Jessica44

Thanks everyone for your responses. Should have made it clearer to start with, we were really wanting to get another dog, we had always intended on having two. I just honestly had no idea i would feel this way once it happened. I think you are all right, i have treated Maddie like my child and need to get used to the idea that she is adaptable and will be just fine with a little less attention. After reading everything you all wrote i have come home with a different attitude and am now playing with both of them. The little guy is growing on me. I just need to give it some more time and things will work themselves out. Thanks again to you all

Hi everyone, i am new to this forum and am hoping some of you nice people out there can give me some advice. I have an 18 month old Mini foxie x maltese named Maddie that I adore. We are very closely bonded. I am doing agility training with her and as such we are very in-sync. She has been the centre of the world for my husband and I since we got her at 8 weeks. We are looking at having a baby in the next 2 years so wanted to get a companion for Maddie so she would not be as affected by the new addition. So we brought home a new puppy 2 days ago. We were both really excited about it having made a well researched decision and we were ready for the new challenge. What I did not expect was the sadness that has overwhelmed me since bringing him home. I feel like I am betraying Maddie when I give him affection, like I am taking time away from her when she hasn’t done anything wrong! Merlin (the new puppy) is beautiful and affectionate but I find myself trying not to bond with him because I don’t want to lose the bond I have with Maddie and I don’t want her to feel I love him more than her. The reasons we got him are good and I keep trying to remind myself of that but I could really use another perspective. My husband thinks it is just because I am so close to Maddie and it will take some time for me to encorporate him into that. Any thoughts or suggestions anyone has would be welcomed! Thanks