1 dog vs 2 dogs

[May Day 10]

Expensive.

 

Boarding for a week is staggering for 2 dogs

 

Vet bills x2 also

[EmotionallyUnstable]

4 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

Expensive.

 

Boarding for a week is staggering for 2 dogs

 

Vet bills x2 also

 

Hmu on Rover 

[US Egg]

How 'bout no dogs or pets of any kind being most idyllic ?

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

How 'bout no dogs or pets of any kind being most idyllic ?

To each their own. I’ll concede that easily, but I’m a dog guy. 

 

 

.

[Augie]

39 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

Expensive.

 

Boarding for a week is staggering for 2 dogs

 

Vet bills x2 also

 

A mere fraction of what kids cost, and they are far easier!

 

We have a guy who just stays at the house with the dog. Same price for two dogs, but my son’s puppy was so hyper and they played so hard, we promised never to do that again! Can’t lose our guy! He gets $35/day, the dog is walked, poop is picked up, the plants are watered, the house isn’t empty. We have a 2 week trip coming up, and it’s a fair price for the peace of mind. 

 

For the joy I get from my dog, this is a bargain. I’d rather be happy than rich. Both is the goal, but we’ll see......doubt it works out. Happy comes first in priority. Our needs will be met. 

[mead107]

I get two hot dogs unless I am getting soup. 

[May Day 10]

11 hours ago, Augie said:

 

A mere fraction of what kids cost, and they are far easier!

 

We have a guy who just stays at the house with the dog. Same price for two dogs, but my son’s puppy was so hyper and they played so hard, we promised never to do that again! Can’t lose our guy! He gets $35/day, the dog is walked, poop is picked up, the plants are watered, the house isn’t empty. We have a 2 week trip coming up, and it’s a fair price for the peace of mind. 

 

For the joy I get from my dog, this is a bargain. I’d rather be happy than rich. Both is the goal, but we’ll see......doubt it works out. Happy comes first in priority. Our needs will be met. 

 

Thats good you have an in-house 'guy'.

 

We got a second dog when the first one was mid-aged.  It was alright, but the younger dog kind of dominated the older dog a bit, and she had a little too much energy for him.  I feel he was happier when he was the only dog and getting 100% of the attention, treats, not competing for bones, etc.

 

When the 1st dog got into old age, he got diabetes.  It was quite a bit of medical costs, frequent vet visits, a few emergency situations.  Also factor in the routine stuff like heartworm preventative and if you use frontline or similar and then double it with 2 dogs.  

So we couldnt really have anyone watch the dogs and administer the appropriate insulin doses 2x a day.  There are only a few boarding places who offer this, and they charge a little extra.  Then add in a second dog.  A week's family vacation, we could come home to a bill for like $700.  

 

Dog #1 passed away, and we miss him... but the financial (and care) aspect is gone. We still look at the local rescue places.... but overall, Im not sure we get another dog.  It is so much easier with 1, and the costs are much better.  Dog #2 is now middle-aged and she seems to really like being the center of everything.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

my neighbor got a 2nd dog to keep their first dog company.

 

The dad is the only one who deals with feeding and cleaning up after both dogs.   

 

The kids who wanted a dog ...   nowhere to be seen  - oh he just can't be walked on a leash and is too hard to control.

 

They were in grade school and are in Jr High and HS now.   Even less time for the pets 

 

 

So. If you love the idea of taking care of 2 dogs at once . More power to you.  

 

[BUFFALOKIE]

On 8/4/2019 at 7:26 AM, Not at the table Karlos said:

We have had a second dog for about 2 months. It is quite possibly the worst thing in the world. The first dog was a rescue pit, the second is a small mutt. The first dog was well behaved until the second dog came

 

The normally quiet first dog is now very loud because the new one barks at everything. Walk down any set of stairs the little one barks and the big one comes running up to you barking in your face. The little one rolls around in feces so now the big one does it too. The big one has never peed in the house until we got the second, now you can’t leave for more than an hour or else the house is covered in pee. It’s like they have a competition to see who can make the most pee spots around the house. It’s disgusting. If someone pets one the other gets very jealous and aggressive. Since the second one has been here the first has been knocking over potted plants.

 

if they both ran away today I would be very happy. I don’t think hate is a strong enough word to describe my feelings towards them. But I’m an AHole because I don’t like something that pees and tracks feces through the house. 

Sounds like two unneuterd males. Are they?

[Not at the table Karlos]

6 minutes ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

Sounds like two unneuterd males. Are they?

Two fixed females

[BUFFALOKIE]

8 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Two fixed females

Realy??? Bang goes that theory, lol. Female dogs be female dogs, I guess.

 

I have an OLD, unneutered Male mutt/dane/pitt/retriever/etc somethinornother, who gets along splendidly with my young spayed female purebred sheltie. 

 

They do follow one a others habits.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by BUFFALOKIE

[Not at the table Karlos]

2 minutes ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

Realy??? Bang goes that theory, lol. Female dogs be female dogs, I guess.

 

I have an OLD, unneutered Male mutt/dane/pitt/retriever/etc somethinornother, who gets along splendidly with my young spayed female purebred sheltie. 

 

They do follow one a others habits.

 

 

 

 

Three legged pit and a lobster corgi/a few other things. If they didn’t pee in house and bark so much I’d probably like them more. They both have a high pitched bark and pretty much everyone gets an instant headache from it. Tried a few training techniques but nothing has really helped. They aren’t my dogs and only listen to their owner so I’m not gonna put much time into them.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 8/3/2019 at 6:25 PM, Buffalo_Gal said:

We had one dog and my husband always regretted not getting a second dog to keep him company. My husband wants another dog next year (we need time to grieve + we have travel plans), and will be looking for a bonded pair. If we cannot get that - I never want another pure bred, but hubby needs a dog (s) with hair, not fur - we will have the one dog for a year, and try and and introduce a second dog at a later date.

I think owning two dogs at the same time is in my future, like it or not.

 

My comment with "bonded pair": be careful about adopting two puppies at the same time, or older dogs who were both brought into a home at the same time as same-age puppies.  In that situation, the puppies tend to bond more with each other and don't socialize properly with their humans.  It's also harder to give them both the training they need to become good citizens and beloved pets when two need the training at once.  They need to be trained independently so 2x time and effort.

 

 

[Augie]

10 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

My comment with "bonded pair": be careful about adopting two puppies at the same time, or older dogs who were both brought into a home at the same time as same-age puppies.  In that situation, the puppies tend to bond more with each other and don't socialize properly with their humans.  It's also harder to give them both the training they need to become good citizens and beloved pets when two need the training at once.  They need to be trained independently so 2x time and effort.

 

 

 

Having a trained dog a few years old is, in my mind, a perfect situation before you add a puppy. I’ve done this multiple times over the years. The pup learns from the older dog, they bond, become best friends. The older dog isn’t TOO old to put up with the energy of the pup. If the older dog is TOO annoyed, they WILL lay down the law. You may hear some “YIPES!”, but the pup learns. (Been there too!) 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

So far, so good. My first dog seemed apprehensive at first, despite the pups high energy and desire to play. Day two we saw a warm up, with some solid play. Number two is learning the ropes (where to sit, basic training, routines) and she follows our oldest everywhere. Think this will be a good thing since we enjoy how our oldest behaves.

 

Fingers crossed 

[Bill from NYC]

13 hours ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Three legged pit and a lobster corgi/a few other things. If they didn’t pee in house and bark so much I’d probably like them more. They both have a high pitched bark and pretty much everyone gets an instant headache from it. Tried a few training techniques but nothing has really helped. They aren’t my dogs and only listen to their owner so I’m not gonna put much time into them.

Time to move? I'm just asking.....

[Not at the table Karlos]

2 hours ago, Bill from NYC said:

Time to move? I'm just asking.....

Idk. Might just call the police with a noise complaint, let them get scared and do what they do

[WhoTom]

My wife wanted two dogs.

I didn't want any dogs.

So we compromised: we have two dogs. ?

 

But seriously, I like dogs. We got a puppy shortly after we got married, but when she died at 15 years old, we decided together that we wouldn't get another one. At the time we were both working and the dog was home by herself all day. Years later, when my wife started working from home, she wanted a dog, so we got Shadow - a four-year-old lab mix. (His family moved and couldn't take the dog, so they brought him back to the pound.)

 

A couple of years later the wife thought Shadow needed a buddy. I insisted that I didn't want a second dog, so we went the foster route. She brought home a puppy who latched right on to Shadow, and Shadow accepted the big brother role. As you can imagine, that ended up as a "failed foster" - we adopted the pup.

 

They're both good dogs and they get along great, but now that my wife and I both freelance, we have time for travel, and the dogs complicate that. So if you're considering a second dog, think about what you want to be doing 10 or 15 years from now, and ask how a dog will impact that.

 

Here they are, by the way - Rocky and Shadow:

[Gordio]

I have owned a dog my entire adult life.  First one was a Pom/American Eskimo mix.  Good dog.  Second was a pure pom.  Both were awesome dogs, when it came time for our third dog, we went to the breeder  & he had two sisters left.  Somehow my daughter talked me into buying both of them.  So for the past 4 years we have had two female Poms & it has worked out great.   They keep each other company during the day when no one is home, play with each other & even sleep in the same bed.  I have read where your not supposed to bring dogs home from the same liter, but I haven't had a problem.  I will always envision myself having two dogs, although I am dreading the day one of them passes, the other one will be lost without their sister.  

On 8/4/2019 at 1:46 PM, BillsFan4 said:

 

It sounds like you have some territorial behavior/dominance issues from adding in this new dog (the peeing contest and rolling in feces, behavioral problems, etc). 

 

I’d recommend calling a good trainer to come in and give you guys some pointers on how to correct the issues. 

 

Edit - this may sound funny, but I would have you or your wife/kids start with walks. Every day, if possible. 

You want to train the dogs so they walk at your side and don’t lead. This is the most important part. You may have to train 1 dog at a time before you can walk both this way (I can give you some tips on how to train them to walk this way if you’d like. The easiest way is with a specific harness where the leash attach point is on the front (no-pull harness), or just putting the leash much higher on their neck, so it’s just behind the ears. When the leash is low on their neck they can pull all day long because they have that big breast bone there. When it’s higher on their neck, they can not pull like that. I usually start by using 2 leashes - one clipped to a harness, and another smaller leash around the neck just behind the ears). 

 

Walks do a lot of good. They tire your dogs out and make them easier to command/train and less likely to misbehave. They help form a strong bond with the dog. And they also (if taught to walk at your side) help establish you as the alpha/leader. 

It would teach both dogs that they need to submit to and follow the human (leader) without having to yell/scream (which often times can do more harm than good). 

 

You can also also hire someone to teach your dogs to walk in this manner, and even walk them every day for you (but it’s better if someone in your family does it IMO). 

 

 

 

 

 

Or he could just accidently forget to shut the front door in the hopes they run out onto the street and get hit by a car.  Either suggestion I think would work.  

[Bill from NYC]

1 hour ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Idk. Might just call the police with a noise complaint, let them get scared and do what they do

Why do that? You might get arrested for another domestic incident that is completely not your fault, right? Have you finished paying off your lawyer for the last one?