so, talk to me about adding a second dog to the household

[TeamChaos]

Patandchickens- my dogs are my zen spot, so I get why it'd add to the happy in your day. Our current pack (a.k.a. four footed members of Team Chaos) is made up of Starla Jane, an 11 year old impeccably trained border collie who has had the pleasure and duty of training many canines to "speak dog" as well acting as an example of what the humans expect; then there's Jack, a giant 3 year old mix I adopted when my best buddy Max died and, most recently added, Boo- a one year old terrier mix of some sort.

When Max died, Starla grieved as hard as we did and we noticed her activity on the farm dwindled to just laying under the tree. We adopted Jack. He has zero herding abilities and is about the polar opposite of Max's calm, cool, collected self. It was stressful for Starla, but she was excited to learn new things while I was training Jack and she was a huge help in teaching him how to be a dog (Jack did a lot of anxiety crying when he came to us and I swear it was Starla's work with him that has all but extinguished the habit and now he can express himself to humans and other dogs in ways other than working himself up into a panic). Not to mention, she is a border collie and needs to manage something, so she really came back to life while managing Jack around the farm. We added Boo to the mix because Jack is a giant puppy and still wants to play puppy games. Starla does not. I could not adopt another giant boy for Jack to pal around with for a million reasons, and because my husband is a sucker for terriers, we ended up with Boo. Jack (who is maybe 120 lbs?) and Boo (who is 20 lbs) play constantly and she has not taught him any bad habits, but he also cannot train her the way that Starla trains a dog. So, we've had to work Starla and Boo together and leave Jack out of the picture in order to get anything done. (jack is the class clown, if that makes sense). eek, I could ramble on about them all day-

If I had a chance to go back and talk to myself before adopting a dog for Jack, the biggest thing I'd change is that Boo cannot do a lot of the things that my other two can- she needs a dang jacket to go out in the cold and my dogs spend all winter rolling in the snow. Boo is a terrier and has that prey drive to run things down, Jack and Starla aren't motivated like that and can be relied on to listen to commands and stay within earshot all day. I think we should have better considered what we as a pack have in common and enjoy and based our choice on that. I know you've already considered what might or might not be a good match for his personality, but also consider what you expect and need from a dog in your daily life- a second dog who'll run and play with him all day is no good if it's in their nature to just keep running, you know? Before you bring your other buddy home, make sure Russell knows that listening to you is not optional- it's amazing how "deaf" two dogs can get when they're really living it up- ha ha ha. I think the mouthy play is pretty much standard stuff unless you've got a dog with aggression issues- I've noticed the only dogs that cannot tolerate mouth wrestling are control freaks, but that's not hard data, just my experience.

I doubt I answered any questions, but I'm excited for you, your family and for Russell. I can see how folks might feel like having more than one dog cuts down on the human/dog bond but I don't think it does. I hate the idea of a dog who is crying and lonely for me when I need to be away or who only feels at ease when it's human is near by. My dogs have their pack around, all the time. I am definitely a bonus and enjoy a celebrity position (ha ha) but if I am not engaged in dog play at the moment, they find a dog pal and away they go.

 

[Brindlebtch]

I like to make sure my dogs are at least a year apart, so they are more interested in me than another dog. If you get a dog for Russell to play with, he may become more interested in the other dog than you.
Depends what you want.

eta you and your family are Russie's pack. He does not feel the loss of not playing with another dog. Each time I have added a puppy my dogs have viewed it as a little interloper that is stealing attention from them. They are jealous for my attention.

 

[apdan]

Quote:
Thats what the rules at our house are, the only difference is we have a love seat for the dogs and the pig. They all have to share.

It is soo much fun to take 3 dogs for a walk by yourself like that !

BE PREPARED FOR THE LOOKS

most look at you like you are a crazy lady!

When my partner and I go with the 3 dogs and put the harness on the PBP and she goes then it is absolutely hilarious. We almost had one lady drive in the ditch because she was looking so hard and wasn't paying attention

 

[bluebird]

Yep...take Russel with you and let him pick out his own buddy. See how they react to each other on neutral territory. Then try the home visit...but first pick up all of Russel's toys and food. Have some new 'unclaimed' toys ready.

Good luck!

 

[mandelyn]

Quote:
LOL... mental picture from last fall when my two shepherds bolted out of the gate together. Miss Ricca going "We're FRRREEEEE!" and Logan looking back at the house as I busted out the front door after them. He came back immediately like a good momma's boy. I put Logan up, and then started walking the other direction from Ricca. If you follow her, you'll never catch her. She realized her "pack" was gone and it was just me. So she turned and followed and I grabbed her when she ran past me.

That's why you can't get a new dog and let them entertain each other. One NEEDS to have enough training and respect for you to come back. Pack training is REALLY important. If I had failed, I would have been chasing my dogs all over the neighborhood like a dummy. Ricca... as sweet as she is, is still dominant, is still a take charge kind of dog. If she has "her" pack to back her up, she won't listen to me. But, Logan is MY pack, not hers. I put so much training on both of them, but I can't change who Ricca is. But because of who Logan is, I will always be more powerful in the pack than Ricca. Logan is my push button, loyal, ever-listening dog.

Always good to make sure to train the rest of the human pack about latching gates when they leave.

 

[TLWR]

I adopted a 2 year old greyhound 10 years ago. Jet
A year later, I adopted another 2 year old greyhound. Ryan

Jet was a perfect only dog. She had no problems being on her own while I was at work or class or the gym or soccer or whatever I did that she couldn't join me. Then some bad greyhound news in the press and my mom guilting me into a 2nd dog, I started looking for another greyhound. I was content having 1 dog.

Then I had 2. I let Jet help pick out Ryan. Dog had to meet my needs before I took her opinion into consideration. I think Ryan decided he was going home with Jet (well, Jet decided she was the one going home with me when I met her a year earlier).
So there we were, a family of 3. Me and 2 greyhounds. I didn't find it any more difficult to have a 2nd since they got along. Ryan was more accident prone and ended up with health issues, so vet bills more than doubled, but you never know what you'll get in that aspect anyway.


Then 2 years ago, while in Kodiak, I decided to foster after talking to DH about it. The local shelter delivered me a doberman a week later. He didn't' leave. I HATED having three dogs. I don't want three dogs again. It's just not my thing. The doberman was intact (medical issues prevented the vet from neutering him) and took a lot of work to have my boys get along. After a lot of research, emails and phone calls and telling the shelter I'd fly him to the lower 48 to be neutered if I had to, the vet on island agreed to follow the protocol and took a donation of meds for his surgery. Nobody else wanted this dog and I said I was not adopting him intact.
Neutering was the best thing for him. Life with my 2 boys became much easier.
We are now back down to 2 dogs as Ryan was put down last summer after a long illness. I miss having 3, but just that three, not three in general.
Still times I would prefer to have just 1 dog and we may. We'll see. But 2 dogs works for us as well.

Personally - going from 1 to 2, easy. Going from 2 to 3 sucked big time.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Hmmm. I have ALWAYS had a whole bunch of dogs. I think the most I've ever had at one time is probably 7. It's a whole lot easier on me if I keep the number at 4 or less. More than one dog means 4-5 times more work, but if you think it thru, you can arrange it so they learn from each other. Right now I have 3. I am into schutzhund, which translates into a lot of time spent training and then maintaining the training. I have also always had outdoor runs/kennels for everybody. Inside everyone has his/her own crate. Makes all the difference when it comes to training. Otherwise, the dog not being worked is inside the house shredding everything in sight because he's jealous of the attention the other one is getting.

I've also always had different breeds, altho they are closely related breeds: GSDs and Dobies. They live to please. They also learn from each other. For example, when I bring in a new puppy (and I always start with puppies), he learns from the big dogs that he is to sit for his supper and wait for the command to eat. He watches this happen as he eats in his crate at first and the big dogs eat in a row next to his crate where he can watch them. By the time he joins the row, he is sitting and waiting too. Ditto all the training exercises. By the time the puppy starts lead work, he's already been watching (from his kennel) as the big dogs work and he already knows many of the commands and what they mean. They learn so much quicker this way. And the constant chaos from the kenneled dogs, helps teach the working dog to focus his attention on me and makes him solid on his work.

Of course, I view my dogs as working animals and that probably makes a big difference in how I treat them and how they respond. I AM the alpha. There is no doubt in anyone's mind. And yet...they are my babies too and WILL come crawl into bed with me every night, so that aspect is certainly not lost. But obedience is a big deal in my house and everybody knows the rules. And, yes, I know a lot of trainers don't seem to approve of my methods, but they work for me and the dogs seem to thrive.

While my breeds are breeds that want to bond to their human, many breeds are not that way. There are dogs that may well bond to each other instead of to you so you have to be careful that you know and understand your breeds and how they think and especially how they learn.

But there is no reason not to have more than one. In fact I don't like having just one. I think everybody needs one of his own kind to bond with in addition to having his human.

As always, JMO


Rusty

 

[Ema]

Pat, I cannot give you any advice...I have 6 dogs

they are like kids.....

With that said I was lucky I had no issues introducing my dogs to one another, the biggest issue for me was puppy hood, having to puppy proof the house, lol.