so maybe “psa” isn’t quite the right tag for this, not sure. but i know there is a lot of back and forth about the idea of adopting a second dog for the purpose of being a companion to your first. understandably it can be somewhat controversial, but if anyone was thinking about it, i thought i’d share my mostly positive experience doing so.
adopted buck as a puppy. i won’t say he has anxiety, but he was definitely very scared of new things (wouldn’t cross thresholds or walk up any stairs for months and had to be carried, hesitant and reserved around new people, etc). he’s the kind of dog where every emotion he has shows in his eyes as well. so it was very very clear that when he was alone while we were at work, he was really sad and bored.
we adopted a cat around six months after we got him, because we wanted another pet but weren’t sure about two dogs in our somewhat small house, and we hoped the added bonus would be that she would keep him occupied during the day. she is a fantastic cat and we adore her and she adores people. but her and buck do NOT like each other. so in a way, yes she helped keep him occupied during the day as we hoped, albeit not necessarily as a friend. regardless, we loved having her around.
however, we noticed that although buck was clearly more occupied during the day since dottie (the cat) came around, his anxiety hadn’t lessened at all and he was on edge/overly protective most of the time. dottie constantly being a bitch to him and getting aggressive when he wanted time with his people definitely didn’t help.
our situation changed somewhat, and almost exactly a year after we got him we decided to get another puppy. within a week after bringing her home, buck’s attitude did a total 180. well, he still had his reservations about things, but he started being so much braver and bolder for the sake of his sister. he’s very smart, very loving, very much an old soul even since he was a baby. frankly he gave us the easiest “puppy stage” i’ve ever heard of. delta dawn (the little one) was a different story. genuinely could not figure out if she was just being a puppy or if she was actually stupid for a long while lol.
fast forward a little bit to now, buck is 2.5 and delta is 1.5 and i can honestly say that adopting delta is the absolute best thing we could have done for buck. he has changed from a scared, lonely, clingy, needy, sad little guy into a brave, tolerant, playful protector. frankly, he’s been the biggest help with training delta. since her first day home, all she wants to do is copy buck.
so i know that it’s a toss up when one gets a second pet for the sake of the first one, as i saw with my cat lol, but i wanted to share my success story with my two dogs and how having each other has positively influenced both of their lives. in case anyone was debating and wanted any external input.
ETA: there was a breakup and dottie (cat) stayed with my ex and buck and delta dawn (the dogs) live with me now for the last five months.
adopted buck as a puppy. i won’t say he has anxiety, but he was definitely very scared of new things (wouldn’t cross thresholds or walk up any stairs for months and had to be carried, hesitant and reserved around new people, etc). he’s the kind of dog where every emotion he has shows in his eyes as well. so it was very very clear that when he was alone while we were at work, he was really sad and bored.
we adopted a cat around six months after we got him, because we wanted another pet but weren’t sure about two dogs in our somewhat small house, and we hoped the added bonus would be that she would keep him occupied during the day. she is a fantastic cat and we adore her and she adores people. but her and buck do NOT like each other. so in a way, yes she helped keep him occupied during the day as we hoped, albeit not necessarily as a friend. regardless, we loved having her around.
however, we noticed that although buck was clearly more occupied during the day since dottie (the cat) came around, his anxiety hadn’t lessened at all and he was on edge/overly protective most of the time. dottie constantly being a bitch to him and getting aggressive when he wanted time with his people definitely didn’t help.
our situation changed somewhat, and almost exactly a year after we got him we decided to get another puppy. within a week after bringing her home, buck’s attitude did a total 180. well, he still had his reservations about things, but he started being so much braver and bolder for the sake of his sister. he’s very smart, very loving, very much an old soul even since he was a baby. frankly he gave us the easiest “puppy stage” i’ve ever heard of. delta dawn (the little one) was a different story. genuinely could not figure out if she was just being a puppy or if she was actually stupid for a long while lol.
fast forward a little bit to now, buck is 2.5 and delta is 1.5 and i can honestly say that adopting delta is the absolute best thing we could have done for buck. he has changed from a scared, lonely, clingy, needy, sad little guy into a brave, tolerant, playful protector. frankly, he’s been the biggest help with training delta. since her first day home, all she wants to do is copy buck.
so i know that it’s a toss up when one gets a second pet for the sake of the first one, as i saw with my cat lol, but i wanted to share my success story with my two dogs and how having each other has positively influenced both of their lives. in case anyone was debating and wanted any external input.
ETA: there was a breakup and dottie (cat) stayed with my ex and buck and delta dawn (the dogs) live with me now for the last five months.
