All in the Family

Crystal, her husband, and their three daughters share a home with three dogs. There's Valentine, a 9-year-old miniature rat terrier; Lula, a 4-year-old chihuahua; and Adobe, a 2-year-old Doberman. The senior of the pack has been with Crystal the longest. She describes Valentine as the neurotic one who loves Crystal, Crystal's middle daughter, tennis balls, and pine cones.

Although the three dogs get along great, Crystal explains that Valentine is the loner. Exhibiting a classic case of lap-dog-itis, Valentine prefers to be held like a baby or to hide beneath pillow flaps and blankets.

Although Lula is apprehensive about Adobe's size, they often play together, chasing and stalking each other in the house and backyard. Valentine fetches only her coveted tennis balls and pine cones and is otherwise uninterested in joining the two younger dogs in play. 

You'd think that with three dogs, one of them a Doberman, sleeping arrangements would be a bit of a nightmare. But it's not. All three dogs sleep indoors. Adobe sleeps between Crystal and her husband and has his own blanket, which is referred to as the "woobie." Valentine sleeps with Crystal's middle daughter, and Lula sleeps with Crystal's oldest daughter. 

But what about food and water stations? Surely the little dogs, especially neurotic Valentine, get territorial with their food and water bowls, right? Wrong! Crystal seems to have lucked out immensely with these three. She tells Training Humans:  

Feeding areas were easy to sort out. The dog bowls are all lined up and each dog knows which bowl is theirs. Valentine will actually bring her bowl to you when it is time to eat. Because it's easier on their digestive systems, we feed them three times a day. None of the dogs has an issue with humans being near them while they're eating. Lula is sneaky; she likes to wait for Adobe to get distracted and walk away from his bowl and tries eating his food. And he will growl at her if he catches her doing it, but there's no real outward aggression.

Crystal emphasizes that repetition is key. She set the rules and established a daily routine for the three dogs. And the dogs eased into that routine and learned to cooperate with one another. 

Toys are another matter. Because Adobe is so strong, he can easily chew apart toys, even tennis balls and Kongs. Of course this means he eats them. Therefore, Crystal limits the mischievous Doberman to rope toys and tugs. The other two dogs' toys are off limits. Don't think Adobe is the only troublemaker, though.

Lula prefers plush toys because she enjoys shaking them. Since her toys are off limits to Adobe, however, they are kept upstairs. So when Lula finds herself downstairs and really wants to shake something, she'll sneak away with one of Adobe's ropes. And that's not all. Lula waits until Adobe and Valentine aren't playing with their toys and then filches them, piles them in her little dog bed, and sits on them. 

Lula is the only one of the three that enjoys watching television. She particularly likes the Disney Channel, most notably the early morning cartoons. Adobe is more of an outdoors dog, so naturally he dabbles in rescue work. Adobe has found and brought home to Crystal a rare breed of woodpecker, a turtle that he sneaked into the house and cuddled with on the couch, and most recently, Walter. 

Walter fell out of his nest and Adobe answered the baby squirrel's cries in the family's backyard. Adobe brought him home, so Crystal had no choice but to nurse the baby squirrel and set him up in a cage, where he sleeps when he's not loose exploring or hanging out in the potted plant. 


How do the other dogs react to the little guy? Valentine seems mesmerized by him and stares at him in his cage for hours. Lula is only interested in picking up whatever food Walter drops. Poor Adobe simply wants to love his Walter and lick him, only to have Walter swat him on his nose.

Training Humans asked Crystal how she manages to give the three dogs equal time and whether it's impossible not to play favorites. 

We don't play favorites. We give them each one-on-one time doing the things we know each dog enjoys. We love them all equally and the dogs will snuggle with everyone. Sometimes it looks like I'm just a head on the sofa because they all lay on top of me, and it's a bit tricky to pet three dogs with two hands, but I manage. Adobe goes to the dog park, Valentine gets to go outside in the front yard and play kick the pine cone, and Lula likes playing tug and isn't shy about getting your attention when she's in the mood to play.

Crystal says she and the rest of her family are animal people. They don't see three dogs, a squirrel, and even a bird as too much to handle. Their living space accommodates all of them nicely.