[Nebraska]

My husband and I have a 12 year old male golden mix. His female companion passed away a year ago. Our youngest just went away to college and we work full time. He's been very lonely. Vet says despite some hip problems he's in remarkable shape. He's got some time left and we don't want him to spend it lonely. He loves other dogs and needs a friend. And though this sounds really selfish, we need another dog to help us emotionally when his time comes. I also like having a big dog around for security.

We found a 9 year old female lab mix that we really like. The woman she belonged to died in a car accident about a year ago, that's all we know about her past. She's a bit shy but once she decided we were okay she was extremely loving. She came to our house for a "home visit". Our dog got way too excited and happy. He was all over her sniffing and licking. She got pretty defensive. Not aggressive per se, she let him take the toys, but she's definitely not shy about saying "get your nose out of my backside or else". Showing her teeth and acting like she was gonna bite him. After about an hour he calmed down and she did too. Though she didn't show much interest in him.

My husband and I both fell in love with her, but we're concerned as to weather or not she and our dog would be friends. She currently lives in a foster home with 3 other dogs and from what we are told they all get along fine. Our lonely boy just needs someone to curl up with while we're at work.

I take him to my brother's house pretty often where they have a female collie/husky mix. They get along okay, but it's kind of the same thing. She growls and even snaps at him when he sniffs her. Is that fairly typical behavior? Our other dog wasn't like that, but they grew up together. Is this to be expected bringing a new dog in to the home? Not sure what to do.

Grateful for any thought or ideas on our situation.

 

[Amaryllis]

Sounds like your dog is rude from a dog's point of view. His companion didn't know any better and let him get away with it, other dogs aren't. There's probably little you can do about his dog manners at this point, but if he calms down and gets more polite after an hour, he might be okay.

I would suggest that you ask if you can foster the lab mix for a few weeks to see if the two can learn to like each other. If it works, great, if it doesn't, you try again with another dog.

 

[sscott87]

^^^Yep, yep. At his age, he's definitely set in his ways so while the other buddy had been around all that time and was just used to whatever their relationship was, another will take a little time. I'd say that'd be your best bet for certain, if ya'll like the lab that much and could possibly take her in for a week as a trial.

 

[Goldens&Labs4Me]

Agree as well. The fostering idea is excellent and would give you all some time to make sure things will be 'ok' before committing to that certain dog.

Best of luck to you all.

 

[Fade]

From my experience ( and i am partial ) Basset hounds make super companion dogs for a lot of the sensitive situations. Most dogs seem at ease around them because of their slow and neutral personalities and lets face it they are not very threatening. There are a lot of basset rescues too. I love this breed because of their quality to get along with EVERYTHING. and they are durable with all sizes of dogs. Basset hounds are between 60-75 lbs a female can be 45-55 lbs. very sturdy. another good quality about them is they don't overwhelm older dogs because after puppy hood a basset does whatever everyone around him does. So if older dog wants to play he will play, if older dog wants to sleep , basset will sleep. Amazing dogs I recommend them to everyone. But even though people think bassets are lazy they are a hound dog so they have stamina when needed and do enjoy walks and rumping around at the park. They equally enjoy sleeping all day but then they get fat =-)