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Hello, I just joined this forum and am hoping for a little bit of advice from some experienced dog owners.
My wife and I adopted our first dog about a month ago. He is a 1 year old Lab Mix (not sure what he is mixed with but suspect it is German Shepherd.) He has been a GREAT dog. VERY VERY smart and is catching on to everything very well. We got very lucky in getting such a great boy from our local shelter.
Right now I do most of the training and walking with our dog. My wife is wanting another dog that she can work with and train and have a dog to walk with us. She is also wanting a much smaller dog that she could hold and cuddle with a lot. Should we have any concerns about adding another dog to the family after just getting our first dog a month ago?
I have a few concerns of this affecting the smoothness of the training we have been experiencing with our current dog. We got very lucky with our first dog and I am afraid we will not get that lucky twice in a row.
The shelter we have in our town is a very nice facility and a good core of workers and volunteers that make sure the dogs get as much exercise as they are able to. Every dog gets two walks a day and they are all fed science diet dog food. This is the shelter we got our dog from a month ago. Last weekend we went to a shelter in another town. We had never been to this shelter before and the facilities made me want to leave as soon as we got there. They have pins inside and outside. The dogs NEVER get a walk and are fed whatever random food the shelter happens to get donated from wal-mart or farm and home and they are only fed once a day. There were probably close to a hundred dogs in this place and most pins had 2 dogs in them. It was a very sad place to be in.
However, while we were there we met a cute little girl that we feel may be a good fit for us if we decide to get another dog. They said that animal control picked her up off the streets so they do not know much about her. They said she was a terrier mix. However, she had a curly tail that sat up on her back. So we are thinking it is probably more likely a chihuahua mix. She has only been there for 3 days. However, the shelter did not even have a room or play area where we could really spend time with the little girl. They do not do day visits so we can get to know her better either. I am also concerned about health issues as I dont really trust the people running the shelter she is in now.
All of this only makes are decision tougher and I am not really sure where to go to from here. I am planning on contacting our local shelter and see if there is a way to transfer some of the dogs or at least the dog we are looking at to our local shelter. I dont know if this is possible or not. I wish I could get all of the dogs out of that hell hole. but I guess being in there is still better than being on the streets.
We really want to get that little girl out of there even if we have to pay the adoption fee and take her to a better shelter. It would be better than leaving her where she is.
Any input on any of this would be greatly appreciated. Like I said I am not sure what to do next and could use some advice from people that have been there before.
Thanks for help in advance!
My wife and I adopted our first dog about a month ago. He is a 1 year old Lab Mix (not sure what he is mixed with but suspect it is German Shepherd.) He has been a GREAT dog. VERY VERY smart and is catching on to everything very well. We got very lucky in getting such a great boy from our local shelter.
Right now I do most of the training and walking with our dog. My wife is wanting another dog that she can work with and train and have a dog to walk with us. She is also wanting a much smaller dog that she could hold and cuddle with a lot. Should we have any concerns about adding another dog to the family after just getting our first dog a month ago?
I have a few concerns of this affecting the smoothness of the training we have been experiencing with our current dog. We got very lucky with our first dog and I am afraid we will not get that lucky twice in a row.
The shelter we have in our town is a very nice facility and a good core of workers and volunteers that make sure the dogs get as much exercise as they are able to. Every dog gets two walks a day and they are all fed science diet dog food. This is the shelter we got our dog from a month ago. Last weekend we went to a shelter in another town. We had never been to this shelter before and the facilities made me want to leave as soon as we got there. They have pins inside and outside. The dogs NEVER get a walk and are fed whatever random food the shelter happens to get donated from wal-mart or farm and home and they are only fed once a day. There were probably close to a hundred dogs in this place and most pins had 2 dogs in them. It was a very sad place to be in.
However, while we were there we met a cute little girl that we feel may be a good fit for us if we decide to get another dog. They said that animal control picked her up off the streets so they do not know much about her. They said she was a terrier mix. However, she had a curly tail that sat up on her back. So we are thinking it is probably more likely a chihuahua mix. She has only been there for 3 days. However, the shelter did not even have a room or play area where we could really spend time with the little girl. They do not do day visits so we can get to know her better either. I am also concerned about health issues as I dont really trust the people running the shelter she is in now.
All of this only makes are decision tougher and I am not really sure where to go to from here. I am planning on contacting our local shelter and see if there is a way to transfer some of the dogs or at least the dog we are looking at to our local shelter. I dont know if this is possible or not. I wish I could get all of the dogs out of that hell hole. but I guess being in there is still better than being on the streets.
We really want to get that little girl out of there even if we have to pay the adoption fee and take her to a better shelter. It would be better than leaving her where she is.
Any input on any of this would be greatly appreciated. Like I said I am not sure what to do next and could use some advice from people that have been there before.
Thanks for help in advance!