People with two or more dog's

[Maybebaby8]

Did you find there was much difference going from one to two? Obviously I know there is a financial difference.

But more do you find it harder? We are considering in the not too distant future to maybe get a second when our now puppy is older, but wanted to hear the pros/cons from people who have done it

I have two. At first it’s harder because you have to make sure the puppy (if it’s a puppy) gets a space to sleep.

My older one adored the puppy and treated it as her own. Even came into milk for her to suckle off, which she did

I am lucky that my two get on so well. They do everything together such as sleeping together and will even eat out of each other’s bowls without complaints

This is one thing you need to be careful about. The newer dog might get aggressive towards the first and vice versus

I've had three at once before and now have two . My older boy has been a godsend with the new puppy as the puppy just followed him and so I didn't need to housetrain etc older boy is a perfect nanny lol I'd say go for it and tbh once you have two you don't notice three or four dogs if you have the space and money , they just entertain themselves so would wear out playing x

I have a small and a medium sized dog. Both males and 12 months between them. I would have a third if I could afford the insurance! No extra work really, you walk one so one extra is fine. I feed my dogs in separate rooms as one has food obsession. They both sleep on the bed with me, single and content. I would say the most important thing after the financial implications are to make sure the first dog is calm and accepting of other dogs. For the additional dog choose a known non aggressive breed and if you have from a puppy all should be well.

My two happily sleep next to each other

We have 2 but will stick at one when oldest passes on. We love them and they are well behaved but there are drawbacks with 2- it's not just the expense eg

-harder to get holiday accommodation in UK that allows 2 (1 is fine)

• practicalities of going to the pub/ socialising with 1 v 2
• impact on visitors of 2 (even when well behaved)
• during training, remembering to shut them away when postman/ delivery workers etc call is more complicated

-walking them on your own is fine when they are older and well behaved, but more challenging when young- esp if you have kids too.

• How house proud are you?
• some breeds are smelly/ drooly
• double poop scooping is never fun.

etc In short, you have to balance fun with more hassle.

Thank you @Cuckoochime these are things I wouldn't have thought of regarding holidays etc, I would just assume most places would be happy to take on two dog's.

It wouldn't be for a while but have considered how integrating might work. I like a tidy house but can deal with a bit of mud and so on. We would get another of the same breed as we are so happy with it

When ddog was 3 we got a dpuppy. A month later another one.
4 years later an older ddog.
Ddog1 sadly had to be pts.
Got a dpuppy just before she went.
4 now and no more. Dh's words. Not mine!

We have two, and we have had three.

Juggling different ages can be tricky - though we ended up just taking the very old dog on the day's shortest walk.

The main advice I'd give is to make sure that your existing dog is trained to the standard that you want before you add a puppy, unless you have loads of time and space.

Be cautious when you first introduce them - try to go for neutral ground. Our current two love each other and very rarely sleep apart.

Happy days!

I find dogs like children. The difference between one and two is stark. The difference between two and twenty is minimal

Negatives (apart from expense)

Sometimes Dog1 hates Dog2 and feels jealous. We had a collie go absolutely over the top in putting the new collie pup in her place. We had got Dog2 because Dog1 had come from a huge breeder/rescue situation with lots of dogs runninh about together, and we thought she was lonely. Not a bit of it. She spent the next eight years mostly ignoring and periodically bullying the little one.

When Dog1 dies, Dog2 will likely pine. It compounds your own heartbreak.

If Dog1 has any bad habits, be very sure that they will impart them to Dog2.

Walks will be awkward for a long while as the pup may not be up to doing what the older dog does till it's perhaps a year old. So you will need someone else to mind the little one while you walk the big one.

If one is a guts, both feeding and treat training can be awkward.

We got a second dog just before our oldest turned 3. At first it felt like a massive leap as the 3 year old had finally matured and calmed down and we found ourselves back in the puppy madness. For the first year they need different length walks, feeding on different schedules, etc.

But, I love our second dog so much, and luckily so does our older dog. They are so good with each other, and just watching them curled up sleeping together melts my heart. Our life was infinitely more peaceful with just one, but less fun.

Now our second dog is 3, we are considering dog number 3!

We have two, I don’t regret it but at the same time I don’t think we will have two again (at least not for a while, about to have our first baby! Maybe once she’s grown up and moved out 😂) It is surprisingly hard to find holiday accommodation that will allow two dogs, even many campsites say one dog per pitch!

We have 2 brothers from the same litter and it was the best decision ever.

They get on amazingly well and in their 8 years on this earth there’s never been a cross word between them.

We have 3.

Financially it's a lot more expensive, food, treats, vets, insurance.
Lots more dog poo in the garden.
Difficulty booking some holidays etc.
Dog boarding more expensive if you go away without them.
Lots more dog hair.

If you can put up with that, the actual ownership is fine. They all love each other, training a puppy with other dogs can be difficult as they distract the puppy, but I found things like house training was easier as they do watch the older dogs. They will form a pack and some people have said they love and attach to each other and not their humans, but I've not seen that with ours

I think 2 is the easiest number of dogs. Now if you get 3 they are more pack like and it makes no difference if you have 3 or 13.
So I’d go for a second just make sure you have a decent age gap so you don’t end up with two oldies at once and no one left to bring a new puppy on

Honestly go for it as long as you can afford it. I have 7 dogs of my own plus I foster so always have extra here. Going from one to two dogs can take some adjustment at first but it will become very normal very fast.

I think 1-2 was the hardest but I still prefer it to having one. I’m at 3 now.

2 isn’t too hard. Most holiday places accept 2 (3 not so much)
I find walking 2 easy. One in each hand. I did attend a lot of training with both though.

They play together and always have eachother if I pop out, it’s loving coming home and seeing them cuddled up together.

We've had two. They were great together, played for hours and just enjoyed each other company.

Draw backs included
Having to get a bigger car to transport 2
Pup will learn from Ddog which is great but make sure Ddog is trained to how you want them to be as pup will learn -ve behaviors as well as +ve ones.
Loose lead walking with 2 is hard until they are both older
Lots of rough and tumble in the house

@Pinkbendyman

We have 2 brothers from the same litter and it was the best decision ever.

They get on amazingly well and in their 8 years on this earth there’s never been a cross word between them.

I would be careful of doing this OP, it can lead to littermate syndrome where they either ignore commands or they can end up fighting. Been known to fight to the death so you end up keeping them separate. Don't have to be littermates, can happen if there is less than 18 months between them.

We are in the middle of a lot of what is described above. We added a 4 month old pup to our home with a 3 year old dog. It’s been a tough adjustment, adult dog behaves exactly as we would like and getting pup felt very back to square one. Pup is now 8.5 months old and becoming an unruly teenager. Although they love to play and chase each other pup doesn’t have much of an off switch so very key older dog has somewhere quiet to get some peace. Walks are a nightmare if only one of us can take them out as puppy pulls like a steam train and working on this is constant. We’ve come a long way from how pup was at 4 months but still a long way to go before they mature. I would say older dog is still adjusting to the change. There’s been a few corrections towards the pup (always appropriate) but no aggression or resource issues thankfully. Adult dog has been amazingly tolerant but I think they will be even better once pup gets all the crazy puppy days out of their system. I think for us we remind ourselves that adult dog took time to become the dog they are now and not lose sight of that.

Two is the ideal number of dogs in my experience, and three starts to be a pack. The dynamic changes.

We usually have 2 dogs. When we had one for about 5 years after one died our old girl was about 16. In part because we could bear the thought of not having any dogs we decided to have another puppy. Once the old girl deigned to acknowledge her she adored the puppy and it gave her a massive new lease of life for her last 2 years. We then got another puppy and the dogs are absolutely best friends. Sleep curled up. The positives are they play together, don't get lonely, you get a dog cuddle from all sides. They are hilariously jealous of each other if we baby one of them. Downsides are money, no one will take them both if we go away, and the bloody fur that is everywhere.

My favourite moment was when the very competitive, ball-obsessed old girl "taught" the first pup how to get a ball. It was like when you let a small child "win" a race. She ran to the ball and pushed it to the pup. Once the pup had learnt how to get it, the old dog went back to full competitive mode. Amazing to watch.

I agree walking 3 is very different.
When I have 2 they are very chilled and non reactive but 3 they start to get bolshy and pushy with other dogs.

All 3 individually are lovely and in any combination or a pair are also lovely but 3 seems to tip them over the edge