1 or 2 dogs
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lillyblossom85
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@lillyblossom85 What are the biggest differences from 1 to 2?
michellebenahayah
New member
@fud10 I've thought about getting a playmate for my doggo, so I, too, am interested in what people have to say.
What I see when looking at friends with more than one dog, is that walks take longer, or you don't get that far in the same amount of time. Because two dogs have different things to sniff on and take turns in hanging back somewhere to do a more thorough investigation.
Also, if one dog starts barking or howling at home, the other will join in. More trips to the vet. More difficult to find sitters / walkers. More drama about toys.
What I see when looking at friends with more than one dog, is that walks take longer, or you don't get that far in the same amount of time. Because two dogs have different things to sniff on and take turns in hanging back somewhere to do a more thorough investigation.
Also, if one dog starts barking or howling at home, the other will join in. More trips to the vet. More difficult to find sitters / walkers. More drama about toys.
@michellebenahayah Good points! Yeah our little poochie lived with another dog in her old home. And we see that when we have friends here with their dogs she is happy. But we need to be able to tend to them both too.
@fud10 I went from 1 to 2 (older girl mixed breed and new puppy Doberman) with not much change other than the standard puppy stuff. The new puppy was very high energy, so there were lots of walks, dog parks, and less sleep. When the puppy was about 10 months, we adopted another puppy, that actually wasn’t much of a change. We were already in puppy mode.
The biggest plus was that the two puppies entertained each other. Training is a little harder, but if you have an older one that knows the ropes, it isn’t so bad. Eventually got divorced, good friend took the older dog, ex took the youngest dog, and I eventually got another puppy.
Last thought. Don’t get two puppies at the same time. They become strangely dependent and it makes life much harder.
The biggest plus was that the two puppies entertained each other. Training is a little harder, but if you have an older one that knows the ropes, it isn’t so bad. Eventually got divorced, good friend took the older dog, ex took the youngest dog, and I eventually got another puppy.
Last thought. Don’t get two puppies at the same time. They become strangely dependent and it makes life much harder.
@fud10 I completely understand the moving thing! I don’t know how high energy your dog is, but the biggest problem people have with them is not enough time running. The old adage, a tired dog is a good dog, is so very true. I have found that burning off the first level of energy helps a lot with training.
@sharla She is not extremely high energy. But we go on 4-5 walks a day. One a bit longer and one with a toy where we let her play on a field.
But I agree, training is much better when she is tired.
Just Kinda sad when our alone-training was going great before. And now she gets anxious when one of us is out and The other goes to the bathroom.
So we are starting from -10
(She was alone for hours before)
But I agree, training is much better when she is tired.
Just Kinda sad when our alone-training was going great before. And now she gets anxious when one of us is out and The other goes to the bathroom.
So we are starting from -10
(She was alone for hours before)
jasonspaulding01
New member
@fud10 Went from 1 to 2 when I met my now husband. Not a big deal. Then we lost 1 and rescued 3, so now we’re at 4. They’re all about 20 lb, so I think it makes a difference that they are small. Things are a little more chaotic, there is always a dog underfoot and in he way, food and vet bills have gone up, but our biggest problem is that when you pet one, they all want pets and we don’t have enough laps/hands.
Edit: to answer your question - one to two was just adjusting to spaces (only dog has to share its beds and toys), some food aggression, food and vet bills, but otherwise, not much major changes. Once you have the routine with the one, you just add the other dog to the same routine.
Edit: to answer your question - one to two was just adjusting to spaces (only dog has to share its beds and toys), some food aggression, food and vet bills, but otherwise, not much major changes. Once you have the routine with the one, you just add the other dog to the same routine.
@fud10 When I had 2 dogs I was just twice as tired, lol.
Training the younger one is always easier if the older knows some commands, as they learn by following the other often times.
I say I agree with the scheduling, as I'm pretty low energy, (health reasons,) so I take naps everyday. I just moved my naps to specific time of day, went into the living room with my dogs, and we had family nap time everyday. They seemed to like it a lot, lol.
Only potential issue is jealousy and their personalities. Just like people, some dogs simply don't get along. It wasn't as hard for me to train my dogs to tolerate each other, (it was actually my dog and my sister's dog back then. She has a bad habit of adopting dogs with poor behavior and refusing to train them in lieu of crating 24/7/365), so they didn't fight, but it is always a possibility. Not a huge one mind you, but it can happen. Not sure if it's a dominance issue or what, but again, never had that problem because either way they answer to me and we're a family and don't fight each other. shrug
I would like to mention, however, I found that 1 dog is much easier if you're one person. Sounds like a no-brainer, but why have 2 hands and NOT have 2 dogs to pet? Pace yourself a bit with the first dog and once you feel you've got a great handle on it, get a second if you wish!
Note: This has been my experience with puppies. Adult dogs are significantly easier. And by "puppies", I mean very small pups. Within their first year of life.
Training the younger one is always easier if the older knows some commands, as they learn by following the other often times.
I say I agree with the scheduling, as I'm pretty low energy, (health reasons,) so I take naps everyday. I just moved my naps to specific time of day, went into the living room with my dogs, and we had family nap time everyday. They seemed to like it a lot, lol.
Only potential issue is jealousy and their personalities. Just like people, some dogs simply don't get along. It wasn't as hard for me to train my dogs to tolerate each other, (it was actually my dog and my sister's dog back then. She has a bad habit of adopting dogs with poor behavior and refusing to train them in lieu of crating 24/7/365), so they didn't fight, but it is always a possibility. Not a huge one mind you, but it can happen. Not sure if it's a dominance issue or what, but again, never had that problem because either way they answer to me and we're a family and don't fight each other. shrug
I would like to mention, however, I found that 1 dog is much easier if you're one person. Sounds like a no-brainer, but why have 2 hands and NOT have 2 dogs to pet? Pace yourself a bit with the first dog and once you feel you've got a great handle on it, get a second if you wish!
Note: This has been my experience with puppies. Adult dogs are significantly easier. And by "puppies", I mean very small pups. Within their first year of life.
@jharnack Thanks for the reply!
Yes we will have to train our pooch a bit more. She is 1.5 now. Once we feel like we have her well behaving on walks and so on we will look to get her a friend. She is so happy when we have other dogs here. So it would be fun to be able to do that for her. As long as they get along
Yes we will have to train our pooch a bit more. She is 1.5 now. Once we feel like we have her well behaving on walks and so on we will look to get her a friend. She is so happy when we have other dogs here. So it would be fun to be able to do that for her. As long as they get along
@fud10 We went from 1 to 2, back to 1, and now we have 2 again. It really depends on your dog and the dog you bring into your home. Our first dog right from the get go was about as perfect as a dog gets. Quiet, calm, house trained, listened well. She was so quiet you'd forget she was even in the house half the time. Then we found Rosie on the side of the road with her brother (the brother went to live with my sister) Rosie was about 6 months old, had zero training, was clearly traumatized, and had a tendency to be very destructive. Crate training was an absolute must, even thought our other dog didn't even have a crate. She still doesn't know basic commands because she's incredibly difficult to motivate (food anxiety issues) but we survived the first couple years and she's a great dog now. Our older dog passed in the fall and we decided to bring a puppy into the family for Rosie and it was absolutely love at first sight. Rosie is so patient and gentle and you can tell her quality of life has improved 100%. They spend so much time playing together and really keep each other entertained. For me crate training, a fenced yard, and basic manners are the keys. We don't even use the crates for more then an hour or so once or twice a month, but just having the ability to use it when you need it is so freeing, especially with the puppy. And being able to put them in the yard together and just let them run makes a huge difference. We didn't have the fenced yard when Rosie was a puppy and it was a huge PIA. If you're thinking about adopting a dog that's a little bit older you might be able to skip the whole destructive puppy chewing house training nonsense. So our first dog would have been perfectly content to be an only dog forever, but it seems like Rosie really needs a companion.
@xd005 Sounds like you did a really great job with Rosie!
In sweden its extremely rare with abandoned dogs(thank god)
We really need to make sure they get along. Our Luna gets along with everyone so far at least.
We dont have a garden unfortunately. But we go on walkies 4-5 Times a day and at least on of them is a playwalkie with toys on a big field.
In sweden its extremely rare with abandoned dogs(thank god)
We really need to make sure they get along. Our Luna gets along with everyone so far at least.
We dont have a garden unfortunately. But we go on walkies 4-5 Times a day and at least on of them is a playwalkie with toys on a big field.