Are 2 dogs wayy more work than 1? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

BuzzardsWife · 06-21-2009, 11:42 PM

we got a new puppy in march, and we are thinking of getting a second one for her to have a friend..and to be with her the 4 hours a day i am gone to work..does anyone recommend this or not recommend this? we are madly in love with our little puppy..do they really need another dog for companionship or is it enough to be with humans?

LGA · 06-21-2009, 11:44 PM

From everything I read (and I did a ton of research on this because I wanted to get my pup a friend right away) it's actually not a good idea to get a second dog before your first dog develops it's own character. From everything I remember reading it's best to wait until your first dog is at least one, that way your first dog is settled and trained. This way your first dog is attached to you and not the other dog.

The Fonz · 06-21-2009, 11:45 PM

Other than buying twice as much dog food and picking up twice as much poop, I don't think it'd be any different.

If/when I get a dog, I'll be buying 2. Dogs aren't like cats, I don't think they should be left alone for too long.

Berger_4_ · 06-21-2009, 11:48 PM

When we got a second dog, it seemed like our other one mellowed out a bit. Of course, we don't have to work very hard with them as they're outside dogs.

IgnitedSoul · 06-22-2009, 12:16 AM

Be prepared for a bit of territorial peeing wars around your house... not guaranteed, but it happened to us with our two. Not pleasant.

We had the female for a couple of years before getting a male. They're not best buds, but the tolerate each other now.

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 06-22-2009, 12:19 AM

We had a great experience with getting a second dog. Our first dog (who just passed away this spring) was a nervous, edgy type, and had some behavior "issues" related to excessive dominance that were a battle for us. As soon as we got a second dog, he calmed right down.

However--two dogs do create a ton of dog poop. Be prepared to start feeling like your main purpose in life is picking up after a couple of canines who like nothing better than to lay a steaming piece of pipe in your path.

rockymountains · 06-22-2009, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuzzardsWife

we got a new puppy in march, and we are thinking of getting a second one for her to have a friend..and to be with her the 4 hours a day i am gone to work..does anyone recommend this or not recommend this? we are madly in love with our little puppy..do they really need another dog for companionship or is it enough to be with humans?

We had an unfixed male chesapeake bay retriever for eight years before my brother got a female golden retriever. It was hard hard on him for about 18 months to having to share the attention with her. He actually did not take it very well. He would become very jealous and acutally do things that he knew he wasn't supposed to just to get attention that he felt he had lost. Once she hit her first heat however he loved her from then on!
Point being, the older they get, the harder it is for them to adapt to a new dog. doing it when they're younger is easier, they bond better!

Cowperson · 06-22-2009, 07:57 AM

We had one female Golden Retriever for a year then accepted a one year-old female Golden owner surrender . . . . . . so, both the same age.

They will both be 11 this summer. We got the second one as company for the first.

They had to figure out which one was dominant initially - you should expect that - but they are good buddies and spend a lot of time with each other, even though they are aging differently and have fairly distinct personalities.

Aside from poop patrol and vacuuming hair, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of extra work. If you're doing something for one, then it's easy to do the thing for two - food, etc.

Obviously, two dogs means twice as much in the way of vet bills.

Keeper, (left) ironically named by her former owners, and Abby live in the country:

Cowperson

BuzzardsWife · 06-22-2009, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowperson

We had one female Golden Retriever for a year then accepted a one year-old female Golden owner surrender . . . . . . so, both the same age.

They will both be 11 this summer. We got the second one as company for the first.

They had to figure out which one was dominant initially - you should expect that - but they are good buddies and spend a lot of time with each other, even though they are aging differently and have fairly distinct personalities.

Aside from poop patrol and vacuuming hair, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of extra work. If you're doing something for one, then it's easy to do the thing for two - food, etc.

Obviously, two dogs means twice as much in the way of vet bills.

Keeper, (left) ironically named by her former owners, and Abby live in the country:

Cowperson

beautiful photo

Peanut · 06-22-2009, 09:11 AM

^^ That is a really beautiful photo.

I think having 2 might actually be less work in some ways (other than the poop thing as already mentioned). Our two dogs are great friends and keep each other entertained and playing all the time, so they're not only turning to us for attention and exercise since they have each other as well.

We did have one for about a year before we got the second. He was about 1.5 years old when the second puppy was 3 months.

shane_c · 06-22-2009, 09:24 AM

Getting a second dog was the best thing we've done. Yes they go through more food and there is more poop around but they have become great friends and it's comforting to know that when we're off at work for the day they have eachother to hang out with.

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 06-22-2009, 10:02 AM

I think the thing to remember here is that dogs are pack animals. Even if they have to sort out dominance at first, they prefer being together to being alone.

The only bad news is that if one dog passes away, you'll notice right away that the other one gets very lonely when you're gone. But I still think that the friendship my two dogs had (an almost poetically uncomplicated companionship) was a very special thing, and was definitely worth all the food and poop.

Just be prepared for a little sticker shock with kennels and the vet.

jam26 · 06-22-2009, 11:00 AM

I think cost will be the biggest difference - especially when it comes time to get their shots and kennel them (if necessary). It's much easier to pawn one dog off friends and family for a night (or more) but two is a whole other matter. So if you travel, you may have to look at kenneling them and that can be quite costly with multiple dogs.

FlamesKickAss · 06-22-2009, 11:12 AM

I have 2 dogs and its great. My oldest was about 3 when we got the 8 week old. They are both labs, they play and play and play. The only time the older one gets really aggressive is when the little one goes near his bones, if he sees her. But at the dog park is the best because my dogs run and play with each other so they exercise each other. The youngest one is split with one of my roommates so makes costs a little bit better.

Dome_Gnome · 06-22-2009, 12:02 PM

We have two dogs and in my experience the work load isn't that much greater but what the second dog has added to the family has been astounding. Our first dog was getting up there in years and was starting to slow down. Once we brought in the new dog the other dog seemed to find new life. Now our older dog is 14 years old and is slowing down for real but we feel that because of the arrival of our second dog we got 4 or 5 more years out of our first dog.

greyshep · 06-22-2009, 01:44 PM

Dont recall it working out so well here...

Fozzie_DeBear · 06-22-2009, 02:08 PM

I've heard that it is best to wait until 1 dog is trained before getting a second dog...

Textcritic · 06-22-2009, 02:11 PM

I don't know if it is necessarily always one way or the other, so much of the dynamics between animals in your household will depend upon individual personality, breeding, and temperment.

Since my wife and I were married almost 16-years-ago we have had five dogs of our own, and have fostered / raised nearly a dozen more (my wife is a professional dog trainer). In our experiences, so much depends upon how a dog behaves with other dogs, and this may be overcome if you do decide to get a second dog while your first is yet very young.

We obtained our second mixed breed dog, "Buddy", as a companion to our first, who was generally very friendly with other dogs. For the duration of the rest of his life, he seemed to "tolerate" the new puppy, and while they grew together as a pack, it was never what I would consider a friendship. Buddy was also always very friendly towards other dogs, but as he aged, he seemed much less tolerant of other dogs in his own household. He was five-years-old when our landlady bought a keeshound puppy, toward whom he was always irritable. When he was nine, we brought home our eight-week-old female Australian Shepherd, "Avalon". He again tolerated her as part of his pack, and would play with her semi-regularly, but their relationship always seemed to be nothing more than familial. Our last two dogs were Borzio: a six-year-old intact male "KOR" who came to live with us when Buddy was twelve, and a five-month-old puppy "Tobias" when he was fourteen. Borzoi tend to be gentle if somewhat aloof. With the first, Buddy challenged for dominance and was trounced, and then they virtually ignored one another. KOR died tragically after only being with us for six months. With Tobias, Buddy never included him as part of the pack, always sought to challenge him for dominance, and until he passed away last year at fifteen, there were regularly dog-fights between all three.

Avalon has a tendency to be dog-agressive; an unfortunate character trait that has prevented her from being anything other than our pet. My wife originally wanted her as a demonstration dog for her training classes, and hoped to do agility, confirmation, obedience and herding trials with her. Because of her reactive nature, she stays at home (Our Borzoi Tobias was hence "promoted" as a result, and now in addition to being a showdog, my wife uses him not only in her classes, but has started training him in agility as well!) Interestingly, where Buddy was highly territorial and prone to only tolerate new additions to the pack, Avalon has been exceptionally friendly. While she remains dog-aggressive, she and Tobias are famous friends. Our tenant added a beagle puppy to the mix, and all three of these dogs are very well attached. However, we have practically guaranteed because of her temperament that we can never have another female dog in our household as long as she is alive.

I mention all of this only to emphasize the point: dog behaviour is complicated, and social groups can be unpredictable. I expect that if both of your dogs are still at least in their adolescence (under three-years of age) when you make changes to the social dynamics in your home, then you will likely not experience any problems beyond the additional daily cost and yard cleanup (cleaning up after three is very labour intensive!) As a rule, dogs who are alone consistently for no more than four hours a day remain happy, healthy and well adjusted. If you do decide to get another dog, sex and breeding should be something that you consider carefully.

Cowperson · 06-22-2009, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuzzardsWife

beautiful photo

Thanks.

They were waiting patiently and intently for some rodent they'd heard to make the big mistake of coming onto their side of the fence.

It's true some dynamics don't work. We tried to introduce an older female Golden into the mix one time and that led to bloodshed and a hasty retreat.

Cowperson

OilKiller · 06-22-2009, 03:40 PM

We had our first dog for quite some time and then not too long ago got a second dog. The first dog went into seclusion almost instantly and changed completely. For various reasons, we had to find a new home for the second dog and now our first dog is back to being himself and couldn't be happier.

Two is not always better than one.

We have a cat as well, but this thread isn't about stupid cats.