2nd dog?

[AwFeebs]

Me and DP have recently been musing over the idea of getting a second dog. I think our dog would love the companionship. And I'd love another.

Only thing is I now work part time (when we got ddog1 I was a SAHM so had the time to devote to her when she was a pup)

I will be out the house for 4 hours a day with work.

I'm worried about leaving a pup that long.

What does everyone do?

Aside from anything else, your dog won't necessarily love having a companion, especially if they are very close to you. They can see another dog as unwanted competition for your affection.
One dog is much easier than 2 as well. I speak from experience. I have, for the third time, got 2 dogs (one is a puppy, the other is 4 and a half). However, I am retired and dogs are very much my hobby and a big part of my life. Do you want to spend most of your time wrangling 2 dogs? For example, for some time I had to walk the pair separately, which meant 4 walks a day minimum. Don't underestimate the time you may need to find for exercising, training and other doggy things. After 3 months mine are just beginning to settle down together and enjoy each others company, but that was never a foregone conclusion. There is still quite a bit of jealousy and an awful lot of boistrous play at times.

Sorry, meant to say I think you will find a 4 hour absence each day is too much for a puppy. What are you going to do with it while you are gone? I couldn't have left mine that long (I still don't). The poor mite would have been terribly upset, and having another dog, he would have had to be crated for hours at a time in case the other dog attacked him.. Very unfair.

Our very needy Golden loves having a brother!!
4 hours is no longer than the time they will be sleeping of an evening - I wouldn’t worry about that.
Set up their crate with room for sleeping and room for wee’s until their bladder is big enough to hold

@Brownlongearedbat that's why I made the thread. I don't want to leave pup in any distress.

We would crate train. We did this with our current dog and it worked well.

I'm also aware it won't be love at first sight if we were to get another dog. Everything takes time. Can't say I mind the extra walks or training though, we live rurally and are out all the time anyway.

@Bexxe my friends GR best friend is their cat. Lovely dogs.

[quote AwFeebs]@Bexxe my friends GR best friend is their cat. Lovely dogs.[/quote]
They love everyone dont they, but we got him an Australian Kelpie brother who is probably the most testing breed to love sometimes!

@Bexxe gorgeous dogs! 😍

[quote AwFeebs]@Bexxe gorgeous dogs! 😍[/quote]
Thank you! 🥰

Dont leave two dogs alone in the house together, if a fight breaks out one can be killed or seriously injured

It happens way more than you think.

Dog will need to be separated when you leave the house.

That's not a problem I'd crate pup anyway and leave older dog upstairs where she lives anyway. On the windowsill.

We have a very elderly dog (Welsh Terrier on the right) and a 6.5 month old poodle cross pup. The old one tolerates the young one, but does appreciate a warm body to snuggle!

The old dog was crate trained when he arrived with us and was really easy to leave alone. The puppy hates being by himself (and the other dog doesn’t count), we did not manage to crate/pen train him due to the crying.

I was working very part time when the older one was a pup, and am now working full time. We have the puppy in day care for two days a week and my adult daughter works at home and is around the other days. If she gets a different job or moves out soon, I’m not sure what we’re going to do! We are working on building up the puppy’s tolerance for being left alone - it feels slow but we have had progress.

Are you planning on leaving the puppy for 4 hours a day as soon as you get it?

Four hours a day is far too long to leave a new puppy. It will need the toilet and if you're crating it, you'll give it no choice but to mess it's bed.

I think you need to find alternative care for the puppy. Four hours at work plus commute is too long.

I have 2 labs but DDog2 was a rescue and already and adult when we got her. We had the chance to meet and have her in our home before committing.
Labs like company as a rule and it worked out well in this case.
I guess I am asking whether it must be a puppy? We rehomed through a local charity rather than a rescue, so she came directly from her owner to us after a couple of weeks of getting to know each other.

Four hours is including commute but yeah it feels too long for me when they're that young.

Was much easier when we got ddog1 as I was a SAHM.

@Quickchangeartiste doesn't HAVE to be a puppy, we've mostly been denied rescues due to the ages of our DC. Never had any luck.

4 hours right from the start seems too long to leave a puppy. A mess in the crate is very likely and pup is likely to be distressed at just being left alone for so long. Also do you have neighbours? A friend of mine has neighbours who just leave their puppy alone every week day morning...poor thing spends hours howling and barking. Fair to say that has soured neighbourly relations.

We do have neighbours yes. I might look in to having someone come in and walk pup at lunchtime.

It's not a definite yet anyway just musing!

The thing is, even four hours with a break is a long time to leave a puppy. There's no way mine would have been happy with that and I suspect your walker will come in to accidents on a daily basis which isn't really fair on them. It will also set your toilet training back if you crate them and give them no choice but to go in their crates.

I think you either need to look at daycare or a sitter for the puppy or go for an older dog who is happy to be left for longer periods of time.

Depends on the breed as well

Some breeds are very chilled out, some are not

@Indoctro

Dont leave two dogs alone in the house together, if a fight breaks out one can be killed or seriously injured

It happens way more than you think.

Dog will need to be separated when you leave the house.

Really?

I know multiple people who leave 2 or 3 dogs alone together routinely, and have done it myself continuously for the last 13 or 14 years. We've never had a single fight in that time (at least, never the slightest sign of there having been one).

In fact, amongst my entire and enormous dog-owning acquaintance, I know of exactly one serious fight between dogs left alone together over the course of about thirty years (two intact male JRTs). My younger dog's dam is regularly kennelled with one or two other dogs - no issues there, except that the bossy one is kennelled alone.

Honestly, my two would be distraught to be separated when we go out.

Yes - really @Grumpyosaurus.

There was a woman on here not too long ago who left her three dogs to go to the shops, like she'd done every day for years and years with no issues whatsoever.

Unfortunately on that day, they fought and she came home to a bloodbath and a dead dog.

Of course it's not a common situation but it can happen and the consequences are awful if it does. Some dogs will fight to end the fight but some dogs won't stop and will go to the death. I think this is more common with bitches though.

I know lots of people who leave their dogs and of course they say it's fine but it's always fine until it suddenly isn't.

So much depends on the age, nature and breed of your existing dog.

We took on a 12 week old puppy a couple of years ago (owner realised she couldn't cope). Reactions from our existing dogs were:

12 year old - horrified if pup went anywhere near her (which thankfully it didn't as senior dog was becoming ill then and sadly is no longer with us)

9 year old - not in the slightest bit interested and kept his distance.

3 year old - behaved like all her Xmases had come at once when pup arrived. Very much a 'stand back everyone, this is MY puppy and I'm going raise him' attitude! Wonderful to see. She played with him constantly (which made life easier for us), let him climb all over her, nip her etc. But would let him know when he crossed the line. Two years later they're still inseparable.

Personally I wouldn't get a puppy and leave it alone 4 hours a day. Equally, if you get an older rescue you'd need to take time to settle it in before you leave it any length of time. Rescues can be just as hard as puppies as they often come with issues.

Hmm, I have two, one is a puppy.

I do think four hours is too long to leave a puppy and I agree with PP, I also would not be comfortable leaving the two alone together.

I think a lot depends on the personality of the puppy really, my older one could have coped being left an hour or so early on I think, if you got a puppy like her but had a dog walker or family or friend come in a few times a day it might be okay but you don’t know what personality you are going to get.

My new one definitely couldn’t be left, I haven’t even started to try and train him to be left on his own yet (I’ve had him three weeks!)
He would be incredibly distressed being left for just 10 minutes, let alone 4 hours!

When I got my pup, he went to a lovely woman round the corner who we found on Pawshake, and to my mum on days the Pawshake woman couldn’t manage. Later we arranged daycare. Would you be able to find anyone locally who’d look after the pup for a fee? I paid £12 per day, and daycare was £18 (for full days).