In another thread I mentioned the possiblity of sending a Dog away whilst the other was having a litter and it was mentioned because the bitches were fighting anyway I offered it as a safe solution as I have had to do here myself in the past,although my suggestion was , I must say also without the knowledge as to the breed of dog as it wasnt disclosed at first I was using my own breed labradors as an example which is a fair size of dog I suppose its easier to separate small dogs in a household.....Anyway my question is
What are others views on dogs being split up and having to then come back into the Pack?.
I sometimes have to split my dogs up as I keep one young male one elderly male and two females so have to split them when in season etc and even though we do have a resonable bit of room here its a pain to keep them apart within the household/yard/garden etc...My solution in recent years is to use a boarding kennel my current young dogs sadly are there at the moment as there are renovations being done here and the house is upside down workmen in and out of doors so they have only gone for a few days till the worst is over then I will re Introduce them back with the two oldies that are still here I have never had a problem doing this if its done sensibly.
Also when we take dogs to shows even though they are only away a day there is still to some attempt at pack shuffling going on when they come back even if they have only been away a day but they soon settle back .
How do others cope in multi dog households?

Some years ago, when I only had 3 bitches, I took two of them with me when I went to stay with Mother and her (entire) male, and left husband at home with bitch-in-season....when we got home a few days later the stay-at-home had become very territorial and had to be gated away from the others for a day before she would mix safely with them (hormones and all that I suppose) then she was back in her place.

With the ones I have now, the two males jostle for position in the pack...they are very close, but if one gets taken out without the other, to a show, or the vet, there's a certain amount of posturing when they meet again. This is one reason why I won't use boarding kennels - nowhere has room for 4 dals in together, and I don't want them separated for this very reason.

I'm lucky that the Boarding kennel I use has some big kennels and runs so its ok I dont like my dogs going away at all im really missing them at the moment beiginning to wish we hadnt bothered with a new kitchen. :( :(
normally they go everywhere with us even in our caravan which we tend to use a lot in summer.
Do you think hormones are the problem then? the only time we have had trouble with the bitches is when they are in season or pregnant.

On the few occasions we have had a serious fight has always been between bitches and when one was either in season or came in very soon afterwards, within a few days. I am sure "hormones" have a lot to do with it. Its usually when the lower pecking order bitches are in season and then the alpha bitch has a go. The jealousy thing, I think is not too bad with me as my male lives in the house, I think a male around makes the bitches behave worse!!
The only times I seperate mine are: when they are in season, my "kennel" dogs (4) usually share in pairs but when one is in season they are moved to a spare, right next to their usual companion so they are not lonely. I have 2 house dogs, a dog and bitch and when she is in season he goes down to live in the kennel for the duration, with or next to a "friend", he doesn't seem to mind except for the few days he knows she is dead right. When she has finished they have a very happy reunion.
I haven't had probs on returning from days out with one , just the other dogs sniff us wildly to smell where we have been.
My biggest worry is introducing a puppy I have kept on, to the main bunch - though nothing has ever gone wrong my heart is always in my mouth in case the pup pushes that little bit too much and gets too much of a telling off .