New Doggie Dilemma

CincyBride08 · August 2009

DH and I are toying with the idea of getting another dog. I've seen one on craigslist that I absolutely adore. He's a rescue dog and this is the first puppy (and I've been looking for a couple of months) that has really pulled at my heartstrings. I know this is going to sound insane but I"m just worring about how our current dog (who gets ALL the attention in the house and is still a puppy at 10 months old) will handle a new puppy. I'm also worried about leaving them all day. DH is going back to work in a couple of weeks and we're going to probably do a combo of doggie day care and getting a dog walker so Koda will have a break in the middle of the day, but is that really fair to the new puppy? I also like the way our family is right now, just the three of us. We are probably going to hold of on kids for a couple of years, but how hard is it to handle kids and two dogs when the time comes?

I guess I'm just thinking outl oud. Right now the pros and cons are about even with maybe the cons a little ahead but not by much.

Oh and TimmysGal- you deffinetely didn't help this situation. Your new puppers is adorable!

Anyone have any advice?

rachel06 · August 2009

We are have two dogs & I can honestly say if it wasn't for DH we would probably have more. lol We had Ruby our first dog for a few years before we brought Gracie into the picture. We have had her now for just over a year. The transition actually was pretty easy. We introduced them in a neutral territory & then brought them both home. They get along great! I think they like have each other's company during the day. We both work during the day & I don't think they mind. We walk them in the evening & they have a nice big back yard to play after we're home. Plus I think they would pretty much just sleep during the day anyways. At least that's what they do on the weekends. Not sure if I am much help. Ultimately it's going to be what works best for your family. But we love both of our girls!

daves_sweetpea · August 2009

Is Koda OK with strange dogs? No aggression or anything? If not then I'd think she'd be fine after a little adjustment. I know that my Fluff would NOT be ok with a new adult dog but he would be ok with a puppy. On the plus side two dogs can entertain each other. On the down side, you'll have twice the vet bills and twice the food bill. As far as kids, I'm glad that I don't have two young dogs and a baby. They're pretty mellow (aka lazy) right now and it's soooo nice! I think I would have lost my mind with a couple of young crazy dogs and a baby. Mine do have a few behavior quirks that we proabably need to work on before we have kids.

Oh, and I heard/read somewhere that you should go by a dog's age in months to determine how long it can stay in a crate-so if the dog is 3 months it would need a break every 3 hours. I think an older puppy would be fine with a break at lunch, esp if the dog walker takes the puppy out too.

stillwaiting12 · August 2009

I think it is sometimes easier to introduce a new puppy while your other dog is still young because they can adjust easier/quicker. I don't have the option to go home at lunch or anything of that sort so I have crated my puppy since she was 6 weeks old for the entire day while I am at work and she is perfectly fine! I leave the house around 9 and DH gets home around 3:30-4 so she isn't in there for 10 hours or anything, but she is in there a while! I bought a big cage and put a puppy pad in there on one side and her bed and food on the other when she was little, but she only used the puppy pad 2 or 3 times total.

LaurenNichols · August 2009

We went from one, to two, to three dogs. We got #2when #1 was about 10-12 months. It was hectic for awhile, but honestly, I don't know what they would do without each other. We didn'tget dog #3 until #1 and #2 were 3 and 4 yrs old, but he is such a good puppy because of the things he has picked up from the other two and because they keep him so busy! I think you will be ok.

Remember, dogs naturally live in packs so having another dog around is not earth shattering as long as you don't let it be. However, I would also match personalities...every pack has one leader. You don't necessarily want to very dominant dogs, they will always struggle trying to be the leader. Make sure you set the rules, tone, schedule, etc and chose one who will be dominant (whichever has a stronger personality) and encourage it right away (in a non-aggressive manner). It shoudl decrease competition and make them just realize that "that's the way it is..."

Mrs_D_in_KY · August 2009

If your dog is well behaved and plays well with other dogs, then I don't see it being an issue. Better to test the waters before you make a committment to another dog.

Also, there are a lot of women who raise children with multiple dogs. I typically post on the Pets board and thre is one woman who has two dogs over 100 lbs a piece and has a 2 year old child. Another just gave birth a few weeks ago and has a total of 7 dogs. It can be done, and we shall see how I handle a LO and 3 dogs early next year. LOL.

timmysgal1 · August 2009

i'm sorry!!! haha. but trust me--if you knew how onery my new little dog was, you'd reconsider (just kidding).

seriously, having 2 isn't that much different. same feeding times. take 1 out at a time to potty break (we take them out in the nice grassy front yard on leashes--not let them out in our backyard) at the same time every day. we are on a very good schedule.

i would say if you are going to be leaving them alone, try to come home and let them out at lunch, or have a dog walker come at lunch to walk them and let them out.

we would not have survived if 1 of us coudln't come home and let them out. those little bladders cannot hold it for 8 hours!

timmysgal1 · August 2009

we took our dog Murray to meet Mia before we officially agreed to bring her home. we wanted to make sure that our dog liked the new dog ahead of time. of course, Murray being the laid back awesome dog he is, loved her immediately, so we brought her home with us.

i suggest a meet and greet between dogs first.

notapetrock · August 2009

We have two dogs. We got Dog #2 when Dog #1 was 2 yrs old. They were both initially puppies when we got them. A lot of people have already pointed out how great it is for the the dogs morale to get a second dog - so I'll skip elaborating on that. My dogs totally love each other. But other than all the cute fun moments of having two puppies, there are other things to consider:

Vet bills. Most vets don't give you a group rate unless you're a breeder - so you'll need to double the cost of everything in your budget. Vaccinations, heartworm, etc. AND prep an extra pet emergency fund for the unplanned visits. Dog food doesn't quite double, but you'll be spending more than double on treats if you're a treater. Yes, more than double.
Twice the mess in the yard. Think about in advance how you're going to handle twice the land mines. (Oh - and if one of them is a hole digger or fence jumper - I have one of each.) Your grass is going to require a little extra maintenance if you want to walk around in your yard. (Urine burns too.) We ended up hiring a service (TOTALLY WORTH IT) to come out once a week and remove undesirable piles and take it with them. You would be absolutely shocked at the volume two dogs can produce in a week. It seems like that more than doubled.
Vacations - how often do you travel? Will you be boarding both dogs? Do you have friends that are willing to watch them together? separately? Would you need to find a resource to stay at the house with them? Can you bring two to relatives homes when you travel?
Each dog is going to have their own personality - and yes, one will be dominant, and NO - you do not get to choose which one will be dominant. You can reinforce your own preference as much as you want to - but really, they'll decide that on their own and if you want to keep the peace you'll go with it rather than resist it. Our Dog #2 ended up begin dominant dog in our house much as we would've preferred Dog #1 to be.
It is not Dog #1's job to teach the puppy anything. It's great if they do, but they're more likely to teach their bad habits than their good ones. You are the pack leader and Dog #1 may very well say 'no thanks - it's your job to teach that one, not mine'. Ours did. And if you have 2 dogs - you want them both to be well trained - especially if you ever intend to have guests at your house, if children will be at your home, or you want to take them to the park, or for a walk. I'd recommend putting them in training classes together so they can see each other being well behaved.
Even with a well-tempered dog, there is no guarantee that they are going to like or tolerate having another dog around. I'd make sure to introduce first, then adopt.
I'm all for crate training. I believe in it strongly. My dogs are now 6 and 4 yrs old. We put their crates up last Winter and just brought one of them back out for them to share (we never close the door anymore). They were both REALLY happy to have it back and have been using it. If you're crate training at those ages - you'll need 2 crates. Where do they go? How often are they being cleaned out? Having to mop down two crates when you're dead tired after work is less fun than having to mop out one when you're dead tired after work.
The months of age=months out of a crate thing is a myth. Each dog is unique. Dog #1 was out of his crate and amazing at 12 weeks.(yes, weeks). Dog #2 was in and out of hers for 2-yrs. Every time we'd gain confidence in her - she'd be fine for a week or two and then regress to chewing inappropriate things again or soiling the carpet to express anxiety.
Dogs do understand fairness. Can you handle the guilt when you take one somewhere, but can't take the other? No, you will not be able to take both together everywhere all the time. Can you make 1:1 time with each of them? The idea that they need less attention from you b/c they have each other is a myth too. You are the pack leader - they both want all of your attention. So you will need to expend more energy on the whole yourself.

Oh - and this was our 'life lessons learned' with having two dogs that got along (with an occasional power struggle) and that love each other dearly. I couldn't imagine if they didn't get along. We would have had to have re-homed one of them. If your two dogs don't get along are you prepared to make that decision?

timmysgal1 · August 2009

oh yes, we also crate train. and i hadn't realized how nice it was to be really done with house training Murray until we got Mia and her house training is not going well.

Plus the vet bills are double. I took Mia to the vet today to get her Sentinel (heart guard) and to get some tests done on her poop and it was $165.

boooo...

CincyBride08 · August 2009

Thanks for all your advice ladies. We're going to talk to our trainer tonight at class and see how she thinks Koda will handle a new puppy since she can be timid around other dogs. Everyone brought up great points and we're definitely not taking this decision lightly. Thanks again!

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