[Mustang13]

My wife and I keep going back and forth on the notion of gettting a second dog. One day yes, one day its "maybe we shouldn't". But that doesn't stop us from visiting our local SPCA everyother day. We keep saying that their is no way we could possibly find a dog that matches our current dogs love and devotion. This helped when going to the SPCA because we can be very picky with our decision.
Well, saturday I found a 10mos old pointer/pit bull terrier who is the cutest thing ever and unlike the other dogs we have recently visited with, we had a nice connection. So we put her on hold until tomorrow when we can bring our german wirehaired pointer/lab back to visit to see how they get along.

So thats the background story. My question is- How much will things change at home? I'm pretty aware of all the usual pros and cons of owning a 2nd dog, but how much will our current dog change? I don't want to lose what we have and our little routines and such......Will most of that stuff vanish when she has a new playmate?
I would hate to lose my buddy.....I think we would rather keep "our only child" and spoil her rotten. On the other hand, having another dog would make a nice playmate for our current.

Sorry this is long winded. Any insite or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[InverseLogic]

When I brought Atlas home after having Ringo for 3 years, Ringo didn't change a bit. He's his same old self, but now with even more exercise. Those two will wrestle and play for quite a while.

Keep in mind that you shouldn't refer to this new dog as a "playmate for your current dog". This will be another equally important member of your family.

[LucyGoosy]

Having two dogs at the same time and is more work than one--it's so easy to pack up stuff for one dog and load it into the car for a day trip, or just basically have to deal with one dog.

THAT SAID ... after having 2 dogs at the same time in the past and deciding to try to go with a solo dog with my next one after my two collies passed away last summer, I found Lucy (Australian Shepherd mix) at a shelter in January. She was not all that into other dogs at training classes and didn't like the chaos of all the dogs around her at dog day care (we didn't continue because she just didn't enjoy it. I thought she would be fine as an only dog. And, she probably would have been if I didn't have to go to work every day or do other things. She wanted me around all the time. The time I was home, she'd pester me to play most of the time. She was bored and I was her only entertainment.

I toyed with the idea of getting a second dog for months, primarily as a playmate for her--I don't mind saying that's the primary reason I did end up looking for another one--but, of course, it ends up being much more than that. I finally decided to start looking and visited a couple of shelters with Lucy, so she could get to meet the new prospect. She didn't really like any of the adult dogs that I liked--they were "OK" but she didn't seem to really take to any of them.

On my way back from a dog hunting trip at the shelter, I saw a sign "puppies for sale" and some puppies hanging out in someone's front yard. I stopped, not intending to buy one, but just to look--who can resist looking at and playing with cute puppies.

Well, I ended up buying one--an Australian Shepherd blue merle little girl. She is so sweet and had added to my and Lucy's life SO much. I've had her about a month. Heidi puppy is adorable! Lucy loves playing with her; I love having a cute puppy to play with and cuddle--she's so soft!

The best thing to come out of this is Lucy is SO much more content and happy now. She has her moments when I can tell she would rather that the puppy not be here to scarf up some of the attention that used to be all her's. But, the advantages for us outweigh the disadvantages--both for me and Lucy.

Lucy is still her usual self (she hasn't changed at all--people are still number one for her), but she is more "settled" acting and more content. She and Heidi play a lot and it really has helped Lucy with her attention seeking behaviors. She just acts happier--like she has a job to do--keeping that puppy in line and someone to play with

It IS more work to care for two dogs. I'm going through housetraining again, which I haven't had to deal with in many years. Lucy was housetrained-delux when she came home from the shelter. But in the end, I'm SO glad I decided to get another dog (puppy in my case)--both for Lucy *AND* for me. It's so much fun to have two dogs again. I'm glad I did it.

[Lonewolfblue]

Yup, it is a little more work, but it can also be enjoyable as well. When I got my Nell, Betty didn't change much at all except to maybe being a little more protective, now that she has 2 in the pack to protect. But that's your typical Cattle Dog. Other than that, I'm really glad I got Nell. She's a great dog, and looking forward to working more with her, as we go through Obedience training.

[Mustang13]

Inverselogic- I totally agree. It's insensitive to say and refer to her as a playmate, but ultimately like Lucy said, that was our primary goal at first.
Of course when/if she does join our family, she will definitely become more than just a mate for our dog.
My only worry is how to equally distribute my attention between the two.

Our Daisy acts as though she is always unsettled and is constantly seeking attention. Wirehaired pointers are truly tireless dogs for even the most active families. I take her out on my bike as she runs alongside, and I swear she could probably just run for miles and miles much after i'm done.

I feel blessed to have Daisy. I guess my only concern was ruining what we currently have. Almost like- just be happy with what I have and let things be. However, at the same time, I think Daisy would really benefit from having the extra playtime. I guess tomorrow at the meeting, Daisy will be the judge.
This might even turn out that they don't hit it off......who knows.
I guess the "ball" is in her court.

Thanks for the input so far......I would love to hear more stories.

[BobSD]

I am sure if you have the knowlege and patients you can get an adult dog and things would work out fine. But we decided to get a pup, and the minute we brought the pup home the male felt he must protect the pup, checked on her every few minutes, and when ever she starts barking he comes running to see if all is ok. Now they are both adults and she knows how much he loves her so she actually takes advantage of the fact. It is so funny that these two lives came together. When one has to go to the vet for something the other must come for moral support! Your life will change also, vets bills can be more,two food bowls needed, more poop to clean, just think every thing will double, but so will the benifits. Let us know what you do and how it goes! We used a crate for her while house braking, and brought the crate in the bedroom at night and she never cried! Her name is Champagne, and the male is Scotch.

[Shaina]

My advice: know your current dog and have any and all bad habits dealt with before adding to your family. You don't want to still be working on your current dog's manners when dealing with changing dynamics, especially since your new dog may pick up on those bad habits and then you'll have double the trouble. That isn't to say that your current dog has to be perfect...there's always more things we want to teach our dogs, but in terms of daily life and manners...you want your first dog solid.

Make sure to introduce your dogs slowly and on neutral territory, and to give them frequent breaks from one another at first as they establish their relationship. Don't leave them together unattended.

Make individual time for each dog -- this is the big thing that will help ensure your relationship with your first dog isn't negatively affected by the new dog. This time should be spent doing something fun -- training, walking, exploring, playing, or just hanging out -- whatever it is you guys like to do together. This way your relationship has a chance to rejuvenate (so to speak), and your dogs get a break from each other at the same time. On the flip side, this will help you develop a relationship with your new dog that's independent of your first dog.

[melgrj7]

I find having 2 dogs a lot more work than one, but I love our 2. I don't think i will ever be a single dog owner again. I do wish we could have waited a little longer before adding a second dog though. We hadn't had Lloyd for a year yet, but we had to take Allie with the way the situation was. I would have rather waited probably another 6 months to a year before having another dog, as Lloyd would have been more of an adult and had more training done. Lloyd went through a little period of screw you guys I can play with the other dog now! But that didn't last long, only a few weeks then he went back to adoring us.

What I find a lot of work is making seperate time for both of them. I don't want my dogs to be so dependant on each other that I can't take one somewhere without the other freaking out. So, I work hard to prevent that. I take them each on a short walk singly every day, they go out to potty singly at least once a day (we live in an apartment and have to walk them out on a leash). They go to seperate obedience classes and each get a trip alone twice a week (to a petstore, park or someone's house). I also make sure they get their most exciting things from me (well us) and not each other. Like Lloyd loves balls and to play tug. So all balls and tug toys are kept up and only come out when we are going to play with them with him. Him and Allie don't get to play with balls and tug toys together. Allie we don't really have to work at keeping us fun as much as she is a real people dog, but we still make sure we do lots of fun stuff with her as well.

It is also a new thing with training two of them. Making more time daily to work with them singly, but also training them together to behave. Lloyd has a habit now of trying to get Allie to play whenever he gets excited, he will start grabbing her ears and hitting her with his paws. He gets so into trying to play he ignores us. So we have been working on that a lot. Adding the second dog changes all of his previously "known" manners as the situation is now different. So we have been having to retrain manners as a pair.

What I love about having 2 dogs is that they can play with each other. I always felt like Lloyd never was satisified in the play arena. He constantly wanted to play with us, but we aren't dogs and can't play like dogs. He seems more satisified in general now. Its also twice the love, twice the cuddles, twice the fun. Everything I like about having a dog is double now

If you have a real solid relationship with your first dog, have all behavior problems worked out and solid training then go for it! If there are still things that need working out in behavior or training, I would wait.

[rosemaryninja]

You've received some excellent advice from the other posters, but I just wanted to add something: two dogs are more time and effort than twice that of one dog. But they're also more fun and joy than twice that of one dog.

[Mustang13]

Wow. Some really nice advice. Thank you so much. A lot of which I was hoping to hear.

All the behavioral things are worked out with our first and she is an absolute gem of a dog (she goes to bed when we sit down for dinner without even being told, which I think is just great).

The meeting between the two went wonderful today!! They really hit it off,
and the staff at the shelter agreed. So......we are the proud owner of our new girl, whom we pick up wednesday after her spaying.

Can't wait! I'll post pics when we get her. And thanks again to everyone that replied. Big help.