Input of whatever sort is welcome from everyone (but I am particularly interested in comments from people who are, like me, kind of overanalytical think-of-everything-that-can-go-wrong-and-what-you'd-do-about-it types) on the logistics of adding a second dog to the household.
We've had Russell (yellow lab, albeit a very lightly-built one) for almost 6 months now. He is doing SUPER, will be starting a third obedience class soon (not so much for learning obedience as such, which he is quite the star pupil at, but for getting him more relaxed and focused in a class environment) with the intention of starting agility this spring. He luvs hanging around with us and playing with us and learning new things and all that... but I feel bad that he doesn't have another actual dog to play with. (There is no dog park around here, and we don't have suitable neighbors or friends whose dogs would make good playmates).
So, I think we should get Russell a dog of his own
How different is this going to be, having two dogs instead of just one, particularly in terms of dog behavior in the house? Are they likely to egg each other into doing increasingly naughty things? (Russell has no major bad habits at present, as long as we keep him supervised when he's chewing on the cat [the cat in question LIKES it but I get nervous when his entire skull is in Russie's mouth] and keep the kitchen garbage latched and the kids' toys picked up. And he's crated at night and when we're out of the house for a while. New dog would be crated too.) Are they likely to have constant growly arguments over who gets to chew which nylabone? How common/likely are those sorts of problems when you add a second dog? What else am I not anticipating?
(FWIW, whatever dog we get will be from a shelter or rescue, probably older puppy or very young adult, hopefully somewhere in the 20-30 lb range, nonfluffy, reasonably active but not crazy-caffeinated-nonstop, and VERY kidsafe and cat-safe. Has to get along well with Russell, obviously! And preferably something that could do agility or other things without too awful many challenges to overcome, i.e. not really shoppin' for a beagle LOL Yes, I realize that some of my 'wish list' is kind of in opposition to some other parts of it, but I figure if I look at enough dogs, mutt and otherwise, SOMEthing will work out, even if it is not a dog that follows a typical breed description. I know I can't expect to get as lucky again as I did with Russell but there *are* plenty of perfectly nice userfriendly dogs out there.)
I just want to make sure I've thought this through and know what I'm getting into, and have a plan for dealing with reasonably-likely problems that may crop up. (Or, ideally, avoiding them in the first place!)
Thanks for any comments, advice, anecdotes, whatever,
Pat
We've had Russell (yellow lab, albeit a very lightly-built one) for almost 6 months now. He is doing SUPER, will be starting a third obedience class soon (not so much for learning obedience as such, which he is quite the star pupil at, but for getting him more relaxed and focused in a class environment) with the intention of starting agility this spring. He luvs hanging around with us and playing with us and learning new things and all that... but I feel bad that he doesn't have another actual dog to play with. (There is no dog park around here, and we don't have suitable neighbors or friends whose dogs would make good playmates).
So, I think we should get Russell a dog of his own
How different is this going to be, having two dogs instead of just one, particularly in terms of dog behavior in the house? Are they likely to egg each other into doing increasingly naughty things? (Russell has no major bad habits at present, as long as we keep him supervised when he's chewing on the cat [the cat in question LIKES it but I get nervous when his entire skull is in Russie's mouth] and keep the kitchen garbage latched and the kids' toys picked up. And he's crated at night and when we're out of the house for a while. New dog would be crated too.) Are they likely to have constant growly arguments over who gets to chew which nylabone? How common/likely are those sorts of problems when you add a second dog? What else am I not anticipating?
(FWIW, whatever dog we get will be from a shelter or rescue, probably older puppy or very young adult, hopefully somewhere in the 20-30 lb range, nonfluffy, reasonably active but not crazy-caffeinated-nonstop, and VERY kidsafe and cat-safe. Has to get along well with Russell, obviously! And preferably something that could do agility or other things without too awful many challenges to overcome, i.e. not really shoppin' for a beagle LOL Yes, I realize that some of my 'wish list' is kind of in opposition to some other parts of it, but I figure if I look at enough dogs, mutt and otherwise, SOMEthing will work out, even if it is not a dog that follows a typical breed description. I know I can't expect to get as lucky again as I did with Russell but there *are* plenty of perfectly nice userfriendly dogs out there.)
I just want to make sure I've thought this through and know what I'm getting into, and have a plan for dealing with reasonably-likely problems that may crop up. (Or, ideally, avoiding them in the first place!)
Thanks for any comments, advice, anecdotes, whatever,
Pat
