Pros And Cons Of More Than One Dog

[jacqui835]

My dog is an only dog, but he seems to really love other dogs. Having just taken him on holidays up to a beach, nothing made him happier (or drained his energy for that matter) like the other dogs - at least the ones who also wanted to play. I had always thought myself a one dog person, but whenever I do take him to a park or beach or whatever, I am always very hopeful that there will be another friendly dog there for him to play with, and it would be great to just have that 2nd dog myself.

What changes though if you get another dog? Do they bond more strongly to each other than you? I have actually only ever had 1 dog at a time, and was put off somewhat by some family who did have 2, but the 2nd dog really belonged to the first dog rather than to them - if you know what I mean.

I guess I wouldn't mind that so much, like if the 2nd dog loved our boy more than us, but would it be likely to change the relationship we have with our boy?

[Bjelkier]

I could never have a one dog house.

I wouldn't say my dogs are more bonded to each other then us. WE leave a good deal of time between each dog so we don't have the puppies too close in age. Also never had an issue bonding closer to the other dogs then us.

Mine didn't really go threw any real changes at all, they welcomed the new family member and everything pretty much stayed the same.

AS for changing our relationships with the dogs, nothing really changed except we had to divide our time up a little more between each dog.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Wolfsong

[sas]

2 dogs is normal to me however we've just gone to 3 which I guess I could relate to your situation.

It's about making sure you have individual time with each dog and that you make sure you treat them like dogs so there aren't going to be any jealously, NILIF is a method I reccomend you look at and implement with your own dog before you get a 2nd dog

My old girl is a Daddy's girl and the Boys are Mumma's boys - not because we planned it that way, it was just the natural relationships that formed.

[Guest RANDCMOORE31]

We haven't found our dogs any less attentive to us or the relationship/bond changed at all by having more than one (we have 4). They each have very different personalities - and whilst they are close to one another - it hasn't stopped them loving us - or being close to us. I really think it is a bit like kids - just because you have a second - it doesn't really mean the first one misses out or is loved less. It enriches their lives though - to have another of their own species to lie down with or play with - especially when we are out. We did get one puppy at a time though and waited until they were 12 months old before we got a second - otherwise I believe they can get more bonded to each other than to you.

[Lowenhart]

I've lived with a single dog for a year or so and then added dogs in and out of the "pack" - I co-own dogs and we will swap dogs and I will take extras for a time. But the only consistency in my house is this one dog.

He loves being a single guy, getting 100% of the loving being given out and struggles sometimes when others get attention. He is prone to "sulks" (what I call when he seems quiet and a bit down) BUT at the same time he also loves living with other dogs as he has someone to wrestle and play with. When the other dogs are away he seems a little lost.

I have to make the effort to just have "us" time, where he is the only one on the couch getting cuddled and adored. With multi-dog situations you must have something you just do with each individual.

[GoldenGirl85]

I was a single dog owner until the beginning of the year, when I lived at home my parents had 2 Cavs and I found looking after the three dogs a bit too much, because of this I only ever saw myself having the one dog. Late last year I moved interstate, and a month later Tess came to live with me, she was lonely living in a different yard and all by herself, so I started thinking about getting a second dog, I havnt looked back, they love each other to bits and my puppy is definitely 'my' dog (Tess was my dog but raised in a family situation so she was never sure who owned her)

I would never recommend to someone to get a second dog just to keep the first company, I had the time to devote to both Lexi and Tess, which influenced my decision, but if you dont have time to train and love both dogs I wouldnt get the second dog

[newfsie]

We love having more than one dog and all the dogs are really people dogs, but have great times entertaining themselves with play......But I do relate to having a dog who belonged more to the other dog. It happened to us once, but I think it was the character of that particular Kelpie and I think maybe his early introduction to humans was not too good, so he bonded with one of our newfie girls. We always used to say that The male newf was Hubby's dog, Abbey the newf was mine and Nugget belonged to Abbey. But over the many years we have had multiple dogs and usually three or four, it only happened once. We give our dogs one on one time and group time. As a couple we find the dogs sometimes choose to bond to one of us more. And we cannot pick it ahead of time, it just happens. Our youngest newf is the first dog we have owned for quite a while who is very equal in her loving for both of us. Annabelle is more mine and Tessa more Mike's. I feel happier leaving my dogs, when i go to work knowing they are not alone

[Fevah]

I would never recommend to someone to get a second dog just to keep the first company, I had the time to devote to both Lexi and Tess, which influenced my decision, but if you dont have time to train and love both dogs I wouldnt get the second dog

My first dog Remy, really strongly bonded to me and it is been like that ever since. He is, and always has been 'my' dog and although he warms up to family members and friends you will never see him cuddle up to or pay attention to them like he does me. I never meant for this to happen, it just did. Unfortunately it brought with it some very negative circumstances too - I work as a teacher and when he would be left at home he would cry all day. I have since learnt that male dogs, in particular for my breed, are much more sooky and needy then the female dogs who rejoice in being independent.

So getting a second dog was very much strongly influenced by the fact that I couldn't spend every single moment with Remy and also that I wanted him to be alright/happy/content when I had to go somewhere; whether it was work, to see friends, to go shopping etc. I had tried what many DOLers suggested to make him less 'anxious'; treat coming and going as if it wasn't a big deal, leave him lots of toys and treats to play with etc. but it wasn't working.

Remy was over a year old and desexed when I got Jacques, and Jacques was 5 months old. I think the age difference helped with the assimilation because Remy could play the part of 'older brother' and from the first protected and nurtured Jacques. Jacques turned out to be a very laid back, easy going fellow so they balanced each other's emotions out too - I think he has even helped Remy to settle more and become less anxious (although an element of that will always be there, that is just the way he is). Furthermore, Jacques is so cuddly with EVERYONE that he allows Remy to continue to be 'my' dog, which suits Remy just fine; they don't get jealous of one another.

They are both so easy to care for and have gotten along so well that I have never regretted my decision - and I definitely make sure to have enough time with both; training, exercise, play wise etc.

[Odin-Genie]

I have two dogs and my first dog calmed down significantly when I got my second dog. However, as others have mentioned, they need to be trained separately, so require more time.

I don't see any difference in bonding. Both the dogs are very close to us. It's also great fun watching them play and be silly with each other

[W Sibs]

Nothing has really changed after getting Emmy, only I have a little more time for me, because my 2 have each other to play instead of Charlie following me around. But, sometimes, I get 2 dogs following me around instead of one.

The boyfriend and I make sure that both dogs needs are fulfilled, and both get a lot of individual attention too. Emmy just fit in the family straight away, so we never had any drama about her settling her.

[wuffles]

Our boy was an only dog for two years before we got our puppy. It has definitely been a lot more work for us, our dreams of "keeping each other occupied" was quickly replaced by the reality of "revving each other up"

Pros:

They have each other's company while we are at work.

They play together, and both enjoy playing with other dogs.

They learn things from each other - social skills, sharing resources, training.

Cons:

They get up to lots more mischief when we're not home - less likely to sleep all day and more likely to play and chew things.

Have to divide attention between them, especially hard when you have a puppy who needs more training than the older dog.

Harder for me to manage exercise time, as they have different energy levels and are hard to walk together.

Having to deal with any issues between them such as resource guarding, jealousy, disagreements.

[indigirl]

I will never have jsut one dog again. I work fulltime and the dogs love having each otjher for company while Im not at home.

I now have 7 dogs. A golden and a kelpie cross, 4 iggies, and an elderly sheltie.

The two bigger dogs have a seperate yard to the little guys. The bigger dogs are very bonded to each other, as are all the iggies with each other. I found its much easier if you have at least 12 months between puppies. Rasing two puppies at once is hard work - I have a 15 month old iggy and an 8 month old iggy. Its definately easier only having one puppy to raise and train than having two.

All my dogs are still very bonded to me. I find that I need to take the extra time with the two larger dogs, and give them regular walks and trainign times etc. The iggies are happy to be with me all at once and will take turns snuggling on my lap (I can only fit two at a time) in front of the TV.

I also usually have a foster or two. I dont thinkmy dogs miss out on anything having to share me with so many other dogs.

[Cookiez]

I would LOVE to have another dog...

When I lived at home I had a Cavalier... Absolutely love her to bits but there was no way my family would let me have 2. Mum loves her but couldn't cope with "too many" animals in the house.

I wanted to take her with me when I got married, but when we bought our house unfortunately it had no backyard at all. We decided to leave her with mum as she grew up there with a big yard and at least she would always have my mum's company. (I'm an only child, so mum would be a little lonely with me gone too!)

After we settled into our new house, my husband and I decided to get a puppy. I have such a soft spots for Cavaliers but the hubby wanted something a bit more "masculine". He likes huskies-type dogs and in the end I convinced him on a Jap Spitz.

Over the holidays (I'm a teacher) I had my Cavalier come and stay over our place. Because the two dogs have such a huge age difference, they tolerate each other but don't really play or hang out together. In fact, you could say that Codi gets a bit too playful and Coffee would get annoyed and just want to sleep! The thing I loved most about having the 2 of them together was walking them both together, and having them both around when I'm chilling out at home... It makes me sad that I don't have Coffee living with me all the time now but our house is just not suited to her.

My husband will "let" me have another dog providing we had a bigger space. We have basically no yard (just a patio) so Codi is mainly an indoor dog. I'd like to have more than 2 but I might have to do some hardcore convincing before that would ever happen!

[Burkes]

I have gone from one to two to now three dogs, but the third is a foster. I haven't had any issues in relation to bonding as per what most of the others have said. You need to think more about whether you can afford two dogs. vet bills double, food bills double, worming doubles and poo usually more than doubles:).

Perhaps you could think about fostering dogs. This is a good way to keep your dog happy and well socialized whilst saving a life at the same time. You can also suss out potential breeds and temperaments at the same time and determine whether you really want a second dog.

Fostering has expanded the bond I have with my own dogs as we are always so proud when we find a rescue dog a new home. I think my two know they are doing a good thing.

[daisygirl]

We got our first dog 13 years ago and then six month later we got her a "Christmas present" of another dog. The first dog (Fuchsia) was always daddys girl and second one (Daisy) was always my girl because we did obedience and agility together. Daisy only passed away 6 weeks ago and for a while we thought we would only keep Fuchsia until her time came to say goodbye but we now have a foster with a view to keep and it is nice to have them both.

In our situation having two was never any different to having one except double the vet and food bills but they were both very quiet and very obedient so camping, the beach, day trips, shops, etc were never any problem.

My friends have two dogs and they are definately double the trouble as spend the day ripping up stuff and running amok so I guess it comes down to the breed as well as the personality.

[Guest belgian.blue]

Two dog household here also. Added a puppy to the pack late April this year and it's the best thing I did. My adult is nearly two so there is a good age gap between them.

Watching them play together makes me smile like nothing else.

I don't find they are twice the trouble or maybe I just have two wellbehaved canines? I was expecting my Pointer puppy to be a lot of work, with the added work of an adult long haired dog but not at all. It's easier!

My home will always be two or more dogs from now on

Canines are like humans, they adore the company of family.

[Tilly]

Pro:

Double the love

Cons:

Double the food bill

Double trouble - not sure who is leading who astray but they get up to so much mischief when they are together.

[skip]

I would probably always have 2 or more dogs now.

Just means 2 vets bills ( thou I have small dogs so bit cheaper) and double the feed cost. Maybe need to spend twice the time to train them but you learn double in terms of experience.

But on the pro side - twice the love, the antics and the joy. I have been lucky and ended up with 2 dogs perfectly suited to each other. They don't really play as such and sometimes they do things apart. But they are always checking to see what the other is doing. When I am at work I don't worry about them cause they always have each other.

And for me when training - working one and then the other only seems to make them want to work more. so it is all win, win , win!

[PRADA68]

Our house has always been a multiple dog home. We currently have three dogs that all get along well. I would not have any less than two dogs at any given time I love the fact that I have two companions around and they have each other when I can't be there. Yes it is twice as much fun or twice as much trouble but well worth it. Yes double vet fees etc but again worth it. I added my third dog eight months ago and have never looked back. But this will return to two when one of them passes on. This I hope will be a very long time away they are all 4 years and under. You just have to spread your love out a bit more but that is easy enough. If you have the time and the resources to have a multiple dog household I say go for it I love it.

[poochiemama]

My dog is an only dog, but he seems to really love other dogs. Having just taken him on holidays up to a beach, nothing made him happier (or drained his energy for that matter) like the other dogs - at least the ones who also wanted to play. I had always thought myself a one dog person, but whenever I do take him to a park or beach or whatever, I am always very hopeful that there will be another friendly dog there for him to play with, and it would be great to just have that 2nd dog myself.

What changes though if you get another dog? Do they bond more strongly to each other than you? I have actually only ever had 1 dog at a time, and was put off somewhat by some family who did have 2, but the 2nd dog really belonged to the first dog rather than to them - if you know what I mean.

I guess I wouldn't mind that so much, like if the 2nd dog loved our boy more than us, but would it be likely to change the relationship we have with our boy?

I was really nervous about adding a second dog, but it was the best thing we did...our first dog used to nip at our heels, generally overexcited and boisterous but since we got the second dog, his behaviour has settled down beautifully. They play with each other and are so happy to have each other. I do training with them both at the same time and separately as well, and we take them on walks together most of the time . I found that their love for us is in no way diminished. I would advise getting another dog of similar temperament to your original dog. It is twice the vet bills, food bills etc, but it's very much worth it for us.