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How hard is it to go from 2 to 3 dogs?
We already have 2 cats and 2 dogs. I'm considering going to 3 dogs.
Abby, our BSC border collie, goes to daycare 1 day each week. The daycare has a new foster - an 11 month old dog (lab/border collie/mix) named "Piglet - awful, I know. Abby and Piglet appear to get along SO well. The daycare raves about their connection - so now I'm thinking about taking her. Baxter, my 8yo doxie, is pretty low maintenance. He has some heart/back issues, but we're in a routine/have had ramps built to accommodate him.
Basically, I have reservations because I almost lost my sh!t (mentally) when we went from 1 dog to 2. I was literally in tears trying to develop a new routine and make sure everyone ate, pottied, pooped, and was crated up for the day. Piglet is already housebroken and crate trained thanks to the daycare....so it may not be that bad. When I got Abby, she didn't have either of these qualities and it was hard on me (DH is the first to go to work, so the morning routine with the dogs falls all on me).
If you have 3 dogs, was it harder to go from 2 to 3? Right now I'm thinking, "okay, we'd need a new crate, another lead, and more food....how bad could it be?
Thoughts? Be realistic.
Re: How hard is it to go from 2 to 3 dogs?
We have 2 cats and 3 dogs. Thank you for making me feel good about not being the only person with that many pets!
We recently added a puppy to our mix in Sept. He was a stray the shelter picked up and he grabbed both my H and I's hearts immediately. Having 2 other dogs, it was cheaper in the beginning b/c after the shelter fee, we only had to buy RJ (dog #3) a collar and bag of food. We had everything else we would need, especially since out other 2 dogs are older (3 and 4 yrs old).
All our dogs are easy going and get along with pretty much anyone or thing they meet. Because RJ was 4 months when we got him, he has much more energy than the other 2. We had to monitor play time because he didn't know when to stop bugging the other 2.
We had a bit of trouble for a month or so, where RJ would get into spats with our female. We think he was just trying to find his place within "our pack". Our female is the top dog and most dominate. We just monitored time together, and now several months later, RJ has found his place in our family and I don't regret adopting ever. I honestly thing it was really easy to go from 2 to 3 dogs. The hard part I supposed would be trying to run with all 3 of them by myself!
Good luck with deciding what's best for your family!
The most beautiful place on earth to me: Glacier NP
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We have four cats, and went from two to three dogs when our foster came back to us last April. Our three are all between 50 and 75 pounds and are 18 months to 5 years of age.
It was a lot easier going from two to three than one to two. You're already used to multiple dogs, and a third isn't that different in a house.
What is hardest for us is taking them for walks(we've tried a coupler, and two leashes, but it works best to just have three people to walk/hike with three dogs). It does add in another dog that needs to be trained,exercised, and loved.
Two of our three are easy, because as long as they get 30-60 minutes of intense physical exercise and about 20 minutes of training a day, they sleep the rest of the time. Our third needs a lot more exercise, and has anxiety that we're working through.
4 dogs here. The hardest transition was from 1 to 2 and that was with an older dog. It was just hard to get the schedule down.
2 to 3 was with a puppy, as was 3 to 4 and it was fine. A couple of weeks while they worked out their place in the pack, so we needed to keep a VERY close eye on them. But now is fine.
I'll echo what someone else said that walks are still the hardest part. Even with two of us we normal need to do a couple of trips. Also I now HATE the dog park because I dislike being outnumbered.
Oooo good point. I don't take them to the dog park unless my H is with me now. I don't like the 3:1 ratio. 3:2 is manageable though.
The most beautiful place on earth to me: Glacier NP
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