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one dog vs. two dogs

Posted: Apr 5, 2013

We have had our tweenie dachshund girl forabout 10 months. She is almost 2 years old. She is dearly loved, so obedient and smart and snuggly. Lately I have been wondering about getting another dog, solely for the purpose of a playmate for her, so she can wrestle and get more exercise during the day. I work at home so a lot of her day she is in her bed beside my desk sleeping, or she looks out the window at the yard and watches for dangerous folks near our yard (haha!), growling and warning us, but not moving a lot.

I wondering just how much harder would it be to care for 2 dogs than just one? If we got another young adult needing rehomed who is already housebroken, one who is also obedient and would play, I think it could be a good thing. Can you share your thoughts, dog lovers?

;

Could be a great idea or a horrible idea - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Years ago, we brought our husky-shepherd mix, General, home when he was about 10 weeks old. He had severe separation anxiety and ruined an entire living room set, drilled a hole into my mattress,and chewed the carpeting down through the foam backing to the plywood. When General was about 10 months old, we brought home Duke, a malinois-shepherd mix, and General never chewed another thing.

Duke and General adored each other. When they started getting on in years, we decided it would be a good idea to get a third dog so that neither General nor Duke would be left alone when the other died. We found Suzie, a 5-year-old female German Shepherd. She had been abused and was skittish, so I went to the shelter every single day for a month to walk her and get her used to me. Towards the end of the month, we brought Duke and General to the shelter to meet Suzie. They stood in the parking lot and could not have been less interested in her. We were glad that at least there didn't seem to be any aggression issues. We had Suzie spayed before we brought her home a week later. As soon as Suzie got on their turf, Duke and General went ballistic and tried to attack her. That night, we had to keep them in separate areas of the house. The next day, we brought her back to the shelter. Happily, Suzie was adopted soon after by a good family, and we like to think we helped make that happen by having her spayed and helping to socialize her.

You can't really know ahead of time if introducing another dog into your home will work. It can be the greatest thing or a very bad idea. Have you considered fostering a dog? That way you can test out the situation before you make the commitment. In any case, good luck to you. Your dachshund sounds very lucky to have you.

We have 3 dogs of varying ages - sm - XXX

[ In Reply To ..]
We have a lab we got as a puppy when we had 2 other dogs, since deceased. Then took in my dad's husky (he was about 5 then) as he no longer had time and my new stepmother-to-be at the time does not like animals (too messy). We already knew the 2 dogs got along so that was not a problem. Then a few years ago got #3, a much smaller dog, also a puppy, a corgi. They are now 9-Lab, 11-husky and 3-Corgi. We had to be very careful introducing the corgi as the husky's natural instinct is pretty much to kill any small animal in his reach. So we gradually would let them play together. Not only was our husky 10x the size and weight, we had to make sure he realized this was a dog...not a squirell or oppossum that he normally would try to catch and kill. So once he learned this was another dog we would let them play more and more. They love to wrestle together. The lab and husky sleep in our dining/utility room area as we also have a cat and need to keep the husky from the cat...the lab could care less about the cat and once my beloved husky dies (I fear in the next year or so ) the lab will have run of the house again, though she is not a huge fan of the corgi (his bud is the husky).

None of our dogs chew by some miracle, we also make sure they have plenty of toys though and give the occasional rawhide for them to chew on. They play daily in our fenced in large back yard too, and go on the occasional walk.

We will probably get another Corgi when we are back down to 2 dogs. I like having two dogs at a time. They have a friend and partner in crime and you don't feel so guilty if you have to go out for the day.

I just would not get too large a breed since you have a small dog, either go the same size or mid-size dog. Obviously have your dog meet them first before you make a final decision too. Enjoy.

My dog - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
We had one dog, a 7-year-old doberman that stays in the house. I wanted a puppy, but my dog is so much like just one of the family, I was scared he would feel left out or something. My dog, like yours, would lay around most of the day, just go out to potty, didn't do too much.

I finally decided to get a puppy and got a boxer puppy. My dobie loves the puppy and the dobie is more energetic and high-spirited than he was before. He now gets on the floor and wrestles around with the pup and they go outside together very often during the day, chasing each other around the yard and actually it has made my dobie act younger.

Also, the boxer was a breeze to potty-train and train in general, I had no problems with her. I was wondering if that was the influence of having an older dog around to "keep her straight" lol, or if she is just a very smart pup, but either way it has worked out great.

I had been wanting a playmate for my rat terrier.... - mom22dogs

[ In Reply To ..]
but wasn't sure I had the up front adoption fee. Then one day a friend told me about a little dog she had seen wandering along a rural road. She was concerned about the little dog but could not take her home because of her dog, and did not want to take her to the shelter (kill shelter). So she drove to the same spot for 2 days taking the dog some food. She told me where the dog was. I went to the spot, and sure enough there she was! She came right to me! I knew I was taking a bit of a chance, but since my rat terrier had been a shelter rescue and had gotten along well with the other dogs there, and since I would be home all day to supervise, I decided to take that chance and brought her home with me. It is almost 2 years later and I still have her. They get along great! Love to play together! BTW I did take her to the vet as soon as I could just to make sure she was healthy.

Oh, and I forgot to mention..... - Mom22dogs

[ In Reply To ..]
.....the stray I took in is a min-pin (probably a mix but looks most like a min-pin), so they are both the same size (small), which is really what I wanted because small dogs tend to live longer.

There is good and bad... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
When our dalmation, Sara, was 11, we decided to get another dal/border collie puppy so that Sara could kind of break in another dog and we were worried Sara was not going to make it much longer and we wanted another dog for our kids. Fast forward 4 years, Sara is still going strong with no signs of slowing down and the puppy is now an 80-pound moron that every day is a new day for. He is loveable and sweet, but you could not find a bigger idiot if you tried. We thought border collies were supposed to be smart, but not this one. The down side is there is double the dog hair, about 3x the dog food, as Buster is a big eater, and of course twice the vet bills. Also in that 4 years I got pregnant and so now I have a toddler added to the mix as well. Thankfully both dogs are very sweet with the baby. We definitely are dog people, but the dog hair and dirt can be maddening. Also, I think Sara really perked up once we got her someone to be in charge of, which she definitely is in charge of Buster. When he first came, I had to give her Benadryl for about a month to mellow her out, but she really loves him now. I do worry that when Sara eventually goes, Buster is going to be lost without her. My husband says never again for 2 dogs, but I know he'll want another one when the time comes.

Two should work - Shipwrecked

[ In Reply To ..]
I had two cairn terriers who got along well, and decided I wanted a border terrier. When I mentioned that to my vet, his comment was "Two make a family, three a pack." I didn't listen to the vet, got the border terrier, and the three of them fought constantly. Major fights!

Dogs - MTforever

[ In Reply To ..]
we have 2 golden retrievers and a lab, 10-1/2 years, 5 years and a 10-month-old golden retriever puppy and never have had any fights or problems at all. All 3 of them play together, wrestle and chase each other. The addition of our 10-month-old pup has also given new life to the 10-1/2 year old. He now plays much more than he used to.

Two are generally better than one - Best Friends

[ In Reply To ..]
I have had many dog pairs. The older have been "role models" to the younger, the younger have kept the older ones more active and fit. They have been each other protectors, companions and playmates. Not long ago, my very old dog had a seizure out in the yard, her companion came and got me to care for her. Not only have the dogs comforted each other, they also comfort you when you inevitably lose one.

Care has to be taken when you introduce your current dog to a new dog. I had some excellent advice from my vet. Usually the established dog will be more dominant. My vet said to make sure I treat her like a queen. Open the door for her first, feed her first, pet her first. It may seem a bit unfair, but they do sometimes want a pack order and my second dog never had a problem letting "the queen" rule.

Also, introduce on "neutral" territory - Best Friends

[ In Reply To ..]
Also, my vet suggested letting the dogs meet on neutral territory, so we met the new dog and previous owners in a public park, and since both dogs were in unknown territory, there was no turf to protect.

Playmate - Sunshine State MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I used to have 3 little girl dogs. I had to put 2 of them down; one was unexpected in October and the other from old age in March.

I have 1 little MinPin left and she does the same as your little girl during the day. She actually sleeps on my desk on her pillow next to the window. Like you, I work a lot also, and she sleeps most of the time because she has nobody to play with.

I think it would be a good thing for you to get another one. My thoughts would be for you to get another smaller dog and before you do that see if you can bring your dog to the newer dog and see how they act with each other.

I don't feel it is harder to care for 2 dogs versus 1. They need a buddy just like we do. I'm planning on going to one of our shelters soon and taking a small dog home.

Keep us informed.

one dog vs. two dogs - annie

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you all so much for your excellent advice! We are still talking about it and I am looking at shelter dogs online. One thing we have to consider is that my husband does have allergies. He has done great with our doxie, though, so I think it might be best to stick with another short-haired doxie like her.
You all are so helpful! God bless you!

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