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I adopted my current dog, Kaylee, from a rescue in July of 2011. She is an Aussie mix and my absolute heart dog. My husband calls her my Siamese twin and it's true...she is a total velcro dog. She has excellent manners after MUCH training together with me...it took me several months to housebreak her, leash train her and command train her. She is pretty much the perfect dog at this point, and I must say I have totally fallen in love with Aussies during this time. The one thing that Kaylee has not been able to get past is her timid nature around strangers. I take her everywhere with me and she has gotten slightly better but she still walks around with her tail down and hides behind me when approached by a stranger. She is not aggressive at all, she has never even growled let alone bitten someone, but she is just very timid. This has been a disappointment for me because I always dreamed of training a dog to be a therapy dog and work with me at our local children's hospital. I don't think that's possible with Kaylee because she is so timid due to prior abuse and neglect. If only she could be the way she is with me with EVERYONE...but I don't know if we will ever get to that point.
Thus, I have considered adding a second dog to our family. I am not totally sold on the idea yet, however. First of all, my main concern is that Kaylee gets 100% of my attention right now and I am worried that she would become depressed & might regress with another dog around. However, she does well with other dogs and shows exuberance and playfulness when she sees dogs on our daily walks. Who knows, they could become best friends...but it is still a concern for me that she would become jealous! I know that might sound ridiculous, but she means the world to me and I feel guilty about the possibility of disrupting our happy home!
I am also worried about how often a puppy would need to go outside to do its business. Currently I have Kaylee on a schedule...she goes out at 6am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. 6am, 3pm and 6pm are all half-hour walks and the other times she is let out in the back yard with supervision. I have heard of puppies needing to go out every half hour in some cases...it's been awhile since I had a puppy and my last puppy basically house-trained himself because he followed what my older dog did. Maybe that could happen again? Of course, I know I can't count on it. I have considered adopting another adult dog but I am worried that the dog won't be as trainable (as Kaylee had that problem) and I am also worried that Kaylee wouldn't be nearly as accepting of an older dog. I guess I want a dog from a puppy to "mold" it with training but I know that every dog has its own personality and perhaps I could find an older dog who would fit what I am looking for...
I'm not really sure what advice I am looking for. Maybe just prior experiences from other members in regards to adding a second dog to the family. As I said I am not at all "sold" on this idea and I need to really give it a lot of consideration. Finances and time are not a concern at all for me...just logistics of the happy balance I have created in my home. I have signed Kaylee & I up for another obedience class and I am still hoping she can come out of her shell, but I don't know if that will ever happen to the extent it will be necessary for in regards to becoming a therapy or service dog.
Thanks in advance for any responses!
Thus, I have considered adding a second dog to our family. I am not totally sold on the idea yet, however. First of all, my main concern is that Kaylee gets 100% of my attention right now and I am worried that she would become depressed & might regress with another dog around. However, she does well with other dogs and shows exuberance and playfulness when she sees dogs on our daily walks. Who knows, they could become best friends...but it is still a concern for me that she would become jealous! I know that might sound ridiculous, but she means the world to me and I feel guilty about the possibility of disrupting our happy home!
I am also worried about how often a puppy would need to go outside to do its business. Currently I have Kaylee on a schedule...she goes out at 6am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. 6am, 3pm and 6pm are all half-hour walks and the other times she is let out in the back yard with supervision. I have heard of puppies needing to go out every half hour in some cases...it's been awhile since I had a puppy and my last puppy basically house-trained himself because he followed what my older dog did. Maybe that could happen again? Of course, I know I can't count on it. I have considered adopting another adult dog but I am worried that the dog won't be as trainable (as Kaylee had that problem) and I am also worried that Kaylee wouldn't be nearly as accepting of an older dog. I guess I want a dog from a puppy to "mold" it with training but I know that every dog has its own personality and perhaps I could find an older dog who would fit what I am looking for...
I'm not really sure what advice I am looking for. Maybe just prior experiences from other members in regards to adding a second dog to the family. As I said I am not at all "sold" on this idea and I need to really give it a lot of consideration. Finances and time are not a concern at all for me...just logistics of the happy balance I have created in my home. I have signed Kaylee & I up for another obedience class and I am still hoping she can come out of her shell, but I don't know if that will ever happen to the extent it will be necessary for in regards to becoming a therapy or service dog.
Thanks in advance for any responses!