Considering a second dog? Pros and Cons (border collie, lab, poodle)

[Me 82]

Curious why many of you added a second dog to your family?

We have an 8 year old toy poodle. A TOTAL momma's boy, adores only me pretty much, lap dog, won't eat when when I leave him type of dog. He is rather friendly with other dogs, BUT when I had my first daughter, he literally went into a complete depression or some sort. He would just lay in his bed all day, besides eating, and going for walks, and wanted nothing to do with me or my DH or the baby. Not sure if it was some sort of jealousy issue, but by the time she was crawling, walking, he starting acting "normal"again. So I'm wondering how he will feel about another dog being added to the family.

Anyone care to share their experiences? Was the dog accepting of him/her? I mean, he's been my only son for 8 years lol

[shadowfax]

when I decided to get a second dog it was because my life had changed and I was not able to take my first dog with me everywhere anymore and I was away from home more. She hated being left home alone and I decided she needed another canine companion.

I took her with me to the shelter and asked them to allow her to meet the dogs I though she might be okay with and that I liked. She picked her new best friend herself. The two of them were never apart for the next 14 years. When my firwst passed away this spring the other followed her actross thactrosse rainbow bridge only 6 weeks later.

Having two isn't that much harder than having one really. It costs more in vet bills and good but not really much more work. I had no regrets.

[lkb0714]

Dogs with attachment issues frequently don't reap the benefits of having a second dog around.

[Crazy4Chickens]

We were given an older Dalmation dog from a family member. She was probably eight or so when she was given to us. She was in a situation where if we didn't take her in, the family member was going to take her to the pound, for no fault of her own. She came to us and we got her tick-free and gave her a good home.

We decided to add a golden retriever puppy to our household. We introduced the pup to our Dalmation and they were fast friends, in fact having the puppy seemed to pep up our Dalmation. They would play together and rough house around outside. It gave our older dog some life again. Sadly after a year or two our Dalmation became very sick and had to be put down. We took it verybhard, but not as hard as our Golden did. She was clearly depressed and missed her friend.

Within a few months we got a new Saint Bernard puppy. The Golden had no issues with this new puppy, and they would play together for hours. They would curl up by each other, and sleep. They would run around in the wading pool together. They had a special bond. Two years ago our Saint Bernard who was almost seven became very ill, we tried to save her, but we weren't able to, her quality of life became so poor that putting her down was the right thing to do. It broke our hearts, and of course our Golden was so sad once again. Her buddy was gone.

Now our Golden is nearly ten. We thought about getting another dog, because it does bring them so much joy, but then we'd restart the cycle again, of losing one, and then needing a new friend all over again. Instead the golden lives inside with us and we give her lots and lots of attention and love. It's not the same I'm sure, but we do our best.

I think that dogs are great in pairs, but you run the risk of having one die much earlier than the other. That got tricky for us. I think if you go with a.puppy your older dog will accept it, I'm not sure about if you got a regular dog. It probably depends on their breeds and temperament too. Good luck!

[OttoR]

I have always had one dog at a time, except for fosters and/or dogs I had for training. I decided to add a second dog because I wanted another dog to compete with. I started the process 4-5 years ago, toying with breed ideas, meeting dogs of the breed etc. After I landed on a breed, it took over a year to get a puppy. When the call came that there was a puppy available if I wanted it, the timing wasn't great but I knew it may be another year before I got offered another. I love my second dog, she is such a character, but man, TWO dogs is SO much more work than one - well, duh, I guess twice the work. It takes a LOT of work to raise a puppy into a great dog. To be honest, I often regret adding the second dog. She's fun but let's just say "very enthusiastic about life"! I miss how easy it was with one middle-aged, well-trained, super laid back dog that I could take anywhere! Everyone wants to keep him if I travel and if needed, I can shove him under the seat on the plane. He's been to 6 different countries; he just rolls with the flow and isn't bothered by anything. The second dog is very sensitive and doesn't handle change in routine well. She gets an upset stomach, gets anxious and clingy, and goes off her food. She is too high energy for anyone to volunteer to keep for me and it's now made it extremely difficult to find rental housing with two dogs. I finally found a place that despite being a "no pets" rental, selected me after I listed my dogs' credentials.

I would have opted for an older puppy or adult dog, a breeder return or retired show dog, but the breed I selected is known for DA. I don't mind that in general as I walk my dogs on a leash and train them to behave and I don't really do dog parks or group play things. But I had to get a puppy to be raised along side my dog. She's actually really good and gets along great with other dogs, unless they start trash talking her. When that happens, she fires up and says "oh HELL no - you're not talking to ME that way"! I wanted a dog with a strong personality, super friendly, and more challenging for competition obedience. She's all that and then some (well, she hasn't been too challenging, she's actually super smart and has a good work ethic), but man, she is a lot of work. I love her but if I could go back in time, I probably would stick with one dog.

[gouligann]

We got a lab when we first got married. When she passed on at 14 years old, we got another. After we were given a 4 year old Irish Setter from a couple who couldn't take her with them when they were moving, we've never been without two dogs. Two is just as easy as one and most time a lot more FUN watching them play and interact. We now own two toy breed dogs and they are so fun.

We've always had females, all spayed and after the initial adjustment period of establishing who is boss, we've never had a problem. When one passed, after the mourning was a bit better, we'd start looking for another.

I don't think we'll ever be without at least one dog and if our lifestyle wasn't so busy camping and traveling, I'd want more than two.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I would never do it. I actually knew that I never wanted to have more than one child, because I didn't want to deal with sibling rivalry. I was the oldest of four kids. And I babysat and became a nanny - I was well aware of the dynamics within a family with regard to siblings. I made the conscious choice to never have to deal with it.

When there are more than one dog in a household, what owners don't realize is that they are not company for each other when you aren't there. When I've housesat for people with multiple dogs, what I saw was that each dog had his/her own chair or place they took over - while waiting for the humans to come home. They did not interact with each other. They didn't snuggle together. They simply held their ground in what they had mapped out as their territory, and simply waited for the human to come home.

And then, of course, when the human does come home, they vie for the human's attention.

So, you have to look at why you would add another dog to your home. If it's to make your current dog happy, I don't think it will. If it's to make yourself feel better for whatever reason, I don't think it will. Having more than one dog doubles your responsibilities regarding walking, vet bills, food, cleaning their poop, etc.

I just honestly don't see any upside to having more than one dog. FWIW.

[bassetluv]

When my last dog turned 13, I began considering a second dog. The main reason was because I was so attached to my older dog that I felt it would be incredibly difficult to get another dog after her passing - which I knew I'd be facing in the not-so-distant future - and felt that by bringing a new dog in while Kaya was still around would help me to adjust once it was her time to go.

I sat on this for almost a year, wondering if it would be the right thing to do, given Kaya's age, and the fact that she was not one who got along with other dogs very well. She and my sister's dog hit it off, but for any other canine, she was standoffish, and would bite if one got too close. At any rate, after sitting on it for a year, and during that time researched the type of dog I did want to add to my family - a border collie - I finally broke down and got a pup. He was 9 weeks old when I brought him home, and the first thing I did when I walked into the house with him was to tell Kaya, 'I got you a present, Kaya!' (which she always associated with something good) and showed her the pup, but didn't allow her to come too close to him. Kaya, needless to say, wasn't all that impressed.

However, she understood right from the start that she wasn't allowed to touch Izzy, or to bare teeth, snarl, or in any other way show aggression. So for a couple of weeks it was a matter of me allowing Izzy to explore his new home, but at the same time, stopping him from getting into Kaya's space and annoying her. And the two of them very quickly became 'friends'; that is, Izzy adored Kaya and seemed to look at her as a surrogate mom, while Kaya put up with his puppyisms and learned to remove herself from the room if she couldn't tolerate him. The three of us went out daily, I gave lots of attention to both dogs (more to Kaya actually, as I felt she needed it during the adjustment period) and boundaries were established. Kaya eventually learned to like Izzy's presence when I wasn't there, and the two of them even played together when out in the yard.

At the end of the day, am I glad I decided to bring on another dog? Absolutely. Izzy wound up having some health issues in the beginning, which meant my vet bill skyrocketed for a few months, but other than that, we worked things out rather well. And when I did lose Kaya a year later, Izzy's presence helped me immensely in dealing with her loss...which truthfully, was the hardest thing I've ever been through in terms of losing a pet. And having the two of them together actually helped with Izzy's upbringing as well; he'd been separated from his mother at a very young age (2 weeks old, the mom got sick) and in introducing Izzy to Kaya, he began adopting some of her mannerisms, and he became braver just having her around.

So in my case, it was a win-win scenario.

[cleosmom]

Once we got our own house, we've always had two dogs. A suggestion, if your local rescue does fostering, see if you can become a foster to see how your Poodle interacts. Then you're not out re-homing if it doesn't work

[Ceira]

I adopted a 7 year old toy poodle 3 years ago. During her first year with me she never really warmed up to me or her new home. She came from a breeder's kennel and I think she missed the other dogs. 2 Years ago I had the opportunity to adopt one of her former kennel mates - another 7 year old poodle.

They recognized each other immediately and almost instantly Cleo came alive - she had a pal! They are completely bonded, sleep together, sit on "their" chair together, pee and poop together, bark in unison (!) and just love each other.
I'm glad I got the 2nd dog, but on the downside its very expensive - vet bills, flea treatments, grooming, dog sitting (while I'm on vacation) and I'm dreading the day when one of them dies.....