Dogs offer so much by way of love, loyalty and companionship that it makes sense when owners want more than just one pet! While a multi-dog household means extra love, it also means more responsibility.

The more dogs that are in the home the harder that owners will have to work to ensure order and proper puppy etiquette. Otherwise, the alpha dog may be in charge of everything from meal times to who walks out the door first.

While the extra training may seem like a tough task, it’s important to remember that dogs are highly intelligent. This means that a little bit of patience and some training can go a long way to ensuring order in your house, no matter how many paws are running around!

8 tips for managing a multi-dog household 

The idea of training, playing with and exercising multiple dogs can feel a little overwhelming. To minimise the chaos of a multi-dog household, there are tips owners can employ to manage their pooches. 

1. Make the introduction count 

For those who are planning to introduce a new dog into the home, introductions matter. Dogs operate in a pack and each animal needs to work out their position in that pack. Sometimes this process might seem a little aggressive.  

With this in mind, have a plan in place for introducing your new pet to your existing pet. Have them meet in a neutral setting. Make sure to have boundaries in place so they have time to get to know each other but also enough time apart. The relationship will develop from there.

2. Basic commands are essential

For there to be any order in a multi-dog household each dog needs to understand and respond to basic commands. It’s also important to teach each dog to respond when their own perfectly chosen name is called. 

Start by teaching them their name, to sit, stay, drop and go. Basic commands form the foundation for completing daily activities with ease. When dogs sit and stay before you open the door, you reduce the risk of a fight or scramble for who goes out the door first. 

3. Exercise is key 

Dogs are incredibly intelligent creatures. This means that in order to feel content, they need everything from physical and mental enrichment to emotional enrichment. When managing a multi-dog household, exercise is key to tiring out your pooches. 

Exercise can take the form of playing with toys, walking around the neighbourhood, running on the sand or swimming in the ocean. To ensure that exercise doesn’t feel chaotic, it’s essential for pups to know basic commands. 

4. Have a relationship with each dog 

Each member of the pack assumes a different role. However, every dog needs a little love and attention from their owners. In households with three or even four dogs, this might seem like an uphill battle.

However, having a special relationship can be as simple as knowing that one dog likes to play tug of war whereas your other dog likes to go outside and have a game of catch with the tennis ball. 

5. Understand that dogs will be dogs 

When living in a multi-dog household it’s essential to realise that, at their core, dogs are animals. This means that there will be times when barking is incessant, rough play ensues and even a growl or two is heard. 

At the heart of this aggression is stress. To combat it, keep dogs in an environment that is calm, consistent and comfortable. Another technique is to keep an eye on them when they are playing, when it gets too rough, make them stop and they will soon adapt their behaviour.

6. Stay alert at feeding time 

Feeding time can prove difficult for households with multiple dogs. One great way to ensure that everyone has a safe and yummy meal is to feed dogs separately. Always make sure that every dog has their own bowl and a quiet place to eat. 

7. Keep hellos and goodbyes low key 

Leaving for work and returning home can be an event in a single dog household. Throw in another dog and it can be all out chaos. The best way to manage exiting and entering the home is to keep it low key.

Dogs feed off our emotions and will become excited when we get excited. To correct some bad habits, ignore your pups when you get home. Once they calm down feel free to engage with them and offer them a few pats. 

8. Get ready for bed

Bedtime can be quite a production in a multi-dog household. To ensure a peaceful rest, provide each dog with their own bed or crate. Pack rules dictate that personal space is respected.

Enjoying multi-dog ownership

One dog can provide so much love and joy to a household. Multiple dogs only increase the fun. While owners will need to engage in a bit of training and tough love, it won’t take long to effectively manage the pooches and in turn, enjoy all the benefits of dog ownership.

For decades the term luxury travel has conjured images characterised by opulence. Think lavish hotel suites. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. The most elite destinations in the world. 

However, in recent times there has been a real mindset shift.

Now luxury travel is less about things and more about the experiences one can have while on holiday. 

As a result, it is now easier than ever to infuse luxury travel with elements of sustainability. 

By approaching luxury travel with a sustainability mindset, you can enjoy wonderful experiences without causing long-term and potentially catastrophic environmental impacts.

Defining sustainable travel 

Sustainable travel is all about being informed and using that understanding to respect the local environment and community. Part of being informed is learning the true impact of travel on ecosystems. 

These impacts range from air pollution and social issues to harm caused to beaches, waterways, plants and animal species. 

By being informed of the impacts and how to mitigate them, all travellers can support and promote sustainability. Essentially a mindset shifts to inform changing actions, simple steps can go a long way towards helping environments heal and later, thrive. 

How to blend sustainability with luxury travel

Travel has quite significant impacts on the environment, therefore it would be easy to assume that sustainable travel methods must be large. However, there are both small and large steps travellers can take to be sustainable.

With a range of different ways to be sustainable while travelling, there is still room to infuse the trip with elements of luxury. Ensuring that you have the experience of a lifetime and leave as little negative impact on the environment as possible. 

Find the right place to stay 

Luxury travel is synonymous with five-star hotels. However, with the modern-day definition of luxury centering around amazing experiences, there are plenty of sustainable accommodation options.

When choosing a hotel, look for those that have green practices. These practices can be evident in everything from the toiletries to the minibar. Additionally, green hotels will often encourage residents not to request daily towel and sheet changes in order to save water. 

One of the great things about modern luxury travel is that there are more accommodation options than just hotels. In fact, travellers are increasingly looking for out-of-the-ordinary experiences such as camping. 

Be smart about plane travel

Luxury experiences can occur all over the world, in fact, there can be a luxury in your own backyard. With this in mind, consider a staycation. Explore close to home and do things out of the ordinary. 

If your plans involve taking pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower or touring the Acropolis, plane travel might be non-negotiable. However, it’s worth noting that aviation contributes to 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Therefore, it’s important to be smart about plane travel. Consider purchasing carbon credits to lessen the impact of your flight. Choose non-stop travel to reduce the need to stop and refuel in different cities. 

Travel clean

Travelling with sustainability at the fore can still be a luxurious experience. By instituting little changes, you can still enjoy 5-star meals and other indulgences while limiting your environmental impact. 

As such, pack your own supplies. These supplies range from sets of bamboo cutlery and cloth bags to stainless steel water bottles and travel-size bottles for toiletries. This way, you can limit the waste you leave behind. 

Plan a slow itinerary 

For some, a luxury holiday is all about doing as much as possible. However, a strenuous schedule can have environmental impacts. For example, consider the car miles and gas you will require in order to get from destination to destination. 

By planning a slow itinerary you have time to change travel vessels. With more time, you can choose to bike to a certain location. Rather than taking a taxi to the top of a mountain, you can take a hike and enjoy the surrounding sites. Just remember to keep safety at the fore.

Support the local economy 

For locals, one of the great things about being a tourist destination is the economic impact. With this in mind, there are sustainable ways that tourists can support the local economy. Namely, choosing tours and activities with a link to the local community.

Oftentimes park visits and museum tours have a donation and that donation is used to benefit the local people as well as the animals and the broader ecosystems. Staying local also reduces travel emissions and gives locals the chance to share their fresh produce and culture.  

Luxury, sustainable travel 

With luxury being looked upon in new and improved ways, luxury travel is no longer about spending money on things such as extravagant hotels, private planes or exclusive tours. In the modern day, luxury is all about the experiences one can have.

This change in mindset also makes it easier to employ sustainable travelling principles. By making both small and large changes to how and why you travel, you can ensure that your holiday is both luxurious and sustainable.

The not-for-profit industry aims to provide services to specific and even broad groups of people. As such, the processes and procedures involved with operating such an endeavour can be varied and complex. 

With a lot of scrutiny on this industry from both public and private entities, documents have to be filed and reports need to be created. However, this takes time. Time that can be often better spent out in the community providing charitable services.

Rather than making compromises, those in the not-for-profit space can introduce elements of automation to everyday processes and procedures. This helps make everything from record keeping to marketing easier. 

The case for automation in non profits 

Not-for-profit organisations are typically tasked with the impossible- maximising their impact all while operating with minimal resources. By introducing elements of automation into everyday operations, resources can be maximised. 

By making processes more efficient, those within the not-for-profit sector can complete routine tasks with ease. This leaves them with increased hours during the course of the day to focus on other important endeavours. 

Importantly, automation also helps provide documentation. When data entry is automated, accurate and transparent reports can be created. This helps the not-for-profit organisation to highlight the impact of things like donations. 

Not-for-profit functions that can be automated

There are numerous functions associated with not-for-profit organisations that can be automated. Think marketing, HR, report creation and even accounts payable. All of which helps your team maximise resources and strengthen outcomes. 

Tasks related to membership and volunteering

People are the beating heart of not-for-profit organisations. This is because the term people encompasses everyone from donors and members to volunteers and employees. As such, there is a lot of data collected. 

Rather than relying on hard copy documents to detail individual information and their relationship to the not-for-profit, turn to methods of automation, in particular, Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM). 

A CRM system provides the ability to perform actions relating to tracking communication and collecting data to assigning projects to certain individuals. Essentially providing a 360 degree overview of the people connected to your not-for-profit, data is easily accessed and stored.

Marketing campaigns

Marketing is more important and more involved than ever before. This is largely due to the fact that there are now so many channels to reach out to potential donors, members and volunteers. 

As such, the use of a variety of different channels can be consuming and ultimately, marketing can end up feeling quite generic rather than highly personalised. To help avoid this dilemma, automation elements such as machine learning can be used to schedule personalised messaging. 

Utilising personalised messaging is key. In the age of information, people are bombarded with an array of different things every few minutes. By sending an individual information targeted to their interests, they are more likely to engage. 

Managing events

Another key component of not-for-profit organisations is events. This is because events present as an opportunity to spread the message while also scouting for new and potential donors, all while potentially gathering media attention. 

An event management system encompasses everything from invitation distribution and event planning to volunteer management and event budgeting. By providing a one stop location for event information, organisation is made more effective and time efficiencies also improve. 

Staying on top of accounts

People trust not-for-profit organisations to take their donations and perform or fund a valuable function. As such, reports must be generated for the donor and later in the year, filed in accordance with the operating country’s laws. 

Yet, manually keeping track of everything from donations and gifts to income and expenditure can be quite time intensive. However, by installing an accounting system that can link with the CRM, accounting is seamless and financials can be accessed instantaneously. 

People management 

As previously mentioned, there are a lot of people involved with not-for-profit organisations. These people range from donors and members to employees and volunteers. As such, if a system is needed in order to keep track of members and workers, a system is needed to manage these individuals. 

For volunteers, this management could refer to assigning tasks. By introducing automation to these functions through for example, a Google calendar, tasks can be synced. Ensuring that events and other functions are always staffed. 

For employers operating under an award, employee management could refer to HR related functions such as payroll. With a HR management system, employees can easily log on, track pay packets, log paid leave or even track methods of performance seamlessly. 

How automation helps not-for-profit organisations

Not-for-profit employees and volunteers are tasked with completing numerous functions during the course of a day. These functions are often associated with record keeping and report generating. 

Typically time intensive tasks, completion of these duties takes away from the main aim of not-for-profits, providing assistance. In order to maximise effectiveness, methods of automation can be used. Helping not-for-profits focus on what really matters- helping people.

Pet owners have to make these decisions in order to provide pets with a solid foundation. However, not all of these choices are easy. In fact, a lot of them require research and contemplation.

One of the major choices is, of course, whether or not to sign up for pet insurance. Like anything in life, there are pros and cons associated with this decision. As such, owners will need to view the situation in context of their pet and what they think will be best.

Defining Pet Insurance

Much like health insurance for humans, pet insurance acts as a way to help manage costs associated with receiving medical treatment. Under a pet insurance policy, owners will pay a premium to receive a percentage of the cost back when their pet undergoes treatment.

With pet insurance, there are three main types of cover. Firstly, accidental. This will offer protection against accidental injuries such as bite wounds. Secondly, there is illness cover which will provide assistance if your pet needs treatment for illnesses like allergies or cancer.

Finally, pet insurance may also cover wellness. This essentially means that the policy will cover everything related to preventative care such as routine vet examinations, teeth cleaning, or vaccinations.

Pets & The Vet

When considering whether or not to obtain pet insurance, it’s important to understand the relationship between pets and the vet. This is because pets may attend the vet for a variety of reasons ranging from vaccinations and checkups to limping or bite wounds.

As such, it’s estimated that the average cost of treating a dog is $499 while the average cost for a cat is $499. Those with pet insurance will receive a percentage of this cost back while owners without pet insurance will be responsible for covering the full cost of treatment.

This is especially prudent when you consider that 82% of dogs require one or more visits to the vet every year. On the other hand, statistics show that 64% of cats need to see a vet at least once a year.

Pros Of Pet Insurance

As previously mentioned, pet insurance can help cover the cost of treatment. This is a great benefit as it means that you will not have to choose between covering the full cost of treatment or doing nothing at all. Pet insurance provides a safety net in terms of financials.

Another advantage is the fact that there are now more pet insurance providers than ever before. This means that policies are more fleshed out and prices are more competitive than a few years ago. Helping you save money on premiums.

When dealing with a pet who needs treatment, owners want the process to be as seamless as possible. With pet insurance, the claims process is quick and easy. Eliminating stress through the ability to lodge electronic claims and quickly be reimbursed.

Finally, a major pro of pet insurance is that you can choose your own vet. Insurers don’t have preferred suppliers and thus, you can continue going to a local and qualified vet and still receive the allocated reimbursements.

Cons Of Pet Insurance

While pet insurance can ensure that you are reimbursed anywhere between 70 to 90% of a vet’s overall bill, it is an expensive endeavor. This is because you will need to pay monthly premiums that will increase each year as your pet ages.

In addition to these policies being expensive, you will often find that some complaints are excluded from your policy. This will be particularly true if you signed your pet up for a policy later in life.

Finally, it’s important to note that, depending on your plan, you might be completely out of pocket when taking your pet for a routine check-up. This is because some plans exclude preventative care from their coverage.

Deciding If Pet Insurance Is Right For Your Pet

As pet owners, we make a variety of difficult decisions over the course of our pet’s life. One such decision is whether or not to obtain pet insurance. Offering peace of mind should something go wrong, pet insurance can help us take care of our pets.

Importantly pet insurance does this while lessening the upfront burden of paying for treatment. For some people, paying monthly premiums in order to get money back when treatment is needed makes financial sense.

For other pet owners, paying upfront for treatment also works. At the end of the day, making the right decision centres around whether or not it will help or hinder the care you can provide to your furry friend.