/335/1250/M099-plaid-matingale-collar-macdonald-tartan__59025.1524866099.jpg)
We kept them in the same room but put a visual barrier between the crates. Do - By 10 weeks old they were in two separate crates.Not to mention that the racket they could make together was not conducive to a good nights sleep at 4am in the morning. Don't - We thought that at 8 weeks old they should be in the same crate together, but soon found that the scars from them chewing on each other were not a good thing.
![martingale collar the artful canine martingale collar the artful canine](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61IM6zmEU5L._AC_SL1000_.jpg)
It gave them a safe place to be at night, a place they couldn't get into trouble, a place they could relax for a "time out" when they needed it.
![martingale collar the artful canine martingale collar the artful canine](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-gjzevo/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/213/1158/menzies-plaid-martingale-dog-collar-black-white-2018__45837.1516064496.jpg)
The rest has been hard work with many fun and rewarding moments. I mentioned before that, over the course of the past 15 months, I have been blessed with my fair share of " dumb luck" saves.