Would I Be Mad To Get Another Dog?

[HarrietSchulenberg]

I have a 3 bed terrace, 3 dc (14, 12 and 8) and a dog (Stanley, 3.5 yr old resce, neutered lurcher).

Stanley is desperate for other doggie company but is nervous and barky round strange dogs. He barks and pulls and dives over to sniff them, but once he's sniffed he is not at all aggressive, just very bouncy and desperate to play. His bounciness makes him offputting to more reserved dog owners as they think he's going to attack, so they pull their dogs away, which makes him all the more vocal and desperate.

I'm working with him on this, treating him when we meet other dogs to keep his attention on me etc, but it's becoming clear that he needs more doggie companionship. I have some friends with dogs but we don't meet often enough for their company to bw much more than the odd fabulous afternoon for him a month.

Sooooo, would I be really, really stooopid to consider getting another dog to keep him company?

Kids would be up for it, but I know they'd want a smaller, calmer dog that they can walk themselves. There's just about room in the house for another hairy body on a sofa, and although I work, the house is only empty of humans for 5 hours, which Stanley is fine with (he whiles away his time faffing with his Kong and listening to R4 ). He gets an hour of exercise a day, which includes a short off lead run if we can get in an empty field, and the plan is to exercise him and a second dog together.

I was thinking of perhaps an older/calmer, smaller (Staffy?) rescue girl. Obviously I would spend some time to find the right dog and to introduce them properly, but am I slightly insane to be considering this, or should I just carry on training our Stanners to be able to cope alone?

Off to bed now as it took longer to write this than expected but will bump/check tomorrow.

Would be nice for him to have doggie company and they would play together. But it would not stop him from being boisterous and wanting to go to other dogs in the park so you would still need to work on that.

No its not mad if you have the time, space,money and love for another dog why not.
Dogs love the company of other dogs, my ddog although an only dog goes over my father's daily to spend time with his two dogs and my sisters dog ( that is littermates to one of my father's dogs) he just loves running and spending time with them.
So why not get him his doggy friend.

I think most dogs are happier with another dog, obviously not all. If you go through a rescue at least you know there is back up if it turns out Stanley is one of the few Greta Garbos.

I'd get another, but look for a calm lurcher as sighthounds play in a particular way that other dogs don't always understand.

I was nervous about getting another dog, but ddog loves running and playing with dpuppy, and is def better about not trying to get other dogs to run with him (both mine are lurchers)

Maybe Nelly would be a good fit?

I have one chilled-out, laid-back loves everyone and everydog type Lurcher and another that's reactive to strange, off-lead dogs.

From experience, it's very hard to manage a large, bouncing, barking hound when you are trying to walk two at the same time and in particular, training to help the dog with issues needs to be done on a 1:1 basis, so you would need to walk them separately as often as possible if you want his social skills to improve.

Having said that, I do think most, not all, sighthounds are happier in a multi-dog household and mine definitely benefit from each other's company. They also wear each other out physically, as they're able to keep up with each other when off-lead and love to run and chase. When my Lurcher lived with other breeds he was far more staid and less fit than he is now we have two Lurchers.

In your position I would contact a couple of rescues and talk it through with them. If you ELGR (as CMOT linked to) and Lurcher Link are both worth contacting if you do want to consider another Lurcher.

Aargh! I knew I shouldn't have clicked on that link. Nelly is gorgeous, so like my Lurcherboy only a darker brindle.

Thank you for replies, all reallt useful, and Nelly is really very lovely. Am currently in discussion with ds1 about this (he is keen ).
I think I'll contact a few rescues with a view to fostering over the summer ans see how we go from there.
All very exciting.