Want to Add a Second Dog to Your Family?

Sharing your life with a dog can be one of the best things.  You’ve spent time, patience, effort, energy and even some money on training your dog to make him a much loved, well-adjusted member of your family.  Life is great, adventures and excursions with your dog are so much fun. It’s so enjoyable, you are now considering adding another canine family member to your household.  

You see an advertisement on gumtree, Facebook or perhaps word of mouth from a friend that there is a dog who has had a succession of homes.  You’re looking for a new dog, perhaps this is fate intervening, telling you this is your dog. “Let’s go and pick him up today,” you tell your partner.  

Hang on a minute.  Let’s have a think about this and weigh up all the pros and cons. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for adopting dogs for the right reasons, they just need to be the right fit for your household. Here are some considerations you should factor in when making your decision:

• Does your current much-loved dog enjoy the company of other dogs?  Does he actively seek out dogs, does he have a calm, friendly appropriate greeting when meeting new dogs?
• What sort of dogs, breed, age is he drawn to most?
• Does your dog have impulse control around other dogs?  Can he be calm and relaxed around other moving dogs when asked? If the answer is No, imagine the carnage in your home with TWO dogs leaping off couches and careering around.  You’ll need to spend some time teaching an on-off switch.
• Do you have enough money in your weekly budget to feed and pay for on-going care for another dog?
• If you have other pets in the house, is the new dog used to other pets?  If not, do you have a plan to ensure all the animals will happily share the same environment?

When you’re making the decision to get another dog make sure you do your research and choose the right one for your household and you have a plan in place to manage them both. That means separate training sessions too!