Lurker w/a question: Adding a 2nd dog (kind of long) UPDATE

[aweilba]

I don't frequently post over here (I'm typically on the H&G board), but I have posted a few times over the past couple of years.  I'm hoping I can get some good advice about the possibility of adding a second dog to our family.  

I'll start by giving you a little background on our family situation right now.  Our dog, Zeke, really loves being around other dogs and playing with them.  He is a pittie rescue we adopted three years ago, and he is now 6 years old.  We used to take Zeke to doggie daycare 2-3 times per week, but then he got bitten pretty badly by another dog in June and he was home with me for the entire summer. We don't blame the daycare at all for the bite; they're animals, and this kind of thing happens.  The daycare handled the situation extremely quickly and very well, and even paid for a majority of the vet bills from the incident.  Zeke loves daycare, so we had him visit everybody out there a few days after the bite to see if he was still comfortable (our vet's suggestion), and he was so excited to go back.  However, we had to wait for his wound to completely heal before he could go back to daycare for an all-day stay. We've now taken him back several times since his tail has now completely healed.

When we were frequently taking Zeke to daycare pre-bite incident, he re-developed some bad habits that he had when we originally adopted him: accidents in the house, humping (yeah...). Once we stopped taking him after he was bitten while he healed, those habits completely disappeared.  Those habits also disappear whenever he is away from daycare for an extend period of time, like my Christmas/Spring breaks.  When we took him back to daycare last week, he is now having accidents in the house again. DH is convinced this is because Zeke can just go where and when he wants at daycare and he gets home, thinking this is okay at home too.

DH suggested that maybe we look for a buddy for Zeke so that he can have that companionship he gets when he plays at doggie daycare, without reintroducing bad habits. I love the idea of adopting another dog, but I'm worried that Zeke may not like having a buddy around always and forever in his space. I got a new teaching job this year that gives me more time at home and it pays better than my previous job, so we aren't worried about the extra time/money commitment a second dog would require. Zeke loves it when we watch my parents' dog, Gemma, who is the same age/size as Zeke; they are best buds and play all day, then crash at night. He shares his toys happily with her, and shares us with her, too, as long as he can cuddle with one of us while she cuddles with the other.  The longest we've watched Gemma has been a week, and Zeke doesn't ever seem to get sick of having her around.  If we adopted another dog, we would be looking for another pittie because we adore the breed.  We'd also probably be looking for a female.  

We will obviously think long and hard about this situation because Zeke is our first dog and we want to do what's best for him.  But if you have any advice or personal experiences in the matter of adding a second dog to the family, I'd love to hear it.  Thanks!

[G22]

This got long....I apologize!

We have 3 dogs. We adopted our German shepherd from a family who had 3 dogs, he was the last and biggest one and they couldn't handle him. Because all he had known was a family with other dogs and kids, he came to us and we had no other dogs and no kids. Cue major separation anxiety when we left the house! He tore up the carpet at the door we left through, he broke a lattice in our window seat. He wasn't good as an only dog. We even crated him, and he Houdini-ed his way out all the time!

So after doing some research, 7 months later we adopted a husky from the shelter. She was a perfect fit! Our GSD stopped being so neurotic and we haven't seen the separation anxiety since. We already knew the GSD was great with other dogs. We also took him to play with my parents GSD and she hated other dogs but loved him. We found out from the shelter the husky was good with other dogs. We probably should have had them meet first but we lucked out in that they were best friends from the moment we brought her home.

A few years later we adopted a 3rd dog, a hound mix. Adding him to the mix was a little harder. He was a 4 month old pup when we got him and he's a spunky little thing. He came in wanting to be "top dog" which wasn't about to happen. Our husky is top dog and wasn't about to give it up to the new dog. All 3 dogs got along great from the start, but the new little hound challenged our husky a few times and they got into a few nasty fights in the first 4-6 months.

By the time we brought the hound home, the other 2 dogs were old enough that we didn't crate them anymore. No more destroying stuff! We did crate the hound for awhile when we weren't home, for safety issues.

But we have had him now for 2 years and he's no longer crated, no longer picks fights with the husky and they have figured out the dynamic in the pack. For us going from 1 to 2 dogs was slightly harder. But definitely not enough to scare us from adding a 3rd one obviously.

It sounds like you guys are definitely going about this the right way. I think your pup might definitely benefit from a sibling!

[dexteroni]

Based on how well he does when you watch your mom's dog, I think he would do great with a buddy at home. I would try to go through a rescue that allows a trial period, in case it doesn't work out. But I bet it will.

We got Quincy when Dexter was 10, and that was hard at first. Dexter always got along well with other dogs, but he was past the age where he wanted another dog in his house initially, especially since Quincy was a baby puppy. They didn't fight or anything, but Dexter avoided Quincy as much as possible. But after a few months, he came to love him, and some of Dexter's anxious quirks began to disappear, like paw licking and being nervous at the vet. And when his health was declining, Quincy was a huge source of comfort for him. My point is that if a dog who at first was all "oh hell no" about having a second dog in the house grew to love him, Zeke will most likely be a-ok.

And not all adjustments will take that long. After Dexter passed away, we got Sadie as a friend for Quincy. Their adjustment period took about an hour. lol. Seriously, they've been best buddies since the word go, they cuddle with each other and separately with us, they do play together at doggy day care, and they tire each other out at home, which is awesome. We're hoping that once Sadie is out of the puppy stage, we can reduce their day care from two days a week to one, since they get so much exercise at home now.

Also, regarding the bad habits - does your doggy day care offer any training? Having a trainer work with Zeke while he's there might help curb his habits, since that seems to be where he develops them. But "knowing" another dog who doesn't have those habits may very well help too. Good luck!

[aweilba]

Sept 9, 2013 10:50:39 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Based on how well he does when you watch your mom's dog, I think he would do great with a buddy at home. I would try to go through a rescue that allows a trial period, in case it doesn't work out. But I bet it will.

We got Quincy when Dexter was 10, and that was hard at first. Dexter always got along well with other dogs, but he was past the age where he wanted another dog in his house initially, especially since Quincy was a baby puppy. They didn't fight or anything, but Dexter avoided Quincy as much as possible. But after a few months, he came to love him, and some of Dexter's anxious quirks began to disappear, like paw licking and being nervous at the vet. And when his health was declining, Quincy was a huge source of comfort for him. My point is that if a dog who at first was all "oh hell no" about having a second dog in the house grew to love him, Zeke will most likely be a-ok.

And not all adjustments will take that long. After Dexter passed away, we got Sadie as a friend for Quincy. Their adjustment period took about an hour. lol. Seriously, they've been best buddies since the word go, they cuddle with each other and separately with us, they do play together at doggy day care, and they tire each other out at home, which is awesome. We're hoping that once Sadie is out of the puppy stage, we can reduce their day care from two days a week to one, since they get so much exercise at home now.

Also, regarding the bad habits - does your doggy day care offer any training? Having a trainer work with Zeke while he's there might help curb his habits, since that seems to be where he develops them. But "knowing" another dog who doesn't have those habits may very well help too. Good luck!

That's so good to know that Dexter's anxious quirks started to disappear!  Zeke has been put on "puppy Prozac" a few times for anxiety.  He licks at the old scar on his paw that he got from being hit by a car before we adopted him.  Poor guy has metal screws and such in that paw.  Whenever he gets nervous (thunderstorms, when we are about to leave, etc.) he will lick and lick at that scar.  If we aren't home and he hasn't gotten meds, he will lick and break the skin open!  Some research on adding a second dog to the family suggests that it might help with anxiety for the first dog.  That's one reason we are really considering adopting another!

In terms of the daycare, I believe they do offer training. It's just confusing to us because those bad habits only show up when he goes to daycare for several days per week. Whenever he's home for the weekend or I'm on a break from school, he's great with no incidents, even if we aren't home for 5-6 hours during the work day. I'm not sure if the daycare would have a way to enforce his good habits while he's there. At home, we encourage him to ring a bell by the door to let us know he has to go out.  They may certainly have some suggestions, though.  Thanks!

[aweilba]

P.S. These are the two adorable girls we're looking at:


(Both found on Petfinder) This is Heide! She is a young American Pitbull terrier with great energy. She is on the small side and weighs right around 30lbs. She is so sweet and she is such a character! Heide loves to play and bounce! yes, bounce! She enjoys running but more often you will spot Heide hopping playfully around the yard! She loves tennis balls and is waiting for the perfect person to play ball with forever!


My name is Mindi and I am a 9 month old, spayed female American Bulldog/Pit bull Mix. I came to Animal Control as a stray and no one ever came looking for me. I am up to date on my vaccinations and I have a microchip to make sure I never get lost again. I have one brown eye and one blue eye which makes me a stunning and unique looking girl! I have typical puppy energy but aim to please and would really like to have someone help me work on my manners. I love people and freely give out kisses. I also love to play with toys and other dogs. A girl as beautiful as me won’t last long.

They both look equally as goofy as Zeke!

[dexteroni]

Oh that's great, I bet it will help him to have another member of the dog pack. Dexter had been afraid of thunderstorms too, and that was one of the fears that went away.

I don't know how you will choose between those two sweet girls. Heidi has a face stripe like Zeke, which would make them a cute pair, and her hopping habit sounds cute. But look at the face on Mindi! And I love her white coloring with light spots. I guess whichever one clicks with you (and Zeke) more, that will be the one.

Re: the training, I was thinking maybe a trainer could work with him when he humps or potties inside at day care. I don't know if that's something they would be willing to do, but it might help. Good luck and congrats on your future new pup!

[G22]

Both those girls are cute. I don't know how you'll pick between them!

[purrbox]

Oh, you have to get another doggy! Those two girls are just too cute!

[aweilba]

We emailed the rescue about Heide last night and are still waiting to hear back.  I love both of them, but we think that Heide might be a better fit due to her size.  We don't have a huge yard or house, and she's so petite she might work better.  However, if she doesn't end up working out, we will look at Mindi, if she's still available at that point.  I'll keep you posted!  Thanks so much!

[aweilba]

We met Heide tonight, and she is SUCH a sweetheart!  She absolutely adored DH; she wouldn't stop snuggling and kissing on him.  She wanted belly rubs and snuggles and kisses.  She is very tiny, but that's okay.  We loved her so stinking much!  

We will be setting up a trial weekend, hopefully for this weekend, to see if she and Zeke get along.  We came home smelling like her and Zeke sniffed us a bunch, all while wagging his tail.  I don't know if that's a good sign or not.  We shall see!

[dexteroni]

Yay! Good luck with the trial!

[purrbox]

Oh, I'm so excited for you guys! I hope the trial works out!

[G22]

Good luck!!