About a month ago we had to put to sleep our 14 year old female Schnoodle due to mounting health issues. This has left our 14 1/2 year old male Schnoodle as the lone dog in the house. They lived together basically from the beginning and my boy is understandably missing her. He has always been somewhat fragile - prone to pancreatitis and has a significant heart murmur (5 out of 6).
Should I find another companion for him or would the stress possibly be too much for him?
I wouldn’t actively look. It’s hard to find the “right dog” for an existing dog, and if you get one of a similar age, they’ll both have their own ways and might have trouble adjusting (and it won’t be many years before one or the other dies, and then the remaining one will be “alone”). A young one would just run him ragged. I’d focus on being his family. He will start to slow down and be happy with a relatively sedentary and “people-focused” life. Of course, it’s really up to you to decide, but having had an older dog, I think she’d have been happy on her own.
I wonder if you could “borrow” a dog to see how he reacts? Or foster dogs in need of adoption with the option to end the fostering if it’s not working? I had a cat who was left as only cat and he got along ok but was a lot more needy than he had been. (But before I could find him a friend he got cancer and died, so I don’t know if it would have helped.)
I’m sorry for your loss. I hope your boy gets along ok and adapts to whatever happens.
You can do the same things you would do for a human who’s lost a friend. Just basically be there and be supportive for him. Which isn’t easy for any species, but hey, that’s life.
I like the idea of a dog friend outside the home. Find him a play date dog to visit with occasionally. Maybe a family members dog or a neighbors dog would fit the bill. Good luck. Elder care in dogs is a day by day business. And you’re an angel for being a good dog minder.
This would be my advice too.
The worst idea would be to bring in a puppy now. Going through your declining dog years with a pup jumping on you and biting your ears would probably not be an enjoyable experience.
As our dogs have moved on( pack of shnauzers) we have brought in other rescue dogs to help them, (and us). The older dogs show the new ones whats going on.
Our new standard poodles are a bit rambuctious, but one just has to help everyone get along.
Good luck with your Schoodle!!! Pretty smart animal I would imagine.
First, sorry for your loss. We had something similar happen. Our Australian Shepard got lost and our 3 year old Great Dane named Gunner took it really hard. Wouldn’t eat for weeks and barely moved. We were scared that he was going to die from a broken heart. So, we made a trip to the pound and adopted another dog. Gunner perked right up and within a few days returned to normal.
And six weeks after our Australian Shepard disappeared we hear a bark at the door at 5am. He found his way home! So, all around happy ending. But the advice I can give is honor your late dog by adopting another and your dog will have a new buddy to pal around with. Good luck!
Last summer, I got a GSD puppy. We had (and still have) two older dogs: an 11 y.o. Newfie, and a 12 y.o. Swissie. The Newfie basically ignored her. The Swissie (Kona) was befuddled at first, but within a week they were best buddies. They played all the time. Kona became a lot more active, was interested in his toys again, and generally just perked up.
I’m not saying rush out and get a puppy. She was a lot of work and a puppy could be more than your dog can handle. I do think there might be some merit to the idea of getting another dog. A grown dog of the right temperament might be what you all need.
Does he generally like other dogs? If so, then getting a companion could be beneficial–but it should be another older dog. He would probably get annoyed with an energetic puppy. But if you got another older dog who just liked hanging around, he would probably like having a companion.
Even if he doesn’t like other dogs, he might like a companion. We had two dogs about 12-years-old, and when one was put to sleep, the other one seemed to lose a lot of energy. She seemed a lot more mopey, which surprised us as she mostly liked to keep to herself. We thought she’d like to be on her own, but it didn’t seem that way. We eventually got another dog, and she perked right up! She still kept to herself as she always did, but she seemed a lot happier just having another dog in the house.
Contact foster groups in your area. These are groups of people which foster dogs in their home, and the foster parents are often willing to get the dogs together to see how they get along.
You can adopt older dogs or even _older_from shelters. The benefits being they might be able to tell you any foibles the dog might have, most of the “bad” puppy behaviors will be identified so you can choose (chewer? well, you might like buying chew toys/bones etc) and most of the shelters around here have a great return policy if a new pet does not fit in to your household.
I have some older pets and while they don’t run around playing together… it is sweet when you see one (older) or the other (younger) giving a lick even cross-species (cats to dogs or vice versa).
I’ve been casually looking for older dogs to adopt. I’m a teacher and out of school soon so I’ll start looking a bit more seriously now. He hates being home alone, so even just for that reason another dog might help him.
That doesn’t surprise me too much. Our two lady cats met as adults, and never made it past “armed truce” for getting along, but if one went to the vet or something, the other one acted like she missed her. My cat definitely became more needy when her nemesis died; I guess even if they don’t love the other animal, they get used to their company in the house.
On June 5 we rescued a 7 year old poodle who was a breeder at a puppy mill. Obviously she has some issues, but she and my boy are getting along very well. Last night they were even sitting next to each other in the same dog bed.
Thanks for the update and how nice that it worked out well for everyone (especially the poodle).
That’s great news! But remember you are in the “honeymoon” phase which means when she is more settled in there could be some squabbling. Even with them being different sexes and ages one of them will be top dog in their minds. Your job is to let them know you are the top dog. Simple things like letting one eat first or who gets to go outside first.
Then again she might just keep on being a good girl. That’s what my 3rd dog did.
I’m glad to hear about your new dog. Any pics to share?
Aww. Poodle-y love. Poodles are very smart. I predict she will be boss dog in no time. Good luck.
If your great grandmother passed away, would you be searching for a girlfriend for your great grandfather?
If this is supposed to be a joke, it’s in poor taste. Don’t be a jerk, please.