Multiple Dog Ownership

[quikveedb2]

Hi fellow r3v-ers, I'm looking for the input of those of you living with multiple dogs, as I have one 2.5 year old GSP, and the opportunity to pick up a second at the local shelter. Here's what I know; I got my dog from the local shelter a bit more than 2 years ago, and he's been amazing. His name is Gunther, as I mentioned he is pure breed GSP. I've spent untold hours working on obedience training & socializiation, and I feel comfortable letting him play with anybody (dog or person), walk off leash, and be at home, un-crated or supervised for long periods of time. He is without a doubt my best friend & a family member.

A female GSP recently showed up in the paper for adoption at the shelter, same age, also a pure bred. She has been taken in by 2 homes & returned twice. I went to visit her, and come to find out she is from the same litter as my little buddy Gunther. The reasons for her return were A: too much energy and B: separation anxiety. Apparently she was too much for the first family to handle, and the second owner moved & left the dog with his parents who had neither time nor desire to exercise her. This lead to destructive behavior, and her second return to the shelter.

What I want from you guys is input on owning multiple dogs, and introducing a second dog to my home. I feel like Gunther could use a companion, and perhaps the shelter dog would benefit from the stability of another dog. I also know that I would basically have to start over and train a second animal to my standards, crating, commands, leash training, etc., and that she will never be the same as Gunther because of her history. Am I asking for trouble, or being romantic in thinking it would be great to have a brother-sister dog pack in my household? I feel like I already train & exercise one super-high-energy dog, how much more work can a second really be?

Gunther:

[mamzak]

I have two little lasa apso's, and they LOVE eachother. They do absolutely everything together. One is 3 and the other is 2, so they have a long ways to go but I still worry about one dying before the other because I know the other would be so crushed. It's nice for a dog to have a friend to play with everyday!

[CabrioPunk]

I have two dogs and three cats. It is cool to see them all interact. It is good to see you understand the importance of their initial contact.

Read up on Cesar Milan's teachings. He is really fantastic. Monks of New Skete I don't recall touching upon this much as they actually breed theirs. Whereas Cesar takes them in.

The main idea is going to be you are still the leader. Don't let the dogs decide who is, you do. Go to a neutral spot for their initial contact. That way the territory will not be an issue. Having the help of someone else that your current dog trusts will be good. Dogs sense anxiety, fear, your emotions so go in level, calm and control the situation.

Our current pair of dogs are actually brothers from the same litter. Easy. My previous two dogs - a GSD and Husky - were tough girls to get to play nice together. Namely the Husky being so tough, the GSD wanted badly to be buddies but after a lot of outside play, letting them see me as the leader, and allowing them back to their natural dog instincts, they bonded nicely.

Good luck with it. They will do well as long as you do well.

[SoEm0]

I have 2 pits, a rotwieler, and a small breed mutt. Like the poster above me said, make sure you set yourself up as the alpha. This will prevent control issues later. GSPs are great dogs and train very easily, i think having the 2 of them would be great.


Ps
People unable to take care of dogs is the reason we have over population. People buy breeder dogs and then turn them over because they are " too much to handle"

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[Turf1600]

I have 2 wawas and 3 cats.

I also have 1 betta, 3 dalmation mollys, 6 misc tetras and a plecostamus. They all love eachother.

[Turf1600]

I have 2 wawas and 3 cats.

I also have 1 betta, 3 dalmation mollys, 6 misc tetras and a plecostamus. They all love eachother.

One of my mollys died.

[Jonny Cash]

I had adopted my black lab/rottie mix first at 6 weeks old- Lily. She was very timid, shy around people, and scared of other dogs. At 12 weeks we figured she needed a companion, so we adopted a pitbull- Butch. From the very second we brought butch home, Lily's demeanor did a 180, and she took the dominant role. It was also alot easier to train Butch, because Lily had already been trained- he just followed her lead. They've never fought with eachother, just a little snapping when they sniff out eachothers rawhides. Getting a second dog was a good thing for us.

[Fast325i]

Same thing here. We had our dog for about 5 years before we decided to adopt a second dog. It was a very good decision. They never fight eachother and they do pretty much everything together and have a lot of fun. The older one also helped a lot to train the younger one.

[Fusion]

We have a 13 yo Amstaf and about a year ago we got the exact same Amstaf. Up until the young guy was 10 months old, everything was fine. They have a huge yard to run around, the older dog never got fed up with the puppy biting him and jumping all over the place. But once the youger one turned about 10 months old, the older dog got very nervous, started gurring and showing the younger one who's boss.
One hot day last summer, I was doing something on my E30 and the older dog was lurking around looking mad. You can tell cuz they lower their head. The young one came around him, they both grrd and all of a sudden all hell broke loose and they got in a major fight. Unfortunately I was home alone, but I've seen these dogs fight. I was able to grab hold of one of them, but the other wouldn't let go. I dragged them over to the hose, totally splashed them with ice cold water, tried spraying it in their mouths to make them gag and let go, nothing helped. After what seemed like 5 hours (actually probably 10 minutes) I was totally exhausted and gave up. A few minutes later the older dog gave up and was barely able to walk so I was able to drag the young one inside.
We still have both, but they have to live separately. They are wonderful dogs, but very territorial and don't get along with other male dogs.
Oh and they're both fine, just a couple scars here and there.

[Fast325i]

We have a 13 yo Amstaf and about a year ago we got the exact same Amstaf. Up until the young guy was 10 months old, everything was fine. They have a huge yard to run around, the older dog never got fed up with the puppy biting him and jumping all over the place. But once the youger one turned about 10 months old, the older dog got very nervous, started gurring and showing the younger one who's boss.
One hot day last summer, I was doing something on my E30 and the older dog was lurking around looking mad. You can tell cuz they lower their head. The young one came around him, they both grrd and all of a sudden all hell broke loose and they got in a major fight. Unfortunately I was home alone, but I've seen these dogs fight. I was able to grab hold of one of them, but the other wouldn't let go. I dragged them over to the hose, totally splashed them with ice cold water, tried spraying it in their mouths to make them gag and let go, nothing helped. After what seemed like 5 hours (actually probably 10 minutes) I was totally exhausted and gave up. A few minutes later the older dog gave up and was barely able to walk so I was able to drag the young one inside.
We still have both, but they have to live separately. They are wonderful dogs, but very territorial and don't get along with other male dogs.
Oh and they're both fine, just a couple scars here and there.

That really sucks. Glad that they are both fine.

[QUKBMER]

I had two dashshunds male and female and both got along great and the male was very protective of the female against other dogs coming around her. Now i have a different AKC male longhair dashshund and no companion at the moment for him.

[blefevre]

We only have one dog but she does/did have seperation anxiety. I just wanted to let you know that it can be REALLY bad and takes a lot of training to help them get used to you being gone. Another dog is supposed to help cure it, but it can be hard the first couple months.

[CabrioPunk]

The introduction is so very important.