so after having my weekend guest over my urge to have 2 dogs increased extremely. Millie is 7months old now and barely done anything bad, just struggling with making other ppl respect the fact I don't want her to jump them before they say hi when we walk. She only once tasted our living room table so far and been sticking to her own toys. Now I wonder if it's too soon to bring in another one, I know I got the puppy fever. But the time to have a puppy home is right now. I'm a housewife at the moment so I'm always home. I'm curious about what you guys think is a good time to bring home another one, maybe Millie is too much puppy yet to not totally herass a small puppy? I was also thinking about maybe adopting an older dog, but they want u to spay ur current dogs and I want to wait to do that with Millie .
To be honest, you have to judge the living situation yourself. All the great advice you get here is great and all but only you know your living style, your schedule, your tolerance of stress and all that comes with the joys of having a new puppy let alone 2. My experience tells me, I am not the type of person to have more than one at a time. At one point I had three dogs. 6 month and when I had Dozer and his brother for a short time. It was crazy and at the end of it all, I kept only my Dozer. Good luck on any choice you make but trust your instinct and consider all your current responsibilities.
If it suits you and you're happy then go for it. I found having two dogs a LOT more work than having one. I waited til my lab was three and I don't think I'd ever get another until my youngest dog was at least 18 months, through the teenage period and reasonably established in their basic training. My current youngest is two and I still have a lot of training to do with him so even if home life allowed I wouldn't be getting another puppy just yet. There are potential pitfalls to two young dogs together, particularly if they bond closely with each other and less well with you but forewarned is forearmed! Having said all that that there are plenty of people who have two young dogs, even litter mates together and make it work just fine. It really is a personal decision.
I had two GSPs with 10 months between them, I don't remember it being too difficult except when they played in the house and knocked the TV over! The worst part is that they die very close to each other.
You are in the ideal situation, being at home all day, but only you can know whether you can handle 2 with Millie at 7 months. We are in a similar position, We lost Belle 2 months ago now, and know we should be a 2-dog household, BUT Coco is not at a stage of training where I could handle 2 dogs. He's so close, it's just "other dogs" we have to conquer. When the time is right, we will find an adult rescue.
I love having two, I'm looking after my friend's dog for three weeks and it makes me realise that two dogs is best (for me) I would wait until your first dog is 12 months old before getting a pup - it's still pretty full on then but, with a room divider, manageable. Many years ago I got Callum when Gavin was six months old. I think that, because of the closeness in age, they got some litter mate syndrome and were much harder to train as a result. ...
So today my weekend guest went home, I couldn't hold the tears back and started crying. Just felt so bad bcs Rosie didn't seem happy to see her owner and was straining to go off the sofa and didn't want to go out the door at all. She kept on looking at me and I told her it's ok. So my husband said he will ask our friends if we maybe can provide a happier home for her since she is only in their bedroom and won't move during the days. Otherwise I think I'm gonna look into the shelters after a good match, but that would be in the future since they won't let you adopt a pet unless your current dog is spayed.
If Rosie is unhappy with her current owners (and it doesn't sound like they're making much effort to work through her anxiety) then a home with you would be much better. I hope it works out for you.
It sounds like it was very hard for Rosie to go. Sometimes dogs know best who they should be with - I hope it works out for you! I will say that for me, having two dogs was not really a lot more work than one. Having three dogs felt like have five times the work of two, though! My single puppy bonded more closely to me and was easier to train (may or may not be related to being single). The puppy I got with another dog already in the house bonded MUCH more to my other dog than he did to me. To the point that prior to puppy arrival, she was just "Jodhi", post puppy arrival she was known forever as "Mama Jodhi". She did make keeping him entertained quite a bit easier than single puppy, as they played and played and played and played. My only concern with getting two dogs close in age, as has already been voiced here, is that they are more likely to pass away within a short time period, which is double the devastation. I was grateful that Mama Jodhi was 8 years older than Brogan, and I had him to comfort me when she passed at 16 years old.
So I been feeling a bit devastated since the incident with Rosie going home. I asked my friend when they got her and how long she been hiding in their house, her answer made me ask if I can take her. She told me they got her 2011 and since then she never really been outside their bedroom.. So now I hope they will talk about it and let Rosie be here since she was a big cuddle bug with my husband and me.
Gosh, I thought they must've only had her for a year or something like that. Five years and still hiding in the bedroom.... I really hope they let her come to you. She is their dog though, so brace yourself in case they feel they can't part with her. Even with them she is better off than she was at the puppy mill, so try to remember that if they say no. Fingers crossed here....
Fingers crossed for you that your friends see what a difference you made to Rosie's life and let you rehome her x
I read your original post about Rosie and thought she'd regressed to the bedroom behaviour recently. If she can't come to you full time then having her over a few days a week would still be good and may help her confidence at home.
Well when I first talked to my friend about Rosie, she spoke of her that it wasn't that long ago she started hide in their bedroom which also made me think they didn't have her that long. When I show her pictures of Rosie laying in the sofa cuddling me she was amazed and said that during the 5years they had her she never done that with them. But maybe it's also because of how we live that makes her more secure? Our house is kinda roomy and their house is very tight with a small corridor leading to all rooms. I'm crossing my fingers that my friend will at least want to work with her, although her reply to everything is basically that Rosie is just old (8years).
Old or not Rosie can be worked with to make her life happier - I live in a small town terrace house but Bailey just runs around, so long as he is near enough to see us he is happy, but happier as he is now, laying on the settee with his head on my leg snoring away, unfortunately gassing me from his rear end at the same time! Fingers still crossed for you x
8 isn't old anyway! I think you said she was overweight - this may cause her to act and feel old. Getting slimmed down and more confident should get her back feeling a bit more sprightly. It sounds like you two really bonded, so I hope you can all get together to achieve the best outcome for Rosie.
Well I gave up on trying to get my friend to want to try help her be more happy. Wish I could get her to want to do anything with her dog. And she also said that she takes good care of her to my question if she couldn't live here since she seemed so much happier. Obviously got a bit different opinions on what is good care or not. But now my husband is really into the thought having two labs so we're searching for a pup up to a senior that someone want to rehome.
