tell mre about the difference between having one dog and two.

[ditavonteesed]

I am thinking in a year or so (planning in advanmce somewhat) that it would be nice to add another dog to our menagerie, I wonder however what the differences would be. Cherry has slotted into our home and our lives (and our hearts) perfectly, she is gorgeous, easy, needs lots of lovely long walks and i love training her, she curls up on the sofa at night. I love that I have to get out of the house every day and cant sit here feeling bored, I am never bored anymore as I can just play with or do training with her. I am hoping to do agility with her ina couple fo months when she is a year, I have made lots of lovely friends walking her and I just love being a dog person.
So would getting another when she is grown up be a mistake, would they be closer to each other than me, would walks become stressful, or would dog 2 fit with lots of training and cuddles and walks into our family just as cherry has?
Would you get a dog as cherry is a bitch?
Aldso I am thinking of a slightly larger breed, perhaps a border collie or a springer, would this cause problems for little cherry?
Anyway just wanted opinions as I know a lot of you have several dogs.

more fur

double the amount of mud.

[sighs and wipes down the walls and floor again]

when you pick up the lead, you have two dogs bounding around like crazy things!
try a rescue - and yes i think dog/bitch comos are most likely to succeed although obv he boy should be neutered.

Two isn't too different to one dog, it's when you get more than that it can get a bit more tricky. What breed is Cherry? (sorry, in my own little world! )

Provided Cherry is fully adult and her training is well stablished then you should't expect too many problems. It's a good idea to walk the new dog seperately at first, especially if it's a puppy and seperate training etc too obviously.

I agree that getting a dog would be the most sensible option although obviously it would be a good idea to get Cherry spayed first.

Would you consider a staffy? Right sort of size, not too hairy and not so bouncy/energetic/demanding as a collie or springer. Also, plenty of staffs and crosses in rescue if you want to go that route. Our little staff x rescue is absolutely wonderful and I will definitely get another eventually, but he's only a year old, so not for ages yet.

Misdee hi! How is the baby?

Ditavonteesed I love having more than one dog I reckon three is the ideal number (goes off to hide the other two). It is great if they all get on and are well trained. Any issues you have with one are usually duplicated with two but hey you know what you are dealing with!

An older dog can become young again when you introduce a new or younger dog. Go for it!

Downside people less likely to volunteer to look after 5 dogs if you go out for the day!

You will begin to call you DC by the dogs name

You house will never be tidy again - my excuse anyway

You will spend all your time/money at agility, obedience or dog events.

What type of dog is Cherry? I only ask as it is best to get similar energy dogs so if she can keep up with a collie or springer then fine. If you have to start doing separate walks long term do you have time for it - if Cherry needs less exercise.

You will have to map in separate walks to start with if you get a puppy but that is only for a few months

Getting a bitch or a dog I know people that have 5 bitches living together and 7 dogs and no problems however it is generally seen as a good idea to get one of each but then with 5 myself I have to have some of the same sex!

twice the poo

that is the main downside IMO

The trouble is once you have two it is a short step to three!

things to think about - double the costs - be realistic - two lots of dog insurance, two lots of vaccinations, wormings, food, collars, dogwalker if used, leads, dog beds, etc. I'd suggest doing a spreadsheet of what you spend at the moment, and this will help you see how it fits with the family finance. Don't forget also if you go on holiday without the dog, that's two lots of kennel fees. Gulp.

Transport - depending on the size of your car, will it still be appropriate for two dogs? We moved up from a Ford Fiesta when we had one, to an estate car.

Agree about the cleaning!! Definately more mess.

If you have someone else who pops in and helps out, say if you are out for the day, sometimes it can be harder for a non doggy neighbour to manage/cope with two than one. Again, depends on yr circumstances.

As for getting on, prob a good idea to get a dog if you already have a bitch, but really it depends on the dogs concerned. We've done fostering and some dogs have been World War 3 IMMEDIATELY to the extent of finding another foster home, while others have slotted in as though they have always known us - virtually impossible to predict. Best way is to take your own dog with you to do some introductions and see how they get on - do a walk together - often good to go for a stroll on "neutral" territory - so you can assess how they are getting on. It's like running the UN sometimes. Most rescues and reputable places will insist on this anyway.

Have listed all the negatives. Positives, your dog will love having another dog around to play with and socialise with. They are not that much more work and so much more happiness. You may find you need an extra sofa! Um, really, I think if you are truly into dogs, you almost invariably end up with more than one. I dont' regret it for a second and am constantly telling DH we could probably squeeze in a fourth ....

Also, I'd make sure that all the adults in the house are completely signed on to the idea - not fair on anyone otherwise.

Good luck and keep us posted.

to answer a couple of questions, cherry is a border terrier so no problems energy wise she could run all day and I am told this will not change until she is very old.

Cherry is off t9o the vets in the morning for her spaying so that wouldnt be a problem.

I would want her pretty much perfectly trained and a bit calmer before we would even consider it.
I stay at home so no worries there, in fact since both dd's now at school extra stuff to do is good. we do keep chickens, anyone know if collies or springers would be ok with them?
I walk my neighbours staffie sometimes and I must be honest he struggles to keep up with us and I often end up having to cut our walk short, dont know if this is because he is older than cherry though.
I do def8inatly want to do agility with both dogs if possible.

Crikey, our staffy cross is like the ever-ready bunny, it is impossible to tire him out! He does have a dash of collie in him though, so maybe gets it from that? That said, there's a huge world of difference in energy levels in all three of our Goldens. The younger two even, who are the same age are polar oppsites, one will run all day, one doesn't really 'do' running and if we walk her with the others they'll all bound around on the beach whilst she ambles along beside us. So I suspect it varies from dog to dog too, regardless of breed.

I think most dogs would be Ok with chickens if you trained them to ignore them. Maybe not ultra high prey drive dogs, but if your border terrier is OK with them then I am sure a collie or springer would be. Our dogs are fine with our hens.

It sounds like you'll be a great home for a second dog.

because we had cherry from a pup she was smaller than the chickens so it was easy to train her to leave them alone as they wouldnyt take any nonsense from her, they boss the cats around as well, funny creatures.
The only other issue is that we live in a victorian mid terrace with a not that big garden.

I wouldn't worry too much about the garden. It's nice to have a big garden if you have a dog, but really gardens are a handy place for the dog to go to toilet and maybe have sunbathe. They'll get their exercise from walks etc.

We keep our dogs confined to the (length of the house) patio and side of the house now, which is also paved, as our garden floods a bit and they were destroying the grass by running about out there and they were also constantly minging. They don't seem to mind.

I only intended to get a pup when I got junior dog, but ended up taking the dam as well.

Pros:

She's lovely and we adore her.
They keep each other company on the rare occasions they're left on their own.
They play together.

Cons:

Twice the expense.
Twice the hair (although mine don't shed much).
They play together. This means that I have to work extra hard to be more interesting to junior dog than her Mum.
Because a lot of Junior Dog's offlead walks involve training, I tend to exercise them separately. However, if you're satisfied with a basic level of obedience (I don't mean that to sound patronising; I'm trying to get into competing in Obedience so I need to do loads of training and it's not always wasy for either of us to concentrate if I've got both dogs there) then, barring any major issues that come up which mean you have to exercise/train separately, it should be fine.

That said, you WILL need to be prepared to train separately a reasonable amount (if you are enjoying training it doesn't sound as if it will be a hardship for you though :) ), at home and away.

You're right in thinking that it's best to wait a while; TBH even very experienced trainers won't often have another pup until the current dog is around 2. However well trained your dog is, they often find the presence of another dog very distracting and you have to allow for a little bit of backsliding.

Our first dog was lovely right from the start, and we had no problems with training or behaviour. A year later, we took on another rescue, and really wondered if we had done the right thing. We spent about 6 months seriously doubting our decision. That was 10 years ago. Both dogs are still with us and fantastic. So... Last year, we decided to add to the family by way of a 6 month old pup, who is very sweet, but bolts.

We had forgotten how much chewing and barking and behaviour and help and trying things out we went through especially with the middle dog to find a way forward. Now we are doing it all again with the pup!

Sometimes I wonder why we keep dogs, and I think our knowledge of them is rather sparse. Perhaps that's just me. I feel very stupid and ignorant sometimes.

'The trouble is once you have two it is a short step to three!' Yup. I agree. My mum is currently trying to convince me to take in an elderly lab/staffy x from the pound. I am very tempted, but i do not physically have the space for more than 3 dogs and really want to foster.

Op - wrt how much harder it is workwise, not much. Particularly if both dogs are adult and wll trained.

However mine are not adult,, the puppy is very well trained, the devil dog still has few problems we are working on. It's not impossible to manage, but they do like to play, roughly and loudly, which can be annoying at times. With a little work this could be changed. Also breed wise it would be easier to get a dog with similar exercise requirements. Puppy shouldn't really walk to far yert, so I find myself having to stay closer tom home than I usually would, so I can bring her home before continuing the older dogs walking and training.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but anyone with two or more large dogs, how do you find walking them together? Is it a problem to have more dog than you can physically restrain (i.e. if they were on-lead and all tried to go in the same direction at once!)

I know you shouldn't be relying on physical strength with a dog of any size, and it's not in any way a substitute for training etc, but do you think it's good to be able to do it as a last resort? I'd love to have another Rottie but worry slightly about this as the one on his own is not far off my weight and while I'm confident I can hold him (needed to do this a couple of times in the early days when he would try to take off after squirrels or cats and hadn't learned the meaning of 'Leave'!) I don't think I'd stand a chance with two!

I do know lots of people with two Rotties or GSDs or other large breeds and they seem to manage fine so I guess it must be possible...

Ephiny I used to walk a Lab and Akita. I never had a problem as they were both well trained. The lab was older and already adult and trained when they got the Akita, who at first was walked and trained seperate to the lab.

Only once did I ever need to use physical strength to restrain one of them. The Akita attacked another dog after it came gunning towards with me raised hackles and bared teeth. I just dropped the labs lead. Although as I felt I was about to die I wasn't really thinking. It was just reactionary to drop her lead and run. I had to sit on the Akita to stop him going after the other dog once it had escaped. The lab waited in sit and stay until I had him suitably restrained and calmed. It was the first and last time he ever attacked another dog.

Chaos and mayhem.

We went from one dog to two earlier in the year. We have an almost 9 year old sheltie dog and an 8 month old Jack Russell Terrier/Spaniel x bitch. I actually found it much easier going from one to two than I thought I would once the initial shock wore off and I really like having two dogs. I got a bitch because I'd read that with a dog already, he'd accept a bitch better and they'd be better friends.

Pros are -

It's really given our older dog a new lease of life. He had started showing his age a bit at times. Since puppy arrived he is playing again (something he was refusing to do before) and has found a bit of his puppyhood.

Older dog has modelled all his good training for our rather feisty puppy! It made things like walking her off lead and learning to sit etc much easier, because she could see from him what was expected.

I just love having them both around. The follow me about together, I turn around and they are sat there looking utterly charming. It's double the love!

Cons-

I've really noticed the expense, where I never really did with just the one. Suddenly dog food seems to actually cost serious money, before you even mention accessories, vet bills and all the rest.

We exercised them separately for ages because pup couldn't walk too far, and we still do fairly often to keep a bond between them each. I still feel guilty that older dog has lost a bit of special attention with us, especially as puppy is much pushier, so I try to make sure both of them get individual fuss. All this takes up serious time.

It's double the training, and especially the cleaning up after them, and double the worry!

Our pup has come into season and we've ended up having to keep the dogs apart for the last few days, despite the fact older dog is neutered. He wouldn't leave her alone, she took it as a come-on, he then got annoyed with her and it was all getting a bit much for me and very stressful for them both. She will be spayed in the spring so this is a one-off challenge!

All in all, though, it's been a fab decision.

Do it.