[OwnedByJezebel]

Dogs are pack animals. They long to stay with their pack.

Have you ever seen a dog play in the water, get out, and then run over to their human and shake the water all over them while the human is trying to get away from the water that is going all over the place?

What is going on is that the dog has two competing "instincts" or "needs" --- to get the water off of them and to get back to the pack. Their need to get back to the pack is stronger than their desire to shake off the water. So they rejoin the pack and then shake water all over them.

For this reason, I don't want my dogs to be alone. I know some dogs do just fine alone, but others have separation anxiety, but normally they do have a need to be with their pack.

Another reason I want more than two dogs is that dog-to-dog interaction is good for them. (Yes, I know there are dogs that would much rather be in a one dog house as well as dogs that are dog aggressive and need to be in one-dog households, I'm not talking about those). But for the friendly, well-socialized dog, they really need outlets to be around other dogs. It could be by having more than one dog in the house, or going to dog meet-ups or the dog park, etc. I sometimes wonder if we humans (innocently, without realizing it) try to make them into something too human. When they have access to other dogs, it really allows them to just "be a dog," and participate in and celebrate their own canine world ... an outlet outside of adapting to the human world and back to their roots, so to speak.