Sure! You sit in the middle and have one on each side. OR – I’m frequently lying down on the couch, and Dottie likes to climb on top of me and snooze, while Phyllis prefers to be down by my feet.
Occasionally Dottie has a relapse with her spay incontinence, so until we get her meds readjusted and plug the leak, the couch and bed are off-limits. I sure miss our snuggling then.
Sorry for the bump. But we’ve made the decision and I need more advice, so rather than start a new thread, here I am!
My key concern is with helping my existing dog (Jimbo) adjust. When I first got him, he trashed my house whenever I went out if he wasn’t crated. Fortunately he was well crate trained, so that solved that. When we moved into this place, tho, he escaped from the crate every time he was in it, but he never trashes the place when left alone. So I wonder if his house-trashing habit might come back with a new dog, and we won’t be able to crate him. (He actually broke a tooth off escaping from the last crate. I could get him a new, escape-proof one but I worry he’d hurt himself.)
I am not yet comfortable leaving him alone with another uncrated dog, and there’s no room for a crate upstairs, so I’m going to set up the basement for the other dog. I’ll also start feeding both dogs down there and playing with them there more so it won’t feel so much like he’s been ditched in the cellar.
The final thing is that Jimbo sleeps on the bed with us. This is tolerable but I don’t think it will be possible for two dogs. He happily gets off the bed when asked but always sneaks back up once we’re asleep. Can he be broken of the habit without having to kick him out of the bedroom all night? I do have an opportunity here, in that our bedroom is freezing cold, so I was thinking of setting up the space heater right in front of the dog bed on the floor. Then he’ll think he’s outsmarting us by taking the warm spot all for himself. But this might not work any more once the weather warms up.
Could we / should we try to keep the other dog off the bed altogether?
I should note again that Jimbo has never been all that interested in being alpha dog, but he’s never had another dog living in HIS house before, so things might be a bit different.
Anything else I should know about helping Jimbo (and the rest of us) adjust to a second dog in our pack?
Thanks again!
We’re also thinking of getting a buddy for our dog, a 5-year-old Lab who loves everyone, including other dogs. He will concede alpha status to whoever wants it–he’s a big, sloppy, friendly sissy. Friends of ours have a Lab who was also prone to being overweight (the dogs, not us or the friends ;)), and they got a smaller dog. They became best pals, and their Lab lost weight, presumably through all the play and activity.
Our dog is home alone a good bit of the day, and he’s a very friendly, social guy, so we feel bad about that. I think a pal would be great for him. I’ll be watching this thread with interest.
We’ve gone through this several times. We have a pet dog, a border collie/cocker mix, and we’ve raise four Guide Dog puppies. There has never been a problem, but no decrease in neediness either. They compete in getting closer to us. Our last puppie became a breeder, so we still have her, but our pet dog definitely is the alpha dog, though she is twice his size.
We have a fenced yard. I’d hate to think what life would be like without one, since they can go out whenever they want. We have a locked gate, so we can even leave the door open when it is warm so we don’t have to worry about being away for a long time. My wife works at home, which makes life much easier. He’s 15 and she’s 4, so walking them together doesn’t work very well, so two dogs is a big increase in time for walks.
My family upgraded to two dogs over the summer, and then recently to three - basically they ended up with dogs the alpha doesn’t have a problem with. If your current dog is the relaxed type and the future dog isn’t too aggressive, it could work out.
With my family, the original dog is kind of a jerk and needs to be the boss. My parents were advised that she’d be less competitive with a male dog, so they adopted a boy and they’ve never had any problems. She needs the attention and he’s happy being on his own. He’s the relaxed sort. And after a few weeks it turns out she gets on fine with the puppy, too. She reminds him as often as she can who’s number one, but they play a lot and most of the time she treats him well.