Is there much of a difference going from one dog to two?

[rafiki]

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[Mynyel]

Depends on the dogs. If you are are already familiar with the breed it probably wouldn't be a problem. However..... :) In our case it was a bad mistake. We have a border collie/lab mix and he is smart! (Well as dogs go :tongue_smilie:) He was our first dog and we love him dearly. We adopted a second dog (long story there) and he is a basset hound/terrier mix. O.M.G. I can honestly say I don't like a dog. I do not like bassets. I have looked them up and this dog has the tpical basset temperment...stubborn, afraid of everything and dense as a box of hammers.

 

Had I known then what I know now, we would still only have one dog.

[kalanamak]

Headstrong dogs can have conflict, but the usual problem is that they bond and tune you out. However, you said Pug. I've known 3 pug pairs (one on my street) that do just fine. Well, one was a Pug/Puggle pair.

[Shelly in IL]

We love our 2 dogs. It was an easy transition for us.

[WiseOwlKnits]

Not anymore than going from 1 kid to 2. ;)

 

Honestly, I've had 1, 2, and 3 dogs. I now have one and will never have more than 1 again. Only dogs are much more people centered. Multiple dogs form a pack and are more concerned with their other dogs than with their people. I've heard this from a few other people too.

[ladydusk]

In my experience, 2 dogs is easier than 1. Our Yellow Lab truly became the "big dog" when we got our "part Golden" pup this winter. They entertain each other (and wear each other out). If we didn't have a fenced yard, I wouldn't be so happy with the arrangement, but I or the children can just send them outside when they get, er, rambunctious.

[mom4him]

Our pup is almost a year and a half now. She loves other dogs when we are out and we all still "fight" over our turn with her. We're tempted to get her a play mate.

 

Aside from having double the expenses, what else is there to consider?

 

We'd likely get another Pug. Is she at a good age to do this?

 

Does it matter if we get a male or female?

 

Do you crate them seperately when you are away?

 

We travel frequently, but have always taken the dog with us.

 

I can't picture it being much different with two dogs.

 

Do most dogs do better with another dog or solo?

Well, we went from 1 dog(Australian Shepherd) to 3 dogs(added 2 labradoodles). They get along great, love each other and their people, sleep together in a very large crate, etc. The biggest change is you have a LOT more doo to pick up in the yard, and a lot more ears to rub when they are needing attention. LOL

We do NOT regret adding the two Labradoodles at all.

We do not travel though and they stay at home when we go to town or anywhere else. The labradoodles love going in the car but the AS has to be physically carried/lifted into the car. She hates it.

[sandellie4]

We've had two dogs for years and then added a third one (the third one is old and blind and needed a safe dog/people pack; in the past, we've always had just two). I love having multiple dogs.

 

We do always make sure that they get along passably before we add one for a trial period. If they don't show a bad response to each other -- jockeying for position, jealousy, a bit of growling to establish limits with each other, etc. are all normal, but I'm not comfortable with dogs that do any fighting. If we're comfortable that we can work with the two dogs, we put the new one in a pen in our living room for the first few days to get everyone acclimated, so the first dog and the new dog can get to know each other in a nonthreatening way. Once the second dog is out of the pen, there is a lot of limit setting between them, some growling, etc., but the hierarchy has always worked itself out. We crate them separately when we leave in the beginning, but within a few months we can usually let them both have the run of the house while we're gone.

 

My favorite thing is sitting back in the evening and seeing how they relate to each other. I guess they're less human oriented, but all of ours are always seeking our attention, too, so we don't feel left out or slighted.

 

Sandy

[Remudamom]

Very possible that they'll become tuned in to each other instead of you. I have to compete with our alpha dog to get our others to listen to me. Too much work.

[Peela]

We love it. My dog is a middle sized, placid to the extreme, tending to overweight mixture of a dog. She is about 5 now. Easy to the extreme. Doesn't bark. Sleeps mostly. Loves her walks though.

Dh bought himself a jack russell cross maltese and she is a ball of energy, hyper, barks, always wants to be in your lap and if you stop patting her she will wriggle till you start again. Very demanding dog! But...loveable and cute too. She has actually been a great companion to our other dog because they have such different temperaments and Little Dog (yes, we call her that) jumps all over India and keeps her active, which is good for her. Probably annoys her to pieces but you couldn't tell.

So, in our case...it has been a good thing and dh adores his little friend, who also adores him- they are bonded and he takes her everywhere. India sits in our school room and just sleeps all day.

India sleeps outside. Little Dog sleeps in a crate inside (otherwise she barks).

[lauracolumbus]

Well we started out w/2 dogs (against my sister's (the humane society uber volunteer) recommendation), and it has been great. They have each other all the time (they're brothers), but they have also bonded w/us--despite my sis' warnings. I love watching them play together--it is so entertaining, and it is nice knowing that they have each other when we're busy w/other things. I often feel sorry for other dogs now--I wonder what they do all day alone.

 

Downside:

cost, poop, training is more difficult (we're still working on keeping them from jumping on guests--it is quite the challenge), they do fight for our attention just like kids, finding someone to watch them is so much harder.

 

We do crate them separately--we didn't at first, but they got big and seem to enjoy their own space. Going on vacation is our biggest challenge, but we'll wait til they're a bit older to try boarding them. We did have a dog sitter when we went to the convention.

 

Overall, it's been a great experience, but ours were brothers. And they possibly both fight/get along better b/c of it.

 

Laurab

Edited May 16, 2010 by lauracolumbus

[Heather in the Kootenays]

Yes, it changes. At our house, we get three times the barking because one is always setting the other off. I've heard others say that two dogs are way more likely to roam than one dog.

 

In our case, having two is OK but adding a third really changes things. We've had different third dogs (babysitting other dogs) and although the exact details change, adding that third dog brings out all sorts of bad behavior.

[Jann in TX]

I MUCH prefer having 2.

 

We had our first dog (a female rescue close to 1y old) for about 1 year before we got our next puppy--a male. She was a great dog before but was an even BETTER dog with a friend. I trained the dogs separately AND together... no more trouble for us really (and our dogs are always BIG).

 

When the first dog was getting old (few months left to live) we introduced a new puppy. I almost wish we would have waited... but they did fine. The second dog died (old age/cancer) when the puppy was 1yr old. We went about 3 months with only him...then we got our 4th puppy===back to 2 dogs again.

 

When we introduced the puppy to our 3rd dog it was like he suddenly woke up! 'Yot got me a puppy!'... they were best friends from day 1.

 

Sadly we just lost our 3rd dog (he had congenital kidney issues that we did not find out about until too late) and for the last 2 weeks we have been back to 1 dog. The 4th dog has been OK but VERY clingy without his friend... squirrel hunting is just NOT the same without a friend to share the experience with!

 

This afternoon our 5th dog--a rescue-- will be joining our family. She hit it off immediately with our 4th dog.

 

We have had the following pairs: (pair order in dominance)

 

Female/Male

Male/Male

Male/Female

 

We were fine with all groupings--BUT the mixed pairs seemed to get along better--(not as much competing).

 

For what its worth our dogs have all been German Shepherds (well first dog was a Shepherd/Corgi mix--GREAT combo!).